■ Politics
PFP to contend for post
The People First Party (PFP) announced for the first time yesterday that it would contend for a deputy legislative speaker post. The announcement cast a shadow on the previous belief that both the legislative and deputy legislative speakers will remain Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members. PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said that caucus members would act uniformly in the speakership race, and that the caucus would cooperate with parties and figures supporting the ROC and opposing independence. The decision was made after PFP chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) returned to Taiwan yesterday and met party lawmakers, according to some reports. So far, three PFP lawmakers, Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧), Chou Hsi-wei(周錫瑋) and Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), are interested in the deputy speakership, reports said.
■ Aid Efforts
Doctors to go to Sri Lanka
A medical group in Taiwan will leave for Sri Lanka today, one of the countries hardest hit by the catastrophic tsunamis on Sunday, to provide medical service. Liu Chi-chun (劉啟群), president of Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps, said the group will assess the damage and if needed, will arrange more groups to go there. Taiwan Root has been to Sri Lanka three times for medical assistance, and it last returned from the country in late November. This time it will travel to Batticaloa and Pottubil in southern Sri Lanka. The tsunamis has taken a heavy toll on the nation, with a jail in Galle City being flattened by the tidal waves and half of the inmates drowned. Liu said that the group will carry with them related medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, and that medical services will focus on surgical assistance and the prevention of infectious diseases.
■ Travel
Record set at airport
The number of arrivals, departures and transit visits for the year at Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) International Airport reached a record high of 20 million yesterday, according to airport officials. Lee Tung-yang (李東洋), a Taiwanese passenger returning from a business trip, became the 20 millionth passenger for the year and was mobbed by reporters in the arrivals hall. He was awarded free flight tickets worth NT$100,000 (US$3,107.52) and tax-free gifts at an awards presentation ceremony held by the airport authorities, as were the two passengers immediately before and after him. After the inauguration of the airport in 1979, the number of arrivals and departures for the year was only 4.04 million.
■ Crime
Man `slept' with corpse
A man killed his friend two years ago and has been sleeping beside the corpse since then, television channel CTI reported yesterday. The man, identified only as Chiu, killed his friend with an iron bar during a quarrel when they were drinking at Chiu's home, CTI said. Chiu then wrapped the corpse up in a quilt, tied up the bundle with ropes and left it on his bed. "When the body decomposed and gave out a bad smell, Chiu placed camphor balls and sprayed disinfectant in his bedroom to suppress the bad odor," a policeman from Yungkang Police Station in Tainan County told CTI. "Chiu said he kept the body in his house because he believed this was a good way to reduce his bad karma, but we think he has mental problems," the policeman added. Police arrested Chiu after a neighbor saw the corpse on the bed and alerted police.
■ Politics
Soong `to meet US officials'
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) left for the US late last night after he returned to Taiwan the day before, according to PFP members. The party officials, who declined to be named, said Soong may meet "influent-ial US officials to discuss matters regarding Taiwan-US relations. Soong and his wife Chen Wan-shui (陳萬水) returned to Taiwan early Monday morning to attend the funeral of former first lady Faina Chiang Fang-liang (蔣方良), the Russian wife of late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). The PFP chairman was formerly the late president's English secretary. According to PFP members, Soong is headed to the US to meet some officials and think-tanks. They refused, however, to elaborate to the press whom Soong is to meet or what they are to talk about.
■ Weather
Snowfall leads to roadblock
Police in Nantou sealed off a major road leading to Hohuan Mountain yesterday evening, with the arrival of a severe cold front that brought snow to the mountain. Police patrolling the area decided to ban all vehicles from entrance because the road became slippery after the snowfall, the Central News Agency reported. Temperat-ures in the mountain area dropped to below freezing at around 5pm yesterday. Cars will be allowed on road again starting from 6am today, but the police said they might have to prolong the road block if the snow continues. At Jade Mountain, Taiwan's highest mountain, the temperature fell below the freezing point yesterday evening. Snow is also expected on the mountain in the coming few days, weather officials said.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai