HEALTH
Food poisoning affects 60
Sixty people have reported symptoms of food poisoning since Thursday after buying boxed meals from an eatery in Kaohsiung, the Kaohsiung Department of Health said yesterday. It received a hospital report on Thursday about three people who had symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea and fever after eating boxed meals purchased from a small storefront restaurant in Sanmin District (三民) the previous day, the department said. As of Friday, the number of people with suspected food poisoning linked to the restaurant had increased to 60, it said, adding that 46 of them had sought medical attention. Seven of the 46 were hospitalized, it said. On Thursday, city officials inspected the eatery and ordered it to close for seven days, citing breaches of food safety regulations, the department said.
COMMUNICATIONS
Ministry welcomes satellites
Applications from international satellite firms to offer services in Taiwan are welcome, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday after the Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin once asked Elon Musk to withhold his Starlink service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “Operators can apply at any time provided that they comply with our laws,” the ministry said. Access to satellite Internet is crucial for Taiwan to maintain communications if a Chinese attack were to disrupt its networks. Tensions have risen in the past few weeks as China conducted major military drills near Taiwan after President William Lai (賴清德) said in a speech earlier this month that neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to the other. The Kremlin has denied the claim in the Wall Street Journal.
MILITARY
Soldier dies in Kaohsiung
A soldier stationed at a Marine Corps base in Kaohsiung died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound while on guard duty at about 10pm on Friday. The soldier, identified by his family name, Hung (洪), from the Air Defense and Base Guard Group, had been on sentry duty that night, the Marine Corps Command said in a statement late on Friday. Due to unknown reasons, Hung allegedly shot himself with a firearm he was carrying, the command said. The Marine Corps said it has dispatched officers to assist Hung’s family, and would cooperate with police as well as prosecutors investigating the case. The command added that it would continue to improve psychological counseling for officers and soldiers to help them “establish a correct understanding of life” to help prevent such incidents. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the 1925, 1995 or 1980 hotlines for counseling or assistance.
JUSTICE
Murder appeal rejected
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Taichung woman surnamed Tsai (蔡) who was found guilty of murdering her boyfriend, surnamed Chen (陳), more than five years ago, upholding the 27-year, six-month sentence. The Taichung District Court in March found Tsai guilty of murder, abandoning a corpse, communication equipment theft and forgery. Tsai owed Chen about NT$1.57 million (US$48,954), the district court said. On March 4, 2019, Tsai hit Chen with a sharp, heavy object multiple times, killing him, and stashed the body in a plastic barrel and filled it with concrete, the district court said, adding that Chen’s body was found more than three years later on Oct. 26, 2022, after members of the public discovered the barrel by accident.
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes