■ Politics
Lee has back problems
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) recently canceled many of his public activities because he has been suffering from a spinal bone spur, which prevents him from standing for long periods of time, Hwang Kun-hu (黃崑虎), the president of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui association said Saturday. Lee was absent yesterday from a Lee Teng-hui School class held in Taoyuan County, for which Lee was scheduled to have been the lecturer. Hwang said that Lee called him on Thursday and revealed his bone spur affliction which has bothered him for weeks. Because of his age of 82, Lee cannot risk surgery to remove the bone spur, so for the time being Lee is undergoing rehabilitation and wearing a magnetic back support, Hwang said.
■ Environment
Rare birds still alive
Collaboration between local government and bird conservationists in the outlying Matsu areas has ensured the survival of rare birds, including the endangered Chinese crested tern. Rob Butler, a research scientist with the Canadian government yesterday observed birds and coastal environment in Matsu under the company of Taiwanes bird conservationist Simon Liao (廖世卿), independent Legislator Yang Chung-jse (楊宗哲), and Chang Show-hwa (張壽華), the chief of the Matsu Construction Bureau. They observed, distantly, about 200 bridled tern, 50 greater crested tern and one Chinese crested tern on or near nearby islets. "We are happy about the survival of such birds, especially after the passage of recent typhoons," Chang said. The Chinese crested tern has always been rare and little known since the discovery of 1863.
■ Diplomacy
Berger arrives for visit
Taiwan yesterday welcomed Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, saying his five-day state visit would help to further cement ties and enhance bilateral cooperation. Berger, who arrived in Taipei Saturday night to attend Sunday's inauguration of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) set up by Taiwan, was honored in a welcoming ceremony at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park in Taipei. Top Taiwanese officials, including President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), as well as foreign envoys attended the welcoming ceremony.
■ Environment
Violators fined for bad air
One third of construction sites inspected by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) last month failed to meet criteria that ensure good air quality. Violators have been fined between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million for poor management. Last month, the EPA investigated 15 large construction sites in central Taiwan. Environmental inspectors found that five construction sites had caused serious air pollution involving the spread of suspended particles, or dust. Meanwhile, others caused minor problems regarding air quality. Companies managing such poorly-designed construction sites have been fined between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million. Officials said only three construction sites meet the criteria. The result shows that less than 20 percent of construction sites inspected meet criteria. EPA officials said that common problems leading to the spread of dusts are about uncovered materiel and supplies, the lack of car-washing facilities, poorly-designed routes for trucks, and others.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,