■ AGRICULTURE
COA checks for salmonella
The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday said it would step up checks for salmonella after wire services recently reported that children could be infected with salmonella by touching pet food. The council’s Department of Animal Industry said it had been conducting regular inspections of pet food since the Pedigree dog food scare in 2004. However, most of the inspections have focused on checking for aflatoxin, melamine and heavy metal content, which pose a more serious health threat to pets than salmonella, the department said. Salmonella contamination is usually found in products before they are packaged, it said, adding that in many countries, checks for salmonella are conducted by manufacturers. However, to reassure pet owners, the department will use some of its aflatoxin-testing funds for carrying out salmonella testing, it said.
■ SOCIETY
Man ‘marries’ goddess
A man out of luck in earthly love has married a goddess after she ordered him to do so in a dream, a Chinese Television System (CTS) report said yesterday. The man, surnamed Lin, claimed the Lotus Fairy, a Taoist deity, started coming to him in his sleep after he went to her temple to seek her blessing following a series of failed relationships, CTS said. The goddess soon instructed Lin to marry her and to comply, the 40-year-old held a “wedding ceremony” in which a young woman holding a statue of the goddess stood in for the bride, the report said. Since the wedding, Lin has moved the statue to his home in central Taiwan to worship her and claimed that his “wife” has protected him from both illnesses and accidents, the report said.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Taipower fine overturned
The Taipei High Administrative Court on Tuesday ruled that Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) did not have to pay a fine imposed by the Taipei County Environmental Protection Bureau for failing to complete a nuclear waste storage project on time. The ruling said the bureau did not have right of jurisdiction to impose a NT$540 million (US$16.8 million) fine on Taipower. The bureau had imposed a series of fines on Taipower between 2007 and 2008 for allegedly violating the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法) and not submitting a contingency plan regarding the delay of the project, which was originally scheduled to be completed in 2006. The bureau can appeal the court’s decision.
■ CRIME
Man nabbed over road paint
The Taipei City Police Department’s criminal investigation corps yesterday said they had arrested a man who allegedly defaced roads by pouring and spreading white paint on them. Shen Lai-jing (沈賴敬), a 50-year-old carpenter, was arrested at his residence late on Tuesday night. Shen, who is suspected of defacing newly asphalted roads at 11 locations, only admitted to doing so at one location, but said it was not intentional. He said he had accidentally kicked off barrel of paint onboard his scooter while driving. “He said it was an accident and that no politics was involved. However, prosecutors will do more questioning and keep investigating,” corps deputy Lee Wen-chang (李文章) said. Shen was charged with vandalism, endangering public safety and obstructing the work of public servants. The city government last year launched a seven-year program to fix and repave the city’s major boulevards. Lee said fixing the damage caused by the paint at the 11 locations would cost the city NT$880,000.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
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