HOUSING
CPA plans Taoyuan units
The central government is aiming to build a public housing project in Taoyuan to help young adults acquire their own homes, a Ministry of the Interior agency said yesterday. The Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) said 20,000 units would be built near the Taoyuan Aerotropolis and along the route of the Taoyuan International Airport MRT for sale at affordable prices. In a report to the Cabinet, the agency said if the people who buy the units want to sell them later, the government will have first right to buy them back, or to set the prices and designate the buyers to prevent the units from ending up on the open market. Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) told yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that the core of the government’s housing policy is to achieve basic human rights, as stipulated in the Constitution, by creating a livable and dignified housing environment for all the people in the nation, while gradually moving toward the goal of housing justice.
TRAVEL
Australia targeting runners
A marathon along Australia’s famed Gold Coast will be the centerpiece of that nation’s latest tourism campaign in Taiwan as more Taiwanese are becoming interested in running events overseas, Queensland tourism officials said yesterday in Taipei. The annual Gold Coast Airport Marathon is seeing more runners from Taiwan, a momentum Australia hopes to capitalize on, said Kimberly Chien (簡明芬), marketing manager for Tourism Queensland’s local office. Since the office started promoting sports tourism activities about two years ago, more Taiwanese have shown an interest in the Gold Coast marathon, Chien said. She said 438 Taiwanese were among the 36,000 participants in last year’s race. Online registration for this year’s event, to be held July 4 and July 5, will continue through July 3, the office said, adding that 240 Taiwanese have already signed up. Chien said 111,000 Taiwanese tourists visited Australia last year.
SOCIETY
Bees invade jeans
Kaohsiung firefighters on Wednesday were called out to a Nanzih District (楠梓) home to remove thousands of bees that had clustered in a pair of the homeowner’s jeans hanging on a clothesline in a shed, apparently trying to build a hive. The man told firefighters that he had hung up his jeans on Sunday night and had discovered the swarm of bees on Tuesday after heavy overnight rain. Officials said nearly 4,000 bees were clinging to the jeans and firefighters were able to place the pair of jeans in a large plastic bag without disturbing the swarm. The firefighters then went to a nearby field and released the bee, without causing them any harm, authorities said.
HEALTH
Researchers announce find
National Taiwan University researchers have recently identified the key compound for the development of opioid tolerance. The researchers found that CXCL1, a protein produced by spinal cord tissue, contributes to opioid tolerance. “By neutralizing CXCL1 in patients, we might help solve the problem of opioid tolerance,” said Lin Chih-peng (林至芃), an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Anesthesiology. Once opioid tolerance is suppressed, doctors can help patients achieve prolonged pain relief without the side effects of increased dosages, he said. The findings by Lin and his colleagues were published in the March edition of the medical journal Anesthesiology.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
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