■SOCIETY
Group to visit from US
A delegation of more than 1,000 members of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in New York is slated to visit Taiwan to attend the Double Ten Day celebrations. The delegation will be the largest from the association to visit for the national day activities in the last eight years. Kenneth Liao (廖港民), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, expressed his appreciation on Friday for the association’s strong show of support for Taiwan, during a flag-presentation ceremony for the delegation held at the association’s headquarters. Speaking at the ceremony, association president Justin Yu (于金山) said the delegation did not include large numbers of Taiwanese-Americans in the greater New York area who also intended to return to Taiwan on their own for the celebrations. He said such a high level of support had rarely been seen during the Democratic Progressive Party administration.
■SPORTS
Kaohsiung arena finished
Kaohsiung inaugurated its new sports stadium yesterday in preparation for the 2009 World Games. Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said the dome-shaped arena, a multipurpose complex with a seating capacity of 15,000, took four years to complete. The central and city governments spent NT$1.5 billion (US$46.8 million), while the Kaohsiung Arena Development Corp, an affiliate of the Kaohsiung-based China Steel Corp, built the stadium at a total cost of approximately NT$7.9 billion. In addition to sports competitions, the stadium can be used as a venue for concerts and art exhibitions. Next year’s World Games will be held from July 16 to 26. The dance sports and gymnastics competitions will be held at the Kaohsiung Arena.
■HEALTH
Tainted bookends not here
The lead-tainted Harry Potter bookends recalled recently by a US importer are not sold in Taiwan, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection said yesterday. However, individuals who have bought similar products are advised to report them, the bureau said in a statement. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall on Tuesday in cooperation with the importer, Giftco Inc, after discovering that the paint on the bookends contained excessive lead. The bookends, in the shape of characters from the Harry Potter book series, were manufactured in Hong Kong and sold at elementary school fundraising events and discount and dollar stores in the US from June 2004 to January 2006.
■HEALTH
Kids lack balanced diets
Only 0.6 percent of elementary school students nationwide eat nutritionally balanced dinners. Kids are not getting enough fruits and vegetables, a survey conducted by Taipei Medical University Hospital showed. The survey, which interviewed 1,016 third to sixth grade students at nine schools countrywide this month, found that less than 30 percent of respondents ate either vegetables or fruit with dinner each day. Children should eat at least two servings of fruit, two servings of vegetables, four servings of grains and three servings of meat, eggs, or fish each day, said Su Hsiu-yueh (蘇秀悅), chief nutritionist at the hospital. Below-average academic performance may be related to poor nutrition, Su said, as the survey shows that more than 53 percent of respondents with low school grade eat fast food for dinner at least once a week, Su said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
SECURITY RISK: A university student sent a general alarm signal to THSRC’s control center on April 5, causing four operating trains to temporarily halt services The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday pledged to submit a report on ways to harden the communication security of railway systems after a university student hacked into Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) radio communications system and disrupted operations of four high-speed rail trains last month. Investigation by the police and prosecutors found that the university student and radio enthusiast, surnamed Lin (林), first used a software-defined radio (SDR) filter to analyze THSRC signals, downloaded the data to a computer, cracked the parameters and then programmed the codes into his radio devices. Lin then sent a general alarm signal to
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