COVID-19
Cases drop below 10,000
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 7,745 new COVID-19 cases, the first time the daily caseload fell below 10,000 since April 27 last year, when the center reported 8,822 cases. It also reported 44 deaths from the disease. Yesterday’s daily caseload represented a 35.8 percent decline from a week earlier. Taiwan has recorded 10,033,108 COVID-19 cases and 17,908 deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020. The CECC has stopped providing daily updates on the age distribution and health status of the deceased, as well as the number of vaccine doses they received. It is also no longer releasing city and county case numbers daily.
CULTURE
Event marks 228 Incident
The Gongsheng Music Festival is to be held on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei this afternoon, featuring music performances, speeches and exhibitions that focus on the 228 Incident and transitional justice. The Taiwan Gongsheng Youth Association, the event organizer, has invited three family members of 228 Incident victims to share their stories. Elephant Gym (大象體操), Lin Sheng-xiang (林生祥), Panai and other performers are to take the stage from 4pm to 10pm. An exhibition is also scheduled at 3pm to teach about the Incident using oral history materials, photographs and film screenings. Several organizations, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and the Avanguard Publishing House, are to set up booths where visitors can learn about the Incident, as well as other issues relating to migrant workers, gender and the environment. Access to all of the activities at the festival is free to the public.
AGRICULTURE
Breeder chickens arrive
The nation has taken delivery of 50,000 imported breeder chickens as part of a plan to import 300,000 of the fowl this year to address a nationwide egg shortage, Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全), deputy head of the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Department of Animal Industry said yesterday. By increasing the number of imported egg-laying chickens, low-yield hens can be replaced, he said. The COA is to help egg farmers import egg-laying chickens to provide a sufficient supply and accelerate the replacement of aged hens. The COA said it would also import 5 million shell and liquid eggs by the end of next month to address the egg shortage. The nation imported 260,000 egg-laying chickens last year.
CRIME
Marine arrested in Pingtung
A marine was arrested in Pingtung County on Saturday while allegedly trying to sell a pistol and 20 bullets to an undercover police officer for NT$65,000. The 21-year-old soldier, surnamed Hsu (徐), and a man surnamed Teng (鄧) were arrested after police posing as arms buyers online arranged to meet the suspects at an indoor shrimp fishing restaurant, Fangliao Precinct Deputy Squadron Chief Hsieh Ming-pang (謝明邦) said. Along with the pistol and the bullets, police also seized two mobile phones and a vehicle from Hsu and Teng, Hsieh said. Prosecutors charged the pair with contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), police said, adding that they were released after posting bail of NT$100,000 each. Following the arrests, the navy said in a statement that the weapon seized from Hsu was not a service weapon, adding that no guns were missing from its armory. Soldiers found guilty of involvement in such activities are subject to substantial punishment along with dismissal, the navy said.
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
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