■SCIENCE
Astronomy exhibit to open
The National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall announced yesterday that it would hold a one-month astronomy exhibition next month as part of the world’s celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. “The exhibition will take visitors on a galactic adventure that is full of surprises,” the institution said in a statement. The exhibition, called “2009 Scientific Season: 400 Years of Observing the Universe,” will be held from Aug. 8 to Sept. 13. It will be composed of several theme rooms, including “galaxy passage,” “stories of the sky” and “astronomy history hall,” the organizer said. Admission to the exhibit is free. Visit www.astronomy2009.tw for more information.
■ANIMALS
Volunteer training opens
The Council of Agriculture is seeking volunteers for its animal protection volunteers training program, which will be held from this month to September. There are four kinds of training programs: entry-level and mid-level classes, a study group for professional managers of volunteers and a seminar on promoting effective communication between volunteers and coordinators. Visit the Chinese-language Web site volunteer.apatw.com/index.html for more information.
■CRIME
Technician killed in Luzon
A Taiwanese agricultural technician working at a farm in Pangasinan province on the Philippine island of Luzon was allegedly stabbed to death on Thursday by a Filipino worker on the same farm, Philippine police said yesterday. According to an initial investigation by authorities, 60-year-old Chou Guang-liang (周光亮) from Taiwan, employed as a technical consultant by Harbest Agribusiness Corporation, was allegedly stabbed to death by a 24-year-old suspect, Roel Palikpik. A female employee at Harbest told the Central News Agency that Chou began working on the Pangasinan farm on Tuesday after being transferred by the company from a farm in Cavite province south of Manila. She said Chou staggered into the office on Thursday morning asking for help. Blood poured through his hands as he covered his chest. “No one witnessed the incident, and the suspect was arrested at a bus stop near Dagupan, preparing to flee to the countryside,” she said. Chou was proclaimed dead after being rushed to a hospital for emergency treatment. It is believed that Chou and the suspect were co-workers on the Cavite farm and that Chou told other workers that there was long-standing enmity between them.
■ENVIRONMENT
Billions of bottles consumed
Statistics compiled by the Environmental Protection Administration showed that consumers in Taiwan buy about 4.6 billion beverages in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic containers annually, an average of 200 bottles per person. Strung together, the bottles would circle the island 223 times and circle the globe 6.3 times, local environmentalists said on Friday. Bottled tea held the biggest share of beverages sold in plastic bottles, about three times the 1.1 billion bottles of mineral water sold annually in Taiwan. But it is the sale of bottled water that has particularly raised environmentalists’ ire. They urged local consumers to stop buying bottled water and instead drink boiled tap water using their own cups or containers, especially as the idea of rejecting bottled water is gaining momentum in the international community. Environmental activists contended that bottled water, though transparent, actually represents black crude oil.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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