■MEDICINE
Cancer center sets up lab
Taipei Medical University Hospital’s Cancer Center has recently set up a laboratory for research, launching the “bench-to-bedside” approach that is aimed at turning scientific discoveries into practical applications. University president Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) said the new facility was expected to help upgrade Taiwan’s medical treatment expertise and quality. Chiu Chung-feng (邱仲峰), the lab’s executive director, said that unlike conventional medical laboratories, the new lab would focus on “translating” basic medical research into clinical treatments for various forms of cancer. Equipped with an advanced single-view 3D optical imaging system, the IVIS 200, the translational research lab allows researchers to observe cancer cells in the body of a living lab animal and enables experiments to more closely approach reality, the university said.
■HEALTH
Don’t count sheep: doctor
People who are unable to sleep should “stop counting sheep” and get out of bed if they cannot get to sleep 20 minutes after turning in, said Yang Chien-ming (楊建銘), an associate professor of psychology at National Chengchi University. He said that many people in Taiwan suffered from sleep problems that usually get worse as a result of common misconceptions about sleep. These misconceptions include the idea that strenuous exercise before bed aids restful sleep, he said, pointing out that this is incorrect, as intense physical activity does not help people go to sleep, but instead “awakens” the nervous system. He said if people found themselves tossing and turning for more than 20 minutes, they should get up and do something else until they feel sleepy.
■SOCIETY
Illustrators showcase work
Twenty-four award-winning Taiwanese illustrators will showcase their work at an annual international children’s book fair to be held in the Italian city of Bologna next week. All 24 of the illustrators have had their work commended by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair management over the past 20 years, said Linden Lin (林載爵), chairman of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation, which is organizing the Taiwan pavilion activities at the Bologna book fair scheduled for tomorrow through Thursday. Artist Hsu Su-hsia (徐素霞) saw her work cited in the 1989 event, making her the first Taiwanese artist to win such an honor. Since then, 23 Taiwanese artists have won similar recognition at the fair, one of the world’s most important international illustration competitions. Lin said 21 local children’s book publishing companies would showcase a collection of more than 400 titles in the upcoming Bologna fair.
■CRIME
Kinmen obtains drug dog
Kinmen County obtained its first-ever drug sniffer dog yesterday to help with its narcotics detection operations. The two-year-old black Labrador, Tango, was put into service at customs in Kinmen’s Shuitou Port shortly after it arrived from Kaohsiung City, said Huang Chu-chang (黃鉅昌), head of the Kinmen branch of the Kaohsiung Customs Office. Since direct ferry links between Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands and several ports in China’s Fujian Province were expanded to include people from Taiwan proper in June last year, the number of passengers using the service, commonly known as the mini links, has reached 3,500 per day, Huang said. As a result, there has been an increase in drug trafficking across the Taiwan Strait via the two outlying islands, which underscores Kinmen’s need to step up its anti-drug inspections, Huang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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