SCIENCE
LayV test developed
Taiwanese researchers have developed a polymerase chain reaction-based test to diagnose Langya henipavirus (LayV), a recently discovered animal-derived virus that has been detected in eastern China, the Centers for Disease Control said yesterday. LayV, which was first described by Chinese scientists in an Aug. 4 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, has infected dozens of people, mainly farmers, in China’s Shandong and Henan provinces. Many patients had symptoms such as a fever, fatigue and coughing. The virus is believed to have been transmitted to humans from shrews, but there is no evidence that it can be spread from person to person.
AVIATION
Tsai inaugurates R&D center
The research and development (R&D) of uncrewed aerial vehicles is crucial for the nation to achieve self-reliance and boost its asymmetric defense capabilities, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Saturday as she inaugurated a government-run drone R&D facility in Chiayi County. As part of the government’s efforts to develop drone technology, expand the market and foster talent, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in March established an alliance of drone manufacturers to grow the industry and expand the scope of drone applications, she said. Chiayi is home to plains, mountains and coastal areas, making it the perfect testing ground for drones, Tsai added. Twenty companies have set up offices in the R&D center, and there are plans to establish a testing site, a drone operator licensing facility, a drone-related academy and a national arena for drone-related competitions, she said.
CRIME
Man held over murder
Police in Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City (竹北) early yesterday arrested a man on suspicion of killing his girlfriend after she rejected his marriage proposal. The Philippine man, who was identified only as Dioni, had previously dated the victim in the Philippines, although they broke up before traveling separately to Taiwan for work, police said. The pair resumed their relationship after a chance encounter in Taiwan, although the victim repeatedly refused Dioni’s proposals, they added. The couple were staying in a hotel in Jhubei on Saturday night, when the topic of marriage came up again, police said. They argued after the victim turned down Dioni’s marriage proposal and he allegedly strangled her in a fit of anger, they said. Dioni later called the emergency services, but paramedics arriving at the scene at about 6am yesterday found that the victim had died and reported the incident to the police.
SOCIETY
Student wins gold medal
A Taiwanese high-school student on Wednesday won a gold medal at the International Economics Olympiad. It was Taiwan’s first gold in the annual competition that began in 2019. This year’s Olympiad — a competition that tests high-school students’ knowledge of economics, business and finance — was hosted by China, but took place online. Other Taiwanese contestants won two silver, one bronze and a special award for best economic theory, placing the country in 11th place globally and fifth in Asia, said SimEd Taiwan, a group that promotes simulation-based learning in education. Gold medal winner Shih Chun-yu (施俊佑) is a student at the Taipei-based Dominican International School.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
CHANGES: While NCCU opened the nation’s first co-ed dorm in Mucha, a recent survey showed that Taiwanese are in favor of abolishing gender segregation at high schools National Chengchi University (NCCU) has opened a co-ed dormitory, a first in Taiwan among state-funded Taiwan universities. The 22 duplexes are at the renovated “Huanan New Village,” in Taipei City’s Mucha (木柵) area, near the NCCU campus, a school official said yesterday. Twenty-two out of 37 group applications were selected in a lottery draw to select who would be chosen to live in the units, which can either be shared by up to eight students if the unit has four bedrooms, or up to 10 students if it is a five-bedroom unit, officials said. Completed in 1964 for campus staff housing,
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