■ Society
Lin ready to give back
In her first public appearance in more than three months, the nation's top model Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) told a packed Taipei press conference yesterday she was considering establishing a charitable foundation "to pay back society" for all it has given her. Lin, who broke six ribs in a horse riding accident in China on July 8, looked pert and cheerful as she told reporters that she'd beaten doctors' estimates that her recovery would take six months. "I was lucky," she said. "I've recovered well in three months." Lin, 32, said she was particularly interested in helping the sick and needy. "I've grown up in love," she said. "It would be a wonderful thing if [I] could give love and care to those who are ill."
PHOTO: HUANG PO-JUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
■ Media
Evening paper says adieu
The evening newspaper the China Times Express folded yesterday, becoming the latest victim of the dominance of electronic media. In its farewell issue yesterday, the 18-year-old Chinese-language China Times Express thanked its readers for their support and apologized for ceasing publication, citing fallen subscriptions due to competition from electronic media. In 1999, Taiwan had four evening papers. All but one, United Evening News, have folded due to competition from daily print newspapers, online newspapers and 24-hour TV news broadcasts. The China Times Express belongs to the China Times Group which publishes the China Times daily, the Commercial Times daily and the China Times Weekly magazine. The print competition heated up in 2003 when Hong Kong-based Apple Daily launched in Taiwan. Within two years, the 85-page tabloid-style paper has won more than 30 percent of the nation's newspaper market.
■ Cross-strait ties
Lying immigrants on the rise
Illegal Chinese immigrants are increasingly entering the country not by being smuggling in, but by getting visas from the Taiwanese government under false pretenses, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu (劉德勳) said. "The illegal immigrants come into Taiwan in the name of getting married, visiting their relatives, vacationing or working with fishermen," Liu said. Liu said that the government detained 893 illegal Chinese immigrants during the first nine months of this year, 739 of whom are male. Liu said that the crackdown on illegal immigration from China has had a deterrent effect.
■ Health
Hepatitis drug to be covered
Doctors from Chung Gung Memorial Hospital yesterday announced that the newest generation of treatment for hepatitis, called Pegasys, will be covered under the national insurance as of today. In Taiwan, hepatitis is a serious problem affecting 3 million people and ranking 6th among the top 10 causes of death. "If untreated, hepatitis will lead to the hardening of the liver, and eventually cancer," said Chien Rong-nan (簡榮南), chief of the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hepato-Gastroenterology at Chung Gung Memorial Hospital in Keelung. Pegasys, produced by the Swiss company Roche, is injected into the patient once a week. According to Chien, it boosts the immune system and counters the virus in the bloodstream.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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