■ Environment
Cyanide spill sickens scores
More than 100 people in Taichung County have been hospitalized after being poisoned by liquefied cyanide from an overturned truck, police said yesterday. Environmental officials feared the cyanide, which flowed into a nearby sewer, could create an ecological disaster when it streams into the sea through Taichung Harbor. Police said the accident took place Thursday afternoon after the truck got a flat tire and crashed. "The rear tire of the truck came off in front of the intersection of Lihai Road in Wuchi and overturned when the driver stepped on the brake," a police officer said. He said the tank holding 35 tonnes of liquefied cyanide came off from the truck and spilled all over the road. Doctors said nearby residents began to feel sick Thursday night and by yesterday morning more than 100 people had been hospitalized after breathing in air containing poisonous particles.
■ Crime
Bleaching bandit guilty
A Cameroonian, Mbwemo Franco, was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to eight months in prison by the Taipei District Court, local media reported yesterday. Police said that Franco told a hotel owner, surnamed Cheng, that he was capable of bleaching black paper into US dollar bills. The Cameroonian then cheated Cheng of his money, claiming that he needed US$13,000 (about NT$452,500) to purchase special bleach in order to turn the paper into money for him. Cheng later changed his mind and called the police instead. Franco was arrested on the spot when he collected the money from the hotel owner. The Cameroonian will be deported from Taiwan after his sentence is completed.
■ Education
Fewer students going to US
The number of students pursuing education in the US hit a 10-year low last year at 13,767, a 7 percent decrease from the the 2001 level, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Education. Ministry statistics show that the number of students acquiring US study visas was 14,878 in 2001, also a decline from the 2000 level of 15,547. The noticeable falls might have something to do with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US, while the war in Iraq might have caused the situation to deteriorate further, ministry officials said. After the outbreak of the war, the Ministry asked Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices across the US to inform Taiwan's students there, or those who are planning to go there, of the heightened security alert. The situation might also be the result of a shift in interest among students to Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
■ Health
Tonnes of biowaste lost
KMT Legislator Hsu Chung-hsiung (徐中雄) urged the government yesterday to step up measures to track medical waste, particularly in light of the severe acute respiratory disease (SARS) outbreak. Hsu made the remarks in a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan. Hsu said that the Department of Health has estimated that about 14,834 tonness of contagious medical waste was produced last year, but the Environmental Protection Administration could only account for 9,221 tonnes of it and therefore lost track of 40 percent of the total. However, Hsu said that academic circles and the private sector have estimated that the missing medical waste could reach as high as 9072 tonnes.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost