■Weather
Typhoon warning lifted
The Central Weather Bureau lifted its sea warning for Typhoon Imbudo at 2:30pm yesterday as the waters off the eastern and southeastern coasts were no longer threatened by the typhoon. "The typhoon has moved out of the Bashi Channel and the southern part of the Taiwan Strait," a bureau official said. Imbudo brought heavy rains to Taitung and Hualien counties yesterday morning, but the rainfall slowed down in the afternoon.
■ Health
Chen opens new hospital
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that it is the responsibility of the government to take care of people with chronic diseases and the elderly in remote areas. Chen made the remarks during the inauguration of the Hsinwu branch of Taoyuan General Hospital. He said that he visited Kuanyin township, Taoyuan County, earlier this month to attend a lotus-flower festival and now was in Hsinwu to celebrate the inauguration of the new hospital, which he said shows that with the concerted efforts of central and local government, Taoyuan County will improve. He said that in Hsinwu and Kuanyin townships, a single doctor has to serve an average of 3,500 residents, which is a far cry from one doctor for every 750 residents in some other areas. This, he said, shows the inadequacy of medical facilities in remote areas. The new hospital can accommodate 30 to 40 beds but will later expand to 200 beds once the rest of its facilities have been finished.
■ Technology
New glowing fish on offer
Taikong Corp, which has the exclusive technology to create fish genetically altered to glow, yesterday unveiled the latest addition to its fluorescent subaquatic menagerie -- a purple glowing zebra fish. The creature, with dark stripes that contain fluorescence genes taken from red coral, will be displayed at a biotechnology exhibition in Taipei from today through Sunday. Taikong first developed a green fluorescent ricefish using jellyfish genes in a 2001 cooperation project with National Taiwan University. The company began marketing the green fluorescent ricefish in May, after spending two years researching and developing technology to ensure the fish are completely sterile. "This will help do away with concerns about influencing the ecological balance and at the same time protect our business interests," the company said. The company is eyeing a global market in the fish worth NT$100 million (US$2.91 million) annually, with orders arriving from China, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, the US and the Netherlands.
■ Legislation
Yu prioritizes bills
Premier Yu Shyi-kun designated five draft bills designed to clean up politics as the top priority of the next legislative session that will open in September. Notable among the five bills are a lobbying bill, which, the premier said, will ensure the free and thorough expression of public views while preventing the improper use of money and influence-peddling. Another bill will regulate the political donations made by vested interest groups to political parties. Another two bills will regulate local political parties and allow for the recovery of assets unfairly obtained by political parties. The fifth bill is intended to guarantee public access to government archives. Yu said the five bills will upgrade the country's democracy and prevent business tycoons and gangsters from pulling strings in the legislative process.
Agencies
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese