MILITARY
US outlines jet issues
The US Air Force “continues to explore all options to prioritize and expedite” sales of F-16s to Taiwan, an official said on Wednesday in response to concern expressed by US lawmakers. US Air Force Assistant Secretary Andrew Hunter responded to a letter from lawmakers expressing concern that delivery of the fighter jets promised to Taiwan might be undercut by expanding “regional security concerns around the world,” including competing US commitments to Ukraine and Israel. US House of Representatives members said that delays in a program to retrofit Taiwan’s existing F-16s were approaching three years due to a lack of key parts, while delivery of 66 new aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp has been delayed “by over 15 months due to software development complexities.” Hunter wrote that the program to retrofit F-16s “has delivered 136 aircraft, with the remaining three forecast for delivery” shortly.
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Abiding Nowhere’ makes cut
Abiding Nowhere (無所住), a new film by Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), is to be screened as part of a special program at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The festival on Wednesday announced the titles to be screened at its Berlinale Special, a program which also includes Cuckoo, a horror film written and directed by Tilman Singer. Abiding Nowhere is the 10th installation in Tsai’s Walker series, a suite of meditative performance films that capture Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng (李康生), dressed as a Buddhist monk, traversing public and private spaces in cities around the world.
WEATHER
Snow falls on Taipingshan
Snow fell in Taiwan on Thursday for the first time this winter on Taipingshan (太平山) in Yilan County as the temperature there plunged to minus-6°C. The owl sculpture at the Taiping Villa plaza, which is about 2,000m above sea level, was covered in a thin layer of snow, said Juan Ming-yang (阮名揚), a staff member at the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area management center. The wind at the villa was strong, but the snowfall was not intense, Juan said. Several enthusiastic snow chasers stayed in the villa overnight, but most of the 1,000 visitors on Thursday were urged to leave as early as possible due to concerns that icy roads could hinder their drive down the mountain, Juan said. The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Yilan branch, which runs the recreation area, said that there was about 1cm of snow at the villa and Cueifong Lake area early yesterday morning.
CRIME
Heroin user sentenced
A Miaoli County man surnamed Hsu (徐) was sentenced to 50 days in prison after being found guilty of negligence leading to his four-year-old son being poisoned by heroin, the Miaoli District Court said this week. The sentence can be commuted to a fine and the ruling can be appealed. Hsu, a tattoo artist, in February last year caused serious, permanent injuries to the child after leaving heroin on a coffee table in a hair salon where he was working on a client, the court said. Hsu had used the heroin and had fallen asleep after completing his work, leaving his son with access to the drug, the court said. The child’s urine tested positive for morphine and codeine, it said. The child was paralyzed, and lost speech and movement abilities due to lesions on the brain from ingesting the drug, the court said, citing a doctor’s report.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese