HEALTHCARE
Pilgrims sickened
At least 70 worshipers out of thousands participating in a pilgrimage of the sea goddess Matsu in Pingtung County were taken to hospitals on Saturday, possibly due to food poisoning, local health authorities said. The county’s Public Health Bureau said it received a report at 4:42pm that many pilgrims taking part in the event, lasting from Friday through yesterday in southern Taiwan, had fallen ill. As of 8:30pm, 29 people remained hospitalized at Fooyin University Hospital and Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital, while the rest were discharged after being treated, the bureau said. It added that it has started on-site investigations to see if there have been contraventions of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法). A Matsu devotee surnamed Chen (陳) said he started vomiting and had diarrhea after eating food at a local temple in the afternoon. He said he later went to a hospital and learned that many others had developed similar symptoms.
HEALTHCARE
FDA warns on eyedrops
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised the public not to buy eye drops or artificial tears from unknown sources in other countries or online. FDA Deputy Director-General Cheng Hwei-fang (陳惠芳) said the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in February warned “consumers and healthcare practitioners not to purchase and to immediately stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears or Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears due to potential bacterial contamination,” during the manufacturing and packing process in India. Using contaminated artificial tears increases the risk of eye infections that could result in blindness or death, the USFDA said. The USFDA issued recalls between late October and the middle of last month for 28 types of artificial tears and eye drops by seven brands — CVS Health, Leader, Rugby, Rite Aid, Target, Velocity Pharma LLC and Walmart — none of which have been authorized for import, sale or use in Taiwan, Chen said. He urged the public not to buy the products in other countries or online. The US authorities are planning to recall all unexpired products from the brands made from last month until September 2025, he said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Big Kaohsiung show planned
The Kaohsiung City Government has announced that its annual New Year’s Eve celebration is to feature a fireworks show lasting four minutes, one of the city’s biggest-ever displays. The New Year’s Eve party is to take place at Dream Mall starting from 6:30pm on Dec. 31, with the stepped-up firework display beginning after the New Year countdown, it said, adding that the show is to last 60 seconds longer than last year and more than 7,000 fireworks are to be set off. This would also be the first time the city combines its Christmas and New Year celebrations in an attempt to create a joyful end-of-the-year atmosphere, it said. Christmas decorations, including a 20m-tall Christmas tree and a more than 5m-tall reindeer, are to be put up in the city’s Central Park. An event is also to be held there on Dec. 22 and 23, featuring more than 250 stalls and performances, it said. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said Kaohsiung is set to have an eventful December, with the “Open Your Dream” balloon parade being held on Saturday, and the “Open Run” road running race and the performance of the “Orange Devils” — Kyoto Tachibana Senior High School’s marching band — scheduled for Sunday.
‘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
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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