■ National Security
Spy returns from China
A former intelligence agent once declared dead by the Bureau of Intelligence returned to Taipei on Friday after spending 27 years in prison in China. Lee Chun-min (李俊敏) left the airport security area surrounded by a wall of Aviation Police and officers from the National Security Bureau and Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB), according to reports in the Chinese-language China Times. Lee did not say anything to reporters, who were kept at arms length by his escorts, the paper said. Lee was instructed not to talk to the media by MIB personnel, the paper said, although his wife said she was glad to have her husband back.
■ Health
Teen died of flu, DOH says
An 18-year-old student who died in Kaohsiung last Sunday has been confirmed as this year's first influenza fatality. The Department of Health said on Friday that the student became ill on Nov. 26 and died of respiratory difficulties, pneumonia and multiple organ failure a week later. Center for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chou Chih-hao (周志浩) said that this year's flu season is more severe than last year's. "Those who fall ill should try to stay at home and rest once they've been to see a doctor," Chou said. "Face masks and frequent hand washing also help prevent the virus from spreading."
■ Crime
Pigeon smugglers nabbed
Two men were arrested yesterday on a freighter in Putai Port, Chiayi County, with 179 stud pigeons smuggled from China they planned to sell in Taiwan, coast guard officials said. According to police, the men said the pigeons were worth nearly NT$20 million (US$617,280).
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
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