■ Health
Lost dentures recovered
A 45-year-old man was breathing easier yesterday, after a surgeon removed a missing dental bridge from one of his bronchial tubes -- three years after he lost them in a fall. Dr. Chen Chun-lei said the man went to his clinic several days ago complaining of shortness of breath and a high fever and was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia. Chen operated after an unknown object was seen in one of the bronchial tubes in an X-ray. "He had looked for the missing dentures for three years but they were nowhere to be found," Chen said. Chen said the man had not suffered serious breathing problems earlier, possibly because the denture of eight teeth did not entirely block the bronchial tube. The doctor said the man could have ended up losing part of a lung if the denture had not been discovered before a serious injury occurred.
■ Weather
CWB watching Matsa
Eastern Taiwan could begin to feel the approach of Tropical Storm Matsa tonight. The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday that the center of Matsa was around 1,600km southeastern of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and it was moving north-northwest at 8kph. Forecasters were unsure, however, if Matsa would directly hit Taiwan. "We are keeping our eyes on it. If Matsa moves north, then the weather in Taiwan might only be affected by peripheral currents," said Daniel Wu (吳德榮), director of the forecast center. Forecasters said boats sailing off eastern Taiwan should be on alert for huge waves tonight. On Thursday and Friday, the weather in the north and northeast of the country might be affected by the storm's approach.
■ Politics
New caucus whips installed
The dust has finally settled in a fight among the People First Party's (PFP) caucus leaders as Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交) took office as head caucus whip. Hwang had tied with Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) in voting. Hwang was favored by the PFP headquarters, while Lin was the choice of the caucus itself. Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) and Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官) will serve as the caucus' other two leaders in the next legislative session, scheduled to begin on Sept. 13. The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) new caucus whips also took office yesterday. They are Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) and John Wu (吳志揚). The Taiwan Solidarity Union's new caucus leaders, who took office in June, are Mark Ho (何敏豪), David Huang (黃適卓), George Liu (劉寬平) and Kuo Lin-yung (郭林勇). The Democratic Progressive Party's won't change its caucus whips until the end of the next legislative session.
■ Environment
Biomass contest announced
The Council of Agriculture yesterday urged young scientists and students to come up with ideas to turn rice straw into usable sources of biomass energy. The council and the Yuan T. Lee Science Education For All (遠哲科學教育基金會) are sponsoring a competition and the top price is NT$200,000 (US$6,276). Rice paddies cover 260,000 hectares of land in Taiwan. Rice straw has traditionally been used for compost or fuel. Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said yesterday that the abuse of fossil fuels has hurt the environment and it was time for youngsters to rethink sources of energy. More information on the competition available at www.ytlee.org.tw.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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