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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by