MILITARY
Chinese balloon detected
A Chinese balloon was detected floating across the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday evening, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The balloon was detected at 11:19pm on Tuesday about 63 nautical miles (117km) northwest of Keelung, the ministry said in a news release. It said the balloon floated east at an altitude of about 3,658m before disappearing at 2:05am yesterday. In the 24 hours ending at 6am yesterday, eight Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and three naval vessels were detected around Taiwan, including one that entered the nation’s southwest air defense identification zone, the ministry said. It stated that military mission aircraft, vessels and coastal defense cruise missiles were deployed to closely monitor and respond to the situation. The ministry has reported four instances of Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait this month.
HEALTH
FDA recalls cream
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday issued a recall notice on six batches of a cream for treating skin diseases, named Amelon Cream “Everest” (Prismasol B0 solution for haemofiltration and haemodialysis), as it was found to have lower concentration of an active ingredient than the originally approved specifications. The recalled batch numbers are: P0102801, P0303302, P0605603, P0605704, P1002705, H02065012. They consist of 85,747 tubes. The FDA’s Web site shows that the cream can be used for treating skin infections caused by trichophyton, dermatophyte, mold, gram-positive bacteria and candidiasis such as onychomycosis, tinea capitis, tinea versicolor, tinea pedis (athlete’s foot) and candidal vulvovaginitis. FDA Deputy Director Cheng Hwei-fang (陳惠芳) said the cream product has a validity period of years, but when examining a product from batch No. P0102801 this month in a stability test, it was found with a concentration of the active ingredient lower than the approved specifications, so the product is being recalled. She said about 11,000 tubes of the drug were used in the National Health Insurance system, with a market share of about 3.46 percent, and as there are alternative drugs, the recall is not expected to cause a shortage.
HEALTH
Avian flu detected in Chiayi
More than 12,000 geese were culled yesterday at a farm in Chiayi County’s Dalin Township (大林), as they were confirmed to be infected with avian flu, the Chiayi County Livestock Disease Control Center (LDCC) said yesterday. Some of the geese at the farm died of unknown reasons last week, so the owner informed the local agriculture department, and while movement control was implemented, specimens were collected and sent to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute for examination. The test result came back yesterday showing that the geese were infected with highly pathogenic subtype H5N1 avian flu virus. As a result, more than 12,000 geese were culled starting at 6am yesterday, followed by disinfection of the farm and surrounding areas. Chiayi County LDCC Director Lin Pei-ju (林珮如) said the center received the report from the farm at about 4pm on Friday last week, and inspectors were immediately sent to assess the situation. As the geese at the farm are breeding geese that have been kept for one year or longer, they are bigger, and the culling and disinfection operation would take longer than usual and was expected to continue until midnight, Lin said.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
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