Mon, Dec 08, 2025 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  WEATHER

  Temperatures fall to 10.7°C

  Early-morning temperatures yesterday dipped to 10.7°C in Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), the lowest recorded in Taiwan’s low-lying areas that day, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The second-lowest temperature recorded in any low-lying area in Taiwan yesterday was in Miaoli County’s Sihu Township (西湖) at 11.4°C, CWA data showed. The cold conditions were due to the influence of radiative cooling, independent meteorologist Daniel Wu De-rong (吳德榮) said. Citing European weather model data, he said the northeasterly monsoon would begin strengthening this morning, increasing moisture and bringing a chance of brief showers to parts of northern and eastern Taiwan, along with a drop in temperatures. The strongest cold air of the season is expected from Saturday to Monday next week, with temperatures in Taiwan’s low-lying areas possibly dropping below 10°C, he said. However, due to weather forecasting limitations, models would continue to be adjusted, and forecasts from different countries vary in intensity and timing, so it is still too early to draw firm conclusions, Wu added.

  

  Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration

  SOCIETY

  Two men killed in car crash

  A 73-year-old driver and his 29-year-old grandson were killed early yesterday morning in Taitung County when their car hit a roadside electricity distribution box, local police said. The Taitung County Police Bureau’s Chengkung Precinct said it dispatched firefighters from the county fire department to the scene after receiving a report of the accident at about 7am. Upon arrival, rescuers found the occupants of the vehicle, both surnamed Lee (李), trapped inside and in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. After being extricated from the wreckage, the pair were rushed to a hospital for emergency treatment, but were later pronounced dead, the police said. They found that the grandfather was driving his grandson to Taitung City to take the civil service exam when, for unknown reasons, the vehicle veered to the right and struck a roadside electrical distribution box. Nearby residents called police when they heard the crash. The police precinct did not speculate on the cause of the accident and said an investigation was under way.

  TECHNOLOGY

  Xiaohongshu downloads surge

  The Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, also known as RedNote in English) was the top-ranked app in the free social category on Apple’s App Store charts over the past two days, despite the Criminal Investigate Bureau on Thursday last week ordering Internet service providers (ISPs) to block the app for failing to meet cybersecurity requirements and widespread fraud on the platform. Meanwhile, a virtual private network tool that can change a user’s Internet location also topped the tools category on the charts. Xiaohongshu has more than 3 million Taiwanese users. Although still available for download on mobile stores despite the order, ISPs are to slow requests to the app to make it load slower over time, until it effectively becomes unusable. The bureau said the government treats all noncompliant platforms equally. Citing Meta Platforms as an example, the bureau said the company has been penalized three times this year for undisclosed advertisements, poor management and failure to remove scams, with fines totaling NT$18.5 million (US$591,848). However, unlike Xiaohongshu, major platforms with large user bases in Taiwan — including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube and Line — have all complied with government regulations, the bureau said.
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