WEATHER
Typhoon could affect nation
Typhoon Trami has developed into a super typhoon, the Central Weather Bureau yesterday. Trami, which was upgraded into a super typhoon at about 2pm, was1,080km east-southeast of the nation’s southernmost tip, bureau data showed. It was moving west-northwest toward Japan’s Ryukyu Islands at 17kph. It could start affecting Taiwan on Friday, the bureau said, adding that there is a chance that the eye could cross Taiwan. Ferry services between Taitung County and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) are to be suspended from noon today until Friday and services between Taitung and Green Island (綠島) are to be halted from tomorrow to Friday, ferry operators said.
ZOOLOGY
Giraffe dies of ‘choking’
Hsiao Shun (宵順), a male giraffe in the privately run Wanpi World Safari Zoo in Tainan, died suddenly in its enclosure on Sunday, the zoo said yesterday. A preliminary finding following an autopsy suggests that it died of choking, the zoo said. A photo of the seven-year-old animal lying on the ground at the zoo was posted on social media, with the person who took the photo writing Hsiao Shun fell to the ground suddenly, vomited and stopped moving. A veterinarian checked Hsiao Shun and pronounced it dead. Hsiao Shun was the sixth offspring of a giraffe couple at Taipei Zoo. It was sent to Wanpi World for mating in 2013 under a giraffe conservation cooperation program with Taipei Zoo, in the hope of increasing the diversity of genes of giraffes in captivity.
ACADEMIA
Schools set up Pune center
National Chengchi University and Flame University of India have set up a Center for South Asian and Southeast Asian Studies, with the aim of making it an important platform for academic and policy exchanges between the two nations. The center was founded in Pune, the second-largest city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on Friday last week. It is tasked with promoting and integrating bilateral academic exchanges between Taiwan and India, said center executive director Liu Chi-feng (劉奇峰), a Taiwanese associate professor of politics at Flame University, adding that it should help promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Taiwanese and Indian students.
ENVIRONMENT
Flood control impresses
The mayor of the Philippine city of Dipolog yesterday proposed setting up a system between his city and Kaohsiung to exchange experiences in flood management in the face of challenges posed by extreme weather conditions. Dipolog Mayor Darel Dexter Uy brought up the idea while visiting a 4.5-hectare detention basin in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin District (三民) — one of 15 such facilities in the city that also serves as park. The detention ponds are effective in reducing rainwater runoff, as seen when meter-high floods in parts of Kaohsiung triggered by heavy rains late last month receded within one hour, said Han Jung-hua (韓榮華), acting head of the city’s Waters Resources Bureau. As climate change has made more extreme weather events inevitable, the emphasis in flood management should be shifted from flood prevention to disaster mitigation and evacuation, Han said while accompanying Uy on a tour of the pond. Uy said he planned the visit hoping to learn from Kaohsiung’s experience in flood management, because Dipolog has never made use of artificial flow control structures such as detention basins, despite being vulnerable to flooding.
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