■ Crime
Jail term for nude pictures
A 21-year-old Taipei man was sentenced yesterday to six months in jail for making public -- via the Internet -- nude pictures that he had taken of himself. The man, surnamed Hsiao, was convicted of obscene behavior. Hsiao, an employee at a high-tech company, had posted full-body pictures on a Web site, giving the general public easy access to the photos. According to the police, Hsiao posted the photos in an effort to attract homosexual admirers. He will be able to avoid jail time, however, by paying a NT$162,000 fine.
■ Missing foreigner
Chen asks public's help
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged people to assist in the search for a US citizen who went missing in Taiwan in May last year. Chen made the call in the latest issue of the A-bian Electronic Paper, an Internet newsletter named after Chen's nickname "A-bian." Chen said that Barbara Klita sent him a second letter recently asking for his assistance in the search for her missing son, Fryderyk Mieszko Frontier. In addition to directing government agencies to step up their search efforts, Chen said he hopes ordinary citizens can also assist in the campaign. "Those who have leads about Frontier's whereabouts are welcome to contact relevant government authorities or inform Mrs Klita, " Chen said in the newsletter. Klita sent her first letter to Chen late last year. Chen published that letter along with Frontier's photo and Klita's e-mail address -- barbaraklita@collegeclub.com -- in the Dec. 18 issue of the newsletter.
■ Avian flu
Experts aid Vietnam
The government will send an expert to Vietnam to assist in its campaign against avian flu outbreaks, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday. Speaking at a regular news conference, Lin Sung-huan (林松煥), director of the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Department, said the Council of Agriculture has already sent a delegation of animal disease and quarantine experts to Vietnam to investigate its avian flu situation. In addition, Lin said, Tsai Hsiang-jung (蔡向榮), an associate professor in National Taiwan University's department of veterinary medicine, will leave for Vietnam next Monday to help with bird flu containment efforts. Meanwhile, Lin said, the Department of Health has donated medical supplies to Vietnam, including protective clothing, caps, surgical gloves and N95 surgical masks. The medical goods were delivered on Wednesday. Tsai will donate the goods to Vietnam on behalf of the government in a ceremony to be held in Hanoi next week, Lin said, adding that the Vietnamese government has expressed its gratitude for Taiwan's generous assistance.
■ Weather
Cold front arriving
Whether campaign activities on the last weekend ahead the presidential election will go smoothly depends on the weather. And the word from the Central Weather Bureau is that this weekend will be cold and rainy. A cold front will arrive today and bring rains to the north and the east over the weekend, the bureau said yesterday. Forecasters said temperatures will drop dramatically, with the highest temperature tomorrow being 19 degrees Celsius in the north. They said the weather in the center and south will remain pleasant. Low temperatures in the center over the weekend would be about 23 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius in the south.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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