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Taiwan quick take

Medicine: 100-year-old gets facelift
A 100-year-old Taiwanese lady may be one of the world's oldest people to receive a laser facelift. The woman, identified only by her surname Hsu (徐), decided to go for a "ruby laser and pulse light skin treatment" after she found that it had worked wonders for one of her daughters-in-law, according to the Chinese-language media. Hsu is receiving the treatment at Long Spring New Century Hospital in Taipei. The centenarian was very satisfied with the results after the first round of treatment and plans to undergo another seven or eight rounds of laser beautification, the report said.

Military: Searching for man overboard
The Navy Fleet Command said yesterday it has formed a special team to assist in searching for a navy private who fell overboard off the Penghu coast late Tuesday. Lee Chi-hung (李其鴻), a private aboard a Chengkung-class missile frigate, fell overboard at around 9:45pm Tuesday when the warship was returning to Makung harbor after a routine training voyage, a navy command press release said. Naval authorities in Penghu immediately launched a search, but Lee had still not been found as of press time. The Navy Fleet Command has also dispatched six ships and asked the Air Force's S-70C helicopter squad to assist in the search. The search-and-rescue operations are still continuing, the press release said.

Illegal immigrants: Migrants sent back to China
Twelve illegal Chinese immigrants were repatriated in two groups from Kinmen yesterday as Mid-Autumn Festival approached. The Kinmen squad of Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said it has repatriated a total of 25 illegal Chinese immigrants so far this week on humanitarian grounds. "We have accelerated repatriation to enable these illegal mainland immigrants to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival together with their families," a Kinmen coast guard official said. The illegal immigrants were arrested between late last month and early this month for either poaching oysters in Kinmen waters or illegally coming ashore to conduct small-volume trade on Kinmen beach, the official said. Seven of them, including two men and five women, were repatriated from Kinmen's Shuitou (水頭) wharf, while the remaining five made a direct voyage to Xiamen, Fujian Province from Kinmen's Louchu fishing port.

Public Health: Drug tests are `foolproof'
Drug users are in for a surprise if they think they can outsmart tests for illegal substances by mixing drugs such as Ecstasy with sedatives, according to an official with the Department of Health. National Bureau of Controlled Drugs Director-General Li Jih-heng (李志恆) said yesterday that controlled substances can be detected in urine tests, regardless of the combination of the drugs ingested or injected by the user. Li said that the belief has become common among drug users that if drugs are taken in combination, such as taking Ecstasy, a stimulant, along with nimetazepam, a sedative, the effects will neutralize each other, rendering a test for either substance inconclusive. Li said that the tests are able to correctly identify components of all controlled substances, irrespective of how they have been taken or in what combinations.

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