HEALTH
New outbreak in Yunlin
A bird flu outbreak was reported in Yunlin County for the second time this month, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said on Sunday. The two outbreaks were confirmed within a week of each other, resulting in the culling of 26,535 chickens, the bureau said. The latest outbreak occurred at a Mailiao Township (麥寮) farm, the bureau said. It said tests on specimens from the farm found that it was infected with the highly pathogenic type B strain of the H5N2 avian flu virus. All 2,672 chickens being raised in enclosures were culled, it added. On Wednesday last week a Dounan Township (斗南) poultry farm confirmed it had the same strain of the virus and 23,863 chickens there were culled.
OBITURARY
PFP’s Chin dies at 69
People First Party (PFP) secretary-general Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生) died of a heart attack on Sunday at the age of 69, the party announced yesterday. Chin was exercising outdoors in the morning when he had a heart attack, the party said. It added that it would provide any necessary assistance to Chin’s family to arrange for his funeral. Chin devoted most of his life to public service and had a good relationship with political figures across party lines, including former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), senior Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
WEATHER
Temperatures to drop
A cold air mass from China is expected to reach Taiwan on Saturday, with temperatures in northern areas forecast to drop to 13?C, the Central Weather Bureau said. The cold front is expected to affect Taiwan on Saturday and Sunday, with temperatures dropping to about 15?C in the south and 13?C in the north, the bureau said. Daytime temperatures are expected to be about 16?C in the northeast, 20?C in central Taiwan and Hualien County, and 22?C in the south and Taitung County, the bureau said.
TRADE
Taiwan seeks deeper EU ties
Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday expressed hope that the Italian government will support Taiwan’s bid for deeper trade and economic relations with the EU, and asked visiting Italian lawmakers to back Taipei’s efforts. Chen made the remarks after meeting with an Italian delegation headed by Giuseppe Romanini, a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, at the Presidential Office Building earlier in the day. He said that Taiwan, which wants to improve its industrial competitiveness, has been over the past several years sparing no efforts in seeking free-trade agreements with its major trade partners, which include the EU, Taiwan’s fifth-largest trade partner, Chen said.
AVIATION
CAL business class praised
China Airlines’ (CAL) new Airbus A350 business class section has won praise by TheDesignAir Web site, winning the Best New Business Class and Best Business Class Design awards for last year. The cabin was praised as a design that “reflects the 777 cabin, but with an all-new color, and trim and new hard product details.” “The original cabin was designed by Ray Chen, but the China Airlines design team have added flourishes to act as a point of difference between the A350 and the Boeing 777-300ER business class cabins,” TheDesignAir Web site said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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