POLITICS
DPP appeals for Wu, Hong
Eleven Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday urged Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) to file an extra appeal against a final ruling involving senior DPP politicians Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) and Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌) in the sale of a Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar) property in 2004. The Taiwan High Court on March 13 upheld a ruling that Wu, who was chairman of Taisugar in 2003, had violated Taisugar’s rental-only policy and sentenced him to three years and 10 months in prison, while Hong was given two years and four months for lobbying. The DPP lawmakers said that the policy regulating state-owned enterprises’ public land leases and superficies was abolished on March 2001, before the property deal was made. Hong argued that he had not interfered in the real-estate deal, while Wu said the sale was completed six months after he had left Taisugar and that he was not the main individual responsible for the deal.
HEALTH
Toys fail safety tests: bureau
Four out of 20 samples of inflatable toys tested in southern Taiwan were found to contain excessive amounts of plasticizer, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection said recently. The substandard items, picked at random in Greater Kaohsiung and Pingtung County in the run-up to the summer season, when water activities are popular, contained plasticizer at levels 200 to 500 times higher than the national safety limit of 0.1 percent, the bureau said. In addition, 11 of the items were not labeled in accordance with the Commodity Inspection Act (商品檢驗法), with infringements such as mislabeling of the toys’ names and age limits, and failing to identify the materials used, place of origin, names of the importer and manufacturer and safety warnings, the bureau said. Fines of NT$100,000 (US$3,340) to NT$1 million can be imposed on dealers who fail to recall the substandard items and make corrections, it added.
CULTURE
All-female troupe to perform
The all-female Japanese musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue will be performing for the first time in Taiwan this month as the group marks its 99th anniversary, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday. More than 40 troupe members will perform at the National Theater from Saturday to April 14, the ministry said, adding that a Japanese parliamentary delegation would also arrive for Saturday’s performance. The troupe is scheduled to meet with Japan’s representative in Taipei today, according to the Taipei office of the Interchange Association, Japan.
CULTURE
Israeli bands at festival
Nine Israeli bands and individual artists will join the Spring Scream music festival in southern Taiwan via the Internet, the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said yesterday. The musicians will give a six-hour concert in Tel Aviv that will start at 6pm tomorrow, and local viewers will be able to watch the live performance on a big screen set up at the music festival’s venue in Kenting (墾丁), the office said. It will be the first time for foreign musicians to give a live performance at the music bash via the Internet, the office said. Israeli DJ Orly Yaakobi will be in Taiwan to host the six-hour performance and introduce the acts to the local audience, it said. This year’s Spring Scream is scheduled to run from today to Sunday at Kenting’s Oluanpi Lighthouse National Park. The festival will feature about 250 bands and DJs on eight stages, the organizers said.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
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