SOCIETY
Three injured by falling tree
Three people were yesterday injured after they were struck by a tree that toppled suddenly at a recreational park in Taichung, possibly because of strong winds, the city’s Fire Bureau said. The bureau said it received a report at about 11:23am that a tree had fallen on three visitors at Aofong Mountain Park, about 2.5km west of Taichung International Airport. The three were at a playground in front of the Cingshuei Ghost Cave, one of several attractions at the park, firefighters said. The injured were two adults and a 12-year-old boy, all identified by their last name Ko (柯), police officers who arrived at the scene to investigate said. One of the adults was the uncle of the child, and he and the boy were treated for bruises to their limbs and pain in the back of their heads, police said. The third person, a 48-year-old man whose relation to the child and uncle was not specified, was knocked out by the falling tree, but regained consciousness and was in stable condition. Police said they were still looking into what caused the tree to fall, but witnesses at the scene cited strong winds as blowing the tree over.
TRAVEL
CAL explores rail-fly service
China Airlines (CAL), the nation’s flagship carrier, on Friday said that it has been exploring the intermodal travel market, reaching agreements with German and Japanese rail companies to provide more rail-fly service options for its passengers. Starting today, CAL passengers can use the airline’s codeshare agreement with German national railway Deutsche Bahn to book multimodal itineraries that combine international flight tickets with a train ride to any of 13 German cities, which they can take after they land in Frankfurt Airport. Passengers can enjoy seamless connections and preferential fares for as low as NT$1,000 on a train trip to cities such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and Nuremberg, the airline said. The trip can be directly arranged on CAL’s Web site, and since the partnering Deutsche Bahn trains would be assigned with CAL’s “CI” code, it would be easier for flight passengers to find their connecting trains upon arrival, it said. The carrier said it has also been working with West Japan Railway Co to provide intermodal travel bookings from now until March 31 next year. CAL added that its passengers holding select round-trip flight tickets to Osaka dated from now until June 29 next year can book train travel packages in nearby regions at preferential rates.
CULTURE
Sarah Brightman coming
Singer and UNESCO Artist for Peace Sarah Brightman is to perform in Taiwan in the middle of December, when she is to showcase her favorite music and greatest hits for local fans as part of her international “A Christmas Symphony” tour. Brightman is to perform in Taiwan from Dec. 14 to 18, when she will entertain music lovers in Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei and Pingtung. Ticket sales started on Thursday. People can buy them kham.com.tw, as well as Hi-Life and OK Mart convenience stores. Brightman, who rose to fame playing the role of Christine Daae in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, making her the world’s best-selling soprano. She was honored on Thursday with the 2,736th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Pantages Theater for her outstanding contributions to theater/live performance.
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
Taiwan must first strengthen its own national defense to deter a potential invasion by China as cross-strait tensions continue to rise, multiple European lawmakers said on Friday. In a media interview in Taipei marking the conclusion of an eight-member European parliamentary delegation’s six-day visit to Taiwan, the lawmakers urged Taipei to remain vigilant and increase defense spending. “All those who claim they want to protect you actually want to conquer you,” Ukrainian lawmaker Serhii Soboliev said when asked what lessons Taiwan could draw from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Soboliev described the Kremlin as a “new fascist Nazi regime” that justified
RSS