CRIME
Customs seizes fake drugs
Customs authorities confiscated a package of drugs from China containing two banned pharmaceutical products disguised as a Japanese constipation remedy brand, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday. The counterfeit medicine looks almost the same as the genuine product, but contains a combination of the banned substances sibutramine and phenolphthalein, which are carcinogenic and could be fatal to humans, administration official Dai Hsueh-yung (戴雪詠) said. Sibutramine is the active ingredient in Reductil, a weight-loss drug that was banned because it increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and even death, while phenolphthalein is an ingredient once found in over-the-counter laxatives until it was labeled as a potential carcinogen.
IMMIGRATION
Indonesian dies in escape
A female Indonesian migrant worker yesterday died after she jumped from the third floor of a building and sustained head injuries during a raid, the National Immigration Agency said. The Taoyuan office of the agency’s Northern Taiwan Administration Corps received a tip-off on Wednesday night of a number of absconded migrant workers at a factory in the city’s Tayuan District (大園). During the raid, immigration officers found 17 allegedly illegal migrant workers, four of whom tried to flee, including the female worker in her 30s identified as Danisah, they said. She showed no vital signs before arriving at a hospital, where she was pronounced dead by doctors after failed attempts to resuscitate her. Several others sustained minor injuries. Authorities have begun an investigation of the incident and have notified the employers of the migrant workers. To ensure the security of the upcoming Summer Universiade in Taipei, immigration authorities said they have stepped up inspections of large public places and possible hideouts for absconded migrant workers.
SOCIETY
Cost of living 34th highest
Taiwan’s cost of living index was the 34th-highest among 115 nations in a mid-year reported released by global online data Web site Numbeo. The online database determines a nation’s cost of living index by comparing rent, groceries and restaurant indices with local purchasing power. The report showed that Bermuda has replaced Switzerland as having the highest cost of living, followed by Iceland in third, Norway and the Bahamas. Denmark, the US Virgin Islands, Japan, Israel and Singapore rounded out the top 10 nations on the list.
ENTERTAINMENT
Online videos a part of life
Taiwanese spend an average of 7.3 hours per week watching online video programming, with one in four spending more than 12 hours per week, an Institute for Information Industry survey found. Watching online videos has become part of the daily life of people younger than 44, the survey found, with 25 percent of respondents in the 25 to 34 age group spending more than 12 hours per week and 56 percent of those in the 35 to 44 demographic spending more than five hours per week. The best-known brand name for online video is iQiyi, with 94.7 percent of those polled knowing the name, followed by KKTV at 75 percent, the Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications and Service Institute said. The survey found that Netflix enjoys the highest customer loyalty, with 42.3 percent of respondents expressing interest in continuing to subscribe, followed by Taiwan Mobile’s myVideo service at 31.3 percent.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese