■ Diplomacy
Nicaragua gets medical aid
A medical advisory team sent by the Department of Health to Nicaragua will donate medical goods and equipment worth NT$2 million (US$60,420) to the Central American country as part of Taiwan's "medical diplomacy," a department spokesman said yesterday. He said the experts would donate basic medicines, anti-epidemic disease materials and orthopedic devices and equipment during their stay in Nicaragua, which ends next Wednesday. The medical diplomacy program is based on a consensus reached in talks between the Nicaraguan Minister of Health Juana Maritza Cuan and Health Minister Ho Sheng-mao (侯勝茂), who accompanied President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on a visit to Nicaragua in January.
■ Sport
`Adoption service' launched
The Kaohsiung city government has launched an "adoption service" to encourage colleges and communities to get behind the various sports and participating countries of the 2009 World Games as a means of drumming up local identification with and support of the Games. Chen Yi-heng (陳以亨), Chief executive officer of the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) , said such adoptions would help citizens better understand the World Games, which will bring together 3,200 competitors from more than 100 participating countries to compete in 26 official and 12 invitational events from July 16 to 26, 2009. Colleges and communities that adopt events or participating countries will be responsible for cheering on adopted countries and hosting athletes during the 11-day event.
■ Crime
Police team up to fight fraud
South Korea will send police officers to Taiwan to work with the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in the fight against cross-border fraud, a CIB officer said yesterday. According to the officer, South Korea pays great attention to fighting cross-border fraud, as more and more South Koreans have become victims. Two Taiwanese fraudsters who flew to South Korea in January to teach fraud skills to criminals there were arrested on Thursday by the CIB when they returned via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The two arrested men worked for Chinese fraud rings as "drivers" -- which means they would withdraw money using the identities of victims whose personal information had been stolen. According to the officer, Taiwan's police have made good progress in their anti-fraud work, so now cross-border fraud rings have targeted South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, sending Taiwanese "drivers" to these countries to teach fraud skills. South Korean police have arrested dozens of Taiwanese "drivers" since the beginning of the year, the officer said.
■ Arts
Huqin players wanted
Around 1,200 people are slated to take part in an event on April 28 as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center, which comprises the National Theater and the National Concert Hall in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Complex in downtown Taipei. The event, to be organized by the Chai Found Music Workshop at the plaza of the complex, aims to challenge the Guinness World Record for the largest number of people simultaneously playing the huqin (胡琴), a Chinese string instrument, according to the organizers. They called on all those interested in taking part to apply before April 15.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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