■ Society
Second cave-in in Kaohsiung
Another cave-in occurred at a Kaohsiung rapid transit construction site yesterday afternoon. The incident occurred at the intersection of Jhongjheng Road and Jhongshan Road in Kaohsiung City. This time, the cave-in was approximately 50mm deep and 3m in diameter. A serious sinkage occurred last week at the intersection of Jhongjheng Road and Tashun Road in the city. The subsidence resulted from the construction of a reservoir well in the area, which suddenly experienced massive water seepage. Efforts were made to strengthen the surrounding area to prevent an expansion of the problem, but this, the most serious engineering setback in the system's construction and reconstruction efforts could cost up to NT$500 million (US$15 million).
■ Cross-strait
Corpse lands in Kinmen
Because of strong northeastern monsoon winds during the winter, large amounts of garbage regularly float across from China's Fujian coast to Kinmen and pollute the island's waters. But fishermen got a surprise this week as among the latest garbage to float ashore from China was a corpse. Authorities from China's Fujian Province yesterday identified the body, which floated into Kinmen's waters on Nov. 24, as the captain of a fishing boat surnamed Jiang. He and his crew fell into the water as they sailed the boat along the Fujian coast on Nov. 17. The Kinmen Coast Guard was notified about the incident by Kinmen fishermen. The Coast Guard then fished the body out of the water and took it to Kinmen's funeral parlor. Kinmen prosecutors yesterday said they will conduct an autopsy to learn whether or not there was any foul play involved in Jiang's death.
■ Society
Alliance lists reforms
A local alliance promoting constitutional reform yesterday unveiled a list of human-rights issues that the group believes should be addressed in the next phase of reforms. The list, released on Human Rights Day, covers areas such as equality rights, liberty rights, social rights, asylum rights for foreigners, and the right to resistance. Alliance convener Hung Yu-hung (洪裕宏) said the list was compiled by constitutional law professors based on suggestions put forth by more than 50 member organizations of the alliance. In response, Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), head of the constitutional reforms office at the Presidential Office, said he welcomes the efforts made by the alliance and hopes that the public will offer their support for the reforms.
■ Defense
Talks on helicopters: report
The government is talking to US-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp about buying transport helicopters for search-and-rescue operations, Jane's Defence Weekly reported. In an article posted on its Web site on Thursday, the defense magazine said the air force was in talks to buy an unknown quantity of S-92 Helibus medium transport helicopters. The Ministry of National Defense said yesterday it doesn't comment on military procurement issues. Defense deals are a sensitive topic because of tensions with China. The state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp is a member of Sikorsky's Team S-92, an international consortium of six countries involved in the manufacturing of the S-92. The Taiwanese company produces the helicopter's cockpit, Jane's 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