■ Crime
Argentina detains fishermen
Argentine navy officials captured a Taiwanese-flagged trawler for alleged illegal fishing in its waters, officials in Buenos Aires said in a statement on Tuesday. The boat, identified as Yuanfa No 16, was intercepted on Monday 199 nautical miles (368.5km) from Comodoro Rivadavia, in the southern province of Chubut, loaded with 39 tonnes of squid, they said. The crew of 27, hailing from China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam, did not offer resistance when informed they were fishing in Argentine waters, the statement said.
■ Health
Partying takes its toll
Partied-out New Year revellers have been seeking medical treatment in droves for colds, sore throats and other ailments sustained during New Year's Eve celebrations, according to Charles Tseng (曾哲凰) of Kaohsiung's Geetian Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital. Many of those who failed to dress warmly came down with colds, while some of those who welcomed the new year with loud cheers ended up with sore and inflamed throats, he said. Because most clinics were closed on Monday, patients had to wait until Tuesday for treatment, he said. He said more than 20 people turned up at his hospital on Tuesday, mostly as a result of the year-end party frenzy. The big crowds attending such events and the fact that Taiwan is in its peak flu season increased the likelihood of infection, he said.
■ Politics
Nicaragua trip not final
The Presidential Office yesterday said President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) possible trip to Nicaragua had not yet been finalized, despite media reports claiming that Chen was planning to make a stopover in Los Angeles on his way to the Central America ally. Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was still working on the details and nothing was final at this point. Ministry Spokesman David Wang (王建業) said details would be made public once everything was settled. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) and United Daily News both reported yesterday that Chen was scheduled to leave on a five-day journey to Nicaragua on Monday. The reports also said Chen might send an envoy to attend the inauguration of Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega on Wednesday. The Central News Agency yesterday quoted a source in Washington as saying that Los Angeles was not being considered for a transit stop. Taiwan's Representative to Washington David Lee (李大維) also said that the trip had not been finalized and he was still negotiating details with the US government.
■ Culture
International exhibit planned
The Taipei International Arts Village (TAV) will be hosting exhibitions featuring works by three international artists in residence this year. Poet Erik Lindner from Holland and visual artists William Attaway from the US and Higashiro Tetsushi from Japan were invited by the TAV's International Artist-in-Residence Program, which aims at providing a center in Taipei for bringing local and international artists together and facilitating intercultural collaboration. As the first international artist to stay at the TAV in 2001, Lindner said unique experiences during his stay, including Typhoon Nari, had inspired him and would be the topic of poems about his residence. The TAV exhibits are open to the public. Details can be found on the village's Web site, www.artistvillage.org
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
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