■ Health
More dengue in Pingtung
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) of the Department of Health announced another case of dengue fever in Pingtung City yesterday. However, the new patient is affected by a different type of virus, indicating that another source of infection is yet to be identified. Health officials said that if it is not well monitored and contained, the disease could develop into fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever by cross-infection. The CDC says 44 cases of dengue fever have been linked to travelers returned from abroad; of these, 32 patients were identified during airport temperature checks. The agency called for people to seek medical advice if they suffer headaches, muscle aches and pain in the joints.
■ Weather
Cyclone risks continue
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday warned that the nation is still under threat of heavy rain, saying that on average, one out of five typhoons formed in the western Pacific will hit the island in August every year. The bureau cited reports the World Meteorological Organization issued on Tuesday highlighting Taiwan's susceptibility to tropical cyclones. According to this forecast, another 5 or 6 fronts will emerge this month in the western Pacific region, possibly bringing heavy rains and strong winds. The bureau called on residents of central mountainous areas to keep an eye on weather forecasts.
■ Budget
Anti-arms events planned
The Democratic Advancement Alliance yesterday urged the public to participate in a series of events to oppose legislative approval of a NT$610.8 billion special arms budget. An arms budget of such size should undergo widespread discussion and be given public approval before being passed, association spokesmen said at a press conference. In order to facilitate understanding of the budget, the alliance said it is holding a youth music composition contest and concert in Taipei's Da-an Park from 3pm to 6pm this afternoon. The alliance is compiling a list of legislators for and against the budget, which it will release prior to the next legislative session this fall. The alliance said it will hold a protest against the budget on Sept. 25.
■ Equality
Women vow to fight bias
An international conference in Taipei sponsored by the National Union of Taiwan Women Association ended yesterday with activists pledging to fight discrimination against women. Noted international and domestic feminist leaders at the two-day conference discussed the history and roles of women's issues NGOs in Taiwan as well as international women's rights developments. Speakers included association president Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), Ministry of Foreign Affairs NGOs deputy head Lu Ching-long (呂慶龍), and Women and Gender Institute leader Josefa Gigi Francisco from the Philippines.
■ Politics
Liao unveils protest plan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Aboriginal Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) yesterday said another protest was being planned regarding Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) comments on Aboriginal people. Lu sparked rallies after she said last month that Aborigines were not the country's first inhabitants, and Liao yesterday said that Aboriginal people would protest later this month to show their anger.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater