INCIDENT
Two dead after explosion
An explosion at Juei Feng Aluminium Co’s plant in Kaohsiung yesterday morning has left two Thai workers dead and six others injured. The Kaohsiung Fire Bureau said eight workers were rushed to local hospitals after the explosion at 8:23am. One of the workers, 37, was declared dead upon arrival, while a second, a man in his 50s, was found without vital signs, and declared dead after attempts to revive him failed, officials said. Of the remaining six injured, one was still being treated by doctors, three were recuperating in hospital, and two were discharged. Kaohsiung’s Labor Affairs Bureau said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation, but that moisture is thought to have come into contact with molten aluminum due to a faulty control system. The bureau has ordered Juei Feng to suspend operations and fined the company NT$300,000 for contraventions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).
WEATHER
Nation saw highs of 32°C
Central and southern Taiwan saw daytime highs of 32°C and 27°C to 29°C in northern and eastern Taiwan yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.Warm and sunny conditions are forecast to continue into tomorrow, with daytime highs of 30°C and lows of at least 20°C across Taiwan, the CWA said. North and northeastern Taiwan is to become cooler on Tuesday due to the effects of a passing front and strengthened northeasterly winds, with a chance of rain, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Kaohsiung gets new sister
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Pristina Mayor Perparim Rama on Friday signed a sister city agreement at the Kaohsiung City Government, making Kaohsiung Pristina’s first Asian sister city and the Kosovar capital Kaohsiung’s 39th sister city. Taiwan and Kosovo have faced similar challenges on their paths toward freedom and democracy, and this makes it even more meaningful that Kaohsiung and Pristina have become sister cities, Chen said. The Kosovar delegation was in Taiwan from Monday to yesterday for the Smart City Summit and Expo. Rama said he enjoyed the visit, adding that the two cities have collaboration potential in areas including technology, smart cities and the start-up industry. There is a mutual wish to foster a close partnership, he said.
CROSS STRAIT
Taiwanese fisher returned
A Taiwanese man, surnamed Wu (吳), and his fishing boat were handed over to the Kinmen Coast Guard by Chinese officials yesterday, while a second Taiwanese was still being held by China after the two were detained by the China Coast Guard in Fujian Province’s Weitou Bay on Monday. The Kinmen County Government said the handover was completed at 12:10pm with the 40-year-old Wu successfully disembarking at Liaoluo Port in Kinmen at 1pm. However, the second man, a 25-year-old surnamed Hu (胡), was still being held by China having failed to inform the authorities he is an active-duty soldier, and officials are further investigating the situation, the Chinese State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said. The Coast Guard Administration said Hu and Wu, who are residents of Jinsha Township (金沙), Kinmen County, encountered heavy fog on March 17 while fishing and inadvertently drifted into waters near Quanzhou, China, where they were found by the China Coast Guard. The Kinmen County Government said it would continue to communicate with Chinese officials in the hope that Hu could be returned as soon as possible.
‘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
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
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
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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