CRIME
Man caught with cetaceans
Coast Guard Administration personnel yesterday seized 97kg of cetacean meat from a Yunlin County man surnamed Lin (林), 54. They said that they found two heads belonging to cetaceans, but could not determine the species. Lin reportedly loaded the meat onto his truck in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港) and drove along Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3). Coast guard personnel stopped him at the rest area in Tainan’s Sinhua District (新化), where city officials collected samples of the meat from his truck and handed him over to police for breaching the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法). Coast guard personnel said that Lin might have been planning to sell the meat at seafood stores in Yunlin County. In July last year, Lin was caught transporting cetacean meat in Yilan County. Whales and dolphins are protected under the act, and those caught killing them face six months to five years in prison, or a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million (US$6,599 to NT$32,995).
CULTURE
Eslite auctioning collection
Eslite Bookstore’s Dunnan branch in Taipei is hosting an old book auction until April 15, as the three-decade-old outlet is to close on May 31. Established in 1989, the branch was the chain’s first store and made its name with books on arts and the humanities. The auction features a collection of art by Chinese painter Zhang Xiaogang (張曉剛), The Beatles: The BBC Archives 1962-1970 and US photographer Annie Leibovitz’s collection Annie Leibovitz: The Early Years,1970-1983, which includes the iconic photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono cuddling.
HEALTH
New Taipei extends closures
New Taipei City’s public spaces, sports centers and museums are to remain closed for another 14 days, after having been shut on March 20 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Ahead of the long Tomb Sweeping Day weekend, which begins today, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday said that containing the disease is the most important thing right now, especially when the number of people in home isolation or quarantine continues to rise. A total of 9,635 people in the city are in home quarantine, while the number of people using the city government’s online memorial services for ancestors has grown 40 percent from last year, city government data showed.
HEALTH
Doctor warns on screen use
A Taipei City Hospital doctor cautioned against the excessive use of digital devices, citing a case in which a woman, complaining of persistently seeing a shadow out of her left eye, was diagnosed with acute posterior vitreous detachment. Huang Che-hung (黃哲宏), an ophthalmologist at the hospital’s Heping branch, on Sunday said that the vitreous humor is a gel-like substance in the eye that can slowly liquify from age and use. The posterior vitreous, suffering from a lack of support, can then detach from the retina and shrink toward the center of the vitreous cavity. For the most part, posterior vitreous detachment would not affect a person’s vision, but it is irreversible, Huang said. If there are no complications, people should only see small dots like flies, he said. However, if a person experiences vitreomacular adhesion, or the strong adhesion of the vitreous to the retina, the condition could cause them to see lightning-like flashes, he said. If a person experiences any of these symptoms, they should consult a doctor, Huang said.
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
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
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