SOCIETY
Tuan Tuan had seizures
The male giant panda Tuan Tuan (團團) on Thursday received medication after suffering four seizures and was being given intensive medical care, the Taipei Zoo said yesterday. The first seizure occurred at 4:41pm and lasted about two minutes, and the three subsequent ones each lasted about 90 seconds, veterinarian Cheng Chiu-hung (鄭秋虹) said. The zoo could not determine whether the epileptic fits were triggered by a brain lesion that he was diagnosed with in September, or discomfort in his digestive tract, said Lai Yen-hsueh (賴燕雪), the zoo’s chief veterinarian. The panda was suffering from weakness in his hind limbs, a problem that the zoo hoped would be gradually alleviated with treatment, said Wang I-min (王怡敏), head of the zoo’s animals division.
CRIME
River deaths verdict out
A woman who organized an outing to the Hubaotan (虎豹潭) area in New Taipei City has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence, with five years probation, for the deaths of six members of the group in a flooded river last year. The Keelung District Court said in a statement on Thursday that the woman, surnamed Su (蘇), was found guilty of failing to give proper instructions and leading the 28 group members to safety when the Beishi River (北勢溪) flooded during heavy rains on Oct. 16 last year. Two adults and four children were swept away by the river surge and were later found dead by rescuers. Su admitted to negligence, the court said, adding that she had paid nearly NT$6 million (US$192,493) in compensation to the families of the deceased before the trial. The sentence can be appealed. The court statement said that some of the deceased family members had agreed to clemency for Su during the hearing.
CRIME
Eight charged over cannabis
Taoyuan prosecutors have indicted eight suspects following the seizure of a large stash of cannabis plants earlier this year. The 4,218 seized marijuana plants — believed to be the largest seizure in the nation’s history — alongside finished or semi-finished cannabis products, was estimated to have a market value of NT$1.26 billion, Longtan Precinct told a news conference. Police said they tracked down the prime suspect, identified as Wu (吳), and an accomplice, surnamed Ke (柯), and seized the marijuana plants on a nearly 3,000m2 farm near an army base in Longtan District (龍潭) on Sept. 20, a week after receiving a tip-off. Wu, a flower trader who had links to organized crime, had imported marijuana seeds and taught himself how to plant them, an initial police investigation found. Wu also allegedly hired six undocumented migrant workers from Indonesia to help him and Ke on the plantation. All eight were arrested during the raid in September.
CRIME
Eel smugglers arrested
Authorities at Kaohsiung International Airport on Wednesday seized more than 60,000 live young eels that two Taiwanese travelers were attempting to smuggle out of the country, police said yesterday. The 66,120 glass eels were in the luggage of the travelers, surnamed Yang (楊) and Hung (洪), who were booked on a flight to Hong Kong, the Kaohsiung precinct of the Aviation Police Bureau said in a press release. The ray-finned eels were packed in 12 sealed plastic bags that contained water, and there were about 2,755 eels in each bag, which were found by inspectors when suspicious images showed up on the luggage scanners, airport police said. The case has been handed over to the Fisheries’ Agency for further investigation, the bureau said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
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