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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Politics
Palau leader foots bill
Palauan President Tommy Remengesau paid his own bill for a health examination that was conducted in a Taipei hospital yesterday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman David Wang (王建業) said. Responding to media reports, Wang said the ministry had not footed the bill and had only offered assistance in making arrangements. Wang said it was the ministry's duty to offer help to foreign heads of state during visits, particularly over matters of which the country is proud, such as medical facilities.

■ Politics
Wu Shu-jen still ill
First lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) is expected to be absent from her corruption trial for the fourth straight time today because of ill health, a court spokesman said. "Wu's lawyers this afternoon submitted a statement on her health and asked for a leave of absence," Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩) said yesterday. Liu declined to give details of Wu's condition. Wu, 54, was discharged from hospital on Dec. 31 after being admitted for observation since nearly fainting on the first day of the trial. Wu's medical team said on Dec. 31 that they would evaluate her condition to determine if she was fit to attend court. Presidential Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山) and four other members of the presidential staff would not testify in court today, the Presidential Office said in a statement last night, adding that they could not provide testimony because what the court wanted to know involved "state secrets" and could compromise national interests.

■ Society
Tourist drowned in Brazil
A Taiwanese man traveling in Brazil was confirmed drowned in a tributary of the Amazon River, Simon Ko (柯森耀), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Central and South American Affairs, said yesterday. Peng Shih-yan (彭士彥), who was traveling on the Rio Negro River, fell overboard along with six other tourists when a storm battered their boat on Sunday. Ko said that Peng's body had now been found and Taiwan's representative office would help Peng's family to fly to Brazil to make arrangements.

■ Diplomacy
Panama projects funded
The government made a cash donation to Panama on Wednesday to help the Central American country promote two projects aimed at improving living standards for the disadvantaged. Ambassador to Panama Hou Ping-fu (侯平福) handed over US$5.5 million to Panamanian First Vice President and Foreign Relations Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro at a donation ceremony. Speaking at the ceremony, Lewis said the money would be used to carry out a "barrier-free life" project for the physically challenged and a "micro-enterprise development" plan.

■ Business
Government boosts industry
The government will provide NT$100 billion (US$3.5 billion) in loans to encourage people to refurbish their homes as a part of efforts to stimulate the construction industry, Ministry of the Interior officials said. The officials at the ministry's Construction and Planning Agency likened the construction industry to a locomotive driving the nation's economic development and said that the low-interest loans provided by the government for housing renovation would help to fuel it.

■ Society
Animal show on Sunday
To raise awareness of animal rights, the Taipei Municipal Institute for Animal Health will hold a festival on Sunday that will offer free animal vaccinations and the opportunity to adopt strays. The festival starts at 2pm at the Vieshow (formerly Warner Village) plaza in Xinyi District and will provide free vaccinations for animals and free checkups and health advice, the institute said. The institute will also promote the prevention of rabies by providing information to dog owners. On stage will be a stray puppy show to promote awareness of the problem of stray dogs and the option of adoption. More information is available at the institute's Web site at www.tmiah.tcg.gov.tw.

■ Society
Cancer database launched
The first oncogenomic database designed for hepatocellular carcinoma has been completed by research fellows at Academia Sinica. The database, OncoDB.HCC, can be accessed at www.oncodb. hcc.ibms.sinica.edu.tw, academics announced yesterday. Project manger Jou Yuh-shan (周玉山), an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of Biomedical Sciences, said the database was the first in the world dedicated to a single cancer and that the accuracy when being applied to clinical cases was as high as 96 percent. Jou said the database could be very helpful in understanding gene expressions and genetic mutations related to liver cancer, as well as in terms of the research and development of biochips for hepatocellular carcinoma. In previous studies, the institute's researchers have targeted 614 oncogenes to liver cancer and the results have already been put online as part of the database.

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