TECHNOLOGY
Mobile surfing booming: poll
The number of mobile Internet users in the nation is increasing, although slow connectivity is still a common complaint, according to a survey published yesterday by the state-funded Taiwan Network Information Center. The study found that 9.88 million Taiwanese, or 47.27 percent of residents aged over 12, used mobile Internet between November last year and April, a steady increase from the 41.13 percent recorded in a survey last year and a steep jump from the 25.91 percent recorded in 2012. About 60.79 percent of respondents to yesterday’s poll said they are “satisfied” with their mobile Internet service, while 25.41 percent said they are “dissatisfied” and 7.33 percent said they are “very dissatisfied.” Only 4.43 percent reporting being “very satisfied” with their mobile browsing and 2.04 percent answering “no comment.” The survey collected 3,134 valid samples via telephone from May 5 to May 26 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percent.
HEALTH
Infant virus contained
No more respiratory tract infections in infants have been reported at a postpartum care center in Changhua County since steps were taken to stem an outbreak of a respiratory virus, authorities said earlier this week. The postpartum care unit at Changhua Christian Hospital has been thoroughly sterilized and the unit has quarantined 10 of the 16 infants and three medical workers who tested positive for the virus to keep it from spreading, the county government’s Public Health Bureau said. Changhua Christian Hospital said it stopped taking in newborns from other hospitals starting on Aug. 13 and stressed it would only reopen the postpartum care center to new cases if no new infections emerge in the next 10 days.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow