■ Health
Cancer diagnosis saves life
A Taiwanese prostitute's "professional knowledge" helped save the life of a client after she suspected him of having testicular cancer and told him to see a doctor, a local paper reported yesterday. A 20-year-old university student, who was visiting a brothel for the first time, "was skeptical but went to the hospital anyway" and was indeed diagnosed with that particular form of cancer, the symptoms of which include the enlargement of -- or a swelling in -- a testicle. Luckily for the man, the cancer was in its first phase. His doctor removed his left testicle and said the operation would not affect the man's fertility or sex life.
■ Foreign Affairs
US eyeing Chinese remarks
The US is looking at remarks made by a Beijing official to mark the 10th anniversary of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) Eight-Point proposal on unification with Taiwan, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday. Boucher was referring to a speech delivered by People's Political Consultative Conference Chairman Jia Qinglin (賈慶林) in which Jia reiterated Beijing's insistence on the "one China" principle and claimed that Beijing remains open to cross-strait negotiations. Jia also criticized Taiwan's planned constitutional reforms, describing them as an attempt to realize de jure independen-ce for the country. "We'll look at [Jia's speech] very carefully," Boucher said. He also reiterated the US' interest in a peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences and its support for the idea of cross-strait dialogue, which he said is the best way for the two sides to resolve their differences.
■ Development
Investment projects touted
The Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs is doing its utmost to achieve its goal of attracting major investment projects totalling NT$849 billion (US$26.69 billion) for this year, Chen Chao-yih (陳昭義), the bureau director, said yesterday. The ministry defines a major investment project as one with a total investment of over NT$200 million, Chen said. To contribute to the nation's sustainable economic development, the bureau will continue to promote what it calls the "two-trillion, two-star" industries -- semiconductors, optoelectronics, digital content and biotechnology, he said. Furthermore, the bureau plans to promote new industries, including those related to home care, digital homes, and liquid crystal display (LCD) products, as part of the government's efforts to transform the nation into a "green silicon island," he said.
■ Transportation
Televisions come to buses
The Kaohsiung City Government inaugurated buses and ferries offering "DiMo TV" yesterday, according to Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥), secretary-general of the southern port city's government. Dimo TV will play commercial-free digital programs offered by the Public Television Service Foundation (PTSF), which will do its utmost to uphold the program quality, PTSF chairman Hu Yuan-hui (胡元輝) said. The inaugura-tion ceremony, held at the square by the mouth of the Love River, was presided over by Chang and Hu. On Jan. 24, the city inaugurated the country's first digitized services on the city's bus routes, including 130 bus stop signs offering digital information, TV monitors on 448 buses that play real-time programming, and a hotline offering bus information, Chang said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
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