HEALTH
VICP pays out for hair loss
A woman who lost all her hair after she was vaccinated against COVID-19 would receive a payout of NT$30,000, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) said yesterday. While there was no conclusive evidence directly linking her hair loss to the Moderna vaccine she received, she would be given compensation based on her medical records and tests, it said. The woman, who is in her 40s and lives in New Taipei City, began losing her hair after she was vaccinated, it said, without providing dates. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said that hair loss can be caused by several factors, including psychological problems, stress and autoimmune disorders. However, those conditions can be triggered by vaccines, she said. The decision to give the woman NT$30,000 was reached on July 27 during a VICP meeting at which 150 cases were discussed and compensation of NT$5,000 to NT$30,000 was awarded to 23 people.
CRIME
Sixteen arrested over death
Sixteen suspects have been arrested after a 19-year-old was beaten to death in New Taipei City, allegedly over a debt dispute, law enforcement officials said on Friday. Three of the 16 suspects are minors, and the youngest is only 13, the officials said. The victim, surnamed Chen (陳), allegedly owed one of the suspects, also surnamed Chen, NT$70,000. At 2am on Thursday, Mackay Memorial Hospital’s branch in Tamsui District (淡水) reported that the victim had bruises and wounds all over his body and it considered his death more complicated than it seemed, they said. An investigation found that the victim had met his creditor at a car wash on Wednesday, the officials said. While there, he was beaten by his creditor and other suspects, before being taken to a rental apartment in Tamsui where he died, they said. The 16 suspects were arrested in Tamsui, Lujhou (蘆洲) and Wugu (五股) districts on Thursday and Friday, the officials said, adding that after being questioned they were handed over to prosecutors on suspicion of committing homicide. The three minors were sent to the juvenile court, they added.
DIPLOMACY
Taipei helps rebuild Ukraine
A kindergarten in Ukraine that was damaged during Russian attacks reopened to students on Thursday with the help of funding from Taiwan. The school, named Ruta, in the northern city of Irpin, was rebuilt through the joint efforts of the Taiwanese and Lithuanian governments, under an initiative implemented via the latter’s Central Project Management Agency (CPMA). Taiwan’s contribution of 1.2 million euros (US$1.3 million) went mainly toward the purchase of furniture and equipment, and landscaping for the playground and surroundings, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Facebook on Friday. Reconstruction of the three-story school took eight months, and it can now accommodate 400 kindergarten students, the CPMA said. In June, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was donating US$5 million to the CPMA to assist with reconstruction efforts in Ukraine, which included the rebuilding of the kindergarten in Irpin. On Friday, Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) said children are a nation’s future and should not be deprived of their right to education because of the aggression of a totalitarian state. Taiwan is honored to be working with Lithuania to assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine, he said.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
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