WEATHER
Cold front assails north
The weather was turning wet and cold yesterday due to strengthening seasonal northeasterly winds and the arrival of the strongest cold front so far this autumn, the Central Weather Bureau said. Taiwan’s north and east, in particular, experienced downpours and a prolonged period of rain, it said, adding that as the cold air gradually moves southward, temperatures in the north were forecast to fall further to between 15°C and 17°C today. Meanwhile, bureau data showed that a tropical depression near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the South China Sea yesterday morning strengthened into a tropical storm, which has been named Kirogi. The storm is expected to head toward the Indochinese Peninsula and should not affect Taiwan, the bureau said.
DEFENSE
Firms bid to locate black box
The air force has released a formal request for tender (RFT) by companies to conduct a marine salvage mission to retrieve the flight recorder of the Mirage-2000 fighter jet that went missing on Nov. 7. According to an air force official, who wished to remain anonymous, the RFT, which was published earlier this week, has attracted bids from more than five companies, all of which are able to locate and retrieve the black box from a depth of 100m. The air force is to review the bids tomorrow and if all goes well, the contract will be awarded and a company will proceed with salvage work, weather conditions permitting, the source said. It has been 12 days since the Mirage-2000 piloted by Captain Ho Tzu-yu (何子雨) went missing off the northeast coast. Since then, the air force has detected and located a signal matching that sent out by Mirage-2000 black boxes about 145km north by northeast of Keelung, but has not found the aircraft.
CRIME
People charged with logging
The Nantou District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday charged 21 people with involvement in an illegal logging operation. Chief prosecutor Wu Yi-ying (吳怡盈) said 13 Taiwanese and eight foreign nationals have been charged with illegal logging, transporting the timber and processing it into works of art for sale. Among those indicted is a man believed to be the mastermind of the operation, surnamed Chou (周), who recruited members to the group and committed offenses throughout Taiwan since the beginning of the year, Wu said. Chou’s group allegedly engaged in 22 cases of illegal logging and related commercial activities from January to June. Police last month conducted a raid on the group’s operations, seizing 315 items, including logs and works of art, weighing a total of 5.189 tonnes and worth NT$50 million (US$1.66 million).
EDUCATION
NTUST ranks 65th for jobs
UK magazine Times Higher Education on Thursday included four of the nation’s universities in this year’s Global University Employability Ranking, which assesses how well universities prepare students for the workplace, with National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) leading the pack, ranking 65th out of 150 academic institutions worldwide. The annual survey solicits opinions from human resources executives. NTUST moved up eight places from last year. National Taiwan University moved up five places from last year to 122nd place. National Tsing Hua University climbed five places as well, to 136th. National Chiao Tung University, which was not included in last year’s list, this year made it to 144th place on the list.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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