LOTTERY
Lottery prizes top NT$1bn
Taiwan Lottery yesterday announced that it is give out prizes worth NT$1.05 billion (US$31.88 million) for the Lunar New Year. That would be a record high for the Lunar New Year lottery. Prizes are to be drawn daily over 20 days, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 12, Taiwan Lottery president Hsieh Chih-hung (謝志宏) said. The lotteries include the Lotto 6/49, Daily Cash, 39Mark5, 49Mark6, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Bingo Bingo, he said. The top prize for Lotto 6/49, in which buyers have to pick six numbers from 49 numbers, is to be NT$100 million, Hsieh said. Those who pick six out of the nine numbers drawn for the Lunar New Year’s Big Red Envelope would have a chance to win up to NT$1 million from a total prize pot of NT$480 million, he said. Those who match five out of nine numbers and pick the correct number for the Lunar New Year’s Small Red Envelope draw would have a chance to win up to NT$100,000 from a total prize pot of NT$80 million, he added. Additionally, the prizes for Bingo Bingo, in which ticket buyers bet on numbers every five minutes, would be increased.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
SOCIETY
Boat captain drowns at sea
The captain of the Pingtung County-registered Ying Feng 32 died after the vessel capsized yesterday morning. The Coast Guard Administration’s Southern Branch said that it received a report about the incident in waters northeast of Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) at 7:58am, upon which it dispatched its PP-3557 and CP-1071 vessels to the area to provide assistance. The captain, a 66-year-old man surnamed Hung (洪), was found floating in the sea at 8:27am by the person who reported the incident, officials said. The CP-1071 recovered Hung’s body and an attempt to resuscitate him was made on the vessel, which arrived at Pingtung’s Yanpu Inspection Office at 9:05am. He was treated by medical personnel and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Hung went out to sea after reporting to the coast guard at the New Liuqiu Inspection Office at about 6am, the coast guard said.
TRANSPORTATION
More HSR trains added
Twelve additional high-speed rail services would be available during the Lunar New Year period to meet increased demand, with reservations to open tomorrow, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said yesterday. Three-hundred-and-eighty extra trains (205 southbound and 175 northbound) are to operate, in addition to the scheduled services between Jan. 23 and Feb. 3, bringing the total number of trains to 2,258, the operator said. THSRC urged people planning to travel north to book their tickets as early as possible, given that services between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 have mostly sold out. To accommodate demand, the schedules for 18 northbound trains have been adjusted. Sixteen are to arrive after midnight, while two would depart earlier than originally scheduled. Meanwhile, 47 shuttle trains — 10 southbound and 37 northbound — are to operate in northern and central Taiwan between Nangang and Taichung stations. Each train is to have eight cars with non-reserved seating to help with the demand, it added. THSRC said it would provide real-time traffic updates through its online booking systems, such as T-EX App, Facebook Messenger and convenience store ticketing machines, among other platforms. As Feb. 8 is a makeup workday, two additional northbound trains (1504 and 1202) would be added, with ticket bookings available from today, the company said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
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