Cold forecast for north
Slightly cooler weather is forecast for northern Taiwan, and the north and east are likely to receive rain this week, as the nation’s weather is influenced by northeasterly winds, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Temperatures are expected to drop to as low as 15°C to 17°C in northern and northeastern Taiwan today as the wind system strengthens, the bureau said. Temperatures in the affected areas would rise again starting on Tuesday as the winds weaken, but drop again starting on Friday as the winds regain strength, it said. Northern and eastern areas can expect occasional showers over the weekend, as well as between Tuesday and Friday, the bureau said. Other parts of Taiwan would have cloudy to sunny skies throughout next week, it said.
MEDIA
Three TV channels fined
Three TV news channels were on Wednesday each fined NT$200,000 for showing sensitive content involving child abuse without content warnings. The National Communications Commission also issued warnings to two other stations over their coverage of the death of a four-year-old girl. The five stations repeatedly broadcast images related to the child’s abuse by her mother’s partner, which led to her death. In addition to the images, the excessive coverage of the case contravened the Television Programs Classification Handling Regulations (電視節目分級處理辦法), the commission said. The agency fined SET News, Formosa News and TVBS NT$200,000 each, while Era News and Next TV News received warnings. Other news stations also covered the case, but altered the footage or did not repeat it excessively, the commission said, urging TV stations to improve their coverage of sensitive and violent incidents.
SOCIETY
Fishers get donations
A coalition of Taiwanese and foreign government agencies, as well as nonprofit groups, on Friday donated new clothing to migrant fishers in New Taipei City and organized a feast for them.Father Hendrikus Arianto Ukat — an Indonesian priest at Taipei’s Saint Christopher’s Church who is a member of Stella Maris, the largest ship-visiting network in the world — said the “unique” event was organized by Catholic churches, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, the Fisheries Agency and the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei. Migrant fishers face tough conditions as they work long shifts without overtime pay, and while on duty, cannot rest in a comfortable place. Workforce Development Agency Cross-Border Workforce Management Division deputy head Paul Su (蘇裕國) said the lack of overtime pay is one of the main issues migrant fishers face. Fishers who face undue conditions should report them the 1955 government hotline, Su said.
POLITICS
Chu vows cross-strait peace
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) vowed to continue the party’s efforts in pursuing peaceful ties across the Taiwan Strait in a prerecorded speech to the Straits Forum in Xiamen, China, yesterday. Chu said that based on years of exchanges across the Strait, he would abide by the KMT’s regulations and platform to push for peaceful cross-strait development. Chu urged the leaders on both sides to keep people’s well-being in mind as they conduct exchanges. He also proposed that both sides work together on climate change, including reducing carbon emissions, and strive for economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era.
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
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
RSS