■ Society
Bear severely injures child
A three-year-old boy was critically injured yesterday after a caged circus bear nearly ripped off his arm in southern Taiwan, a hospital official said. Doctors performed emergency surgery to reattach the right arm of the boy, who was found lying in a pool of blood by the bear's cage on a farm where a circus from Vietnam was performing, an official from Chi Mei Hospital said. Farm staff said the boy, who went to see the bear perform stunts like riding a bicycle, might have provoked the animal by trying to pat it. The incident occurred while his mother was talking to performers. The performance was suspended after the attack. The boy's parents blamed the farm owners for the attack for failing to put up warning signs in front of the bear's cage, local newspapers said.
■ Society
Book on sex slaves launched
Taiwan's first book about "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops in World War II, was launched earlier this week. The book, titled Silent Scars: History of Sexual Slavery by the Japanese Military, includes more than 200 photos featuring the women, the Japanese brothels in which they were imprisoned and articles about the feelings of these women. According to statistics, some 20,000 women were used as sex slaves by the Japanese military during World War II, most of whom came from China, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and other Asian countries. Some 2,000 came from Taiwan. The Japanese government has consistently refused to apologize to the "comfort women."
■ Society
Teen hero gets cash award
A courageous 13-year old junior-high school student, surnamed Lee, was awarded NT$20,000 by the Chiayi Police Bureau yesterday in recognition of his bravery in foiling a bank robbery a day earlier. Lee saw the would-be bank robber enter the Talin branch of Chiayi Fourth Credit Cooperative as he was passing by the bank on Monday afternoon. He grabbed the suspect around the neck and then several tellers helped overpowered the man. The robber had been armed with a home-made handgun. Chiayi Mayor Chen Li-chen (陳麗貞) and Police Commissioner Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩) held a citation ceremony for Lee at his school yesterday morning and presented him with the cash award. Lee's classmates expressed admiration for his bravery and quick thinking, calling him a hero. Lee also won praise from his father, although his mother suggested that he should not put his own safety at risk again if faced with a similar situation in the future.
■ Society
Doctors celebrate `rebirth'
Doctors at Kaohsiung's Veterans General Hospital joined the family of a man yesterday to celebrate his "rebirth" from a near-fatal traffic accident in which his heart was ruptured and stopped. Over a month ago, Chien Chao-yi (簡朝益) was sent to the emergency unit of the hospital after a serious motorcycle accident. When he reached the hospital, doctors found that his breathing and heart had stopped. The doctors diagnosed a ruptured heart and opened the patient's chest without anaesthetic and without obtaining permission from his family to do the operation. Ye Wen-bin (葉文彬), a surgeon, said he and his colleagues felt they had time to save Chien's life, so they proceeded with the surgery, while Chang Hung-tai (張宏泰), who was one of the surgical team, said the survival rate for similar cases is less than 2 percent.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by