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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Foreign Aid
Nation to give Iraq aid
The government will donate US$400,000 to help Iraqi schools set up an Internet center so students can use their computers to learn about the outside world, officials said yesterday. Taiwan plans to help estab-lish an Internet center for 10 high schools in Khanaqin, to include training computer personnel and conducting computer courses for teachers and students. The Internet center is a contin-uation of Taiwan's partici-pation in Iraq's post-war reconstruction, as carried out through the nonprofit volunteer organization Mercy Corps. After the US-led war on Iraq broke out last year, Taiwan pledged US$4.3 million in aid to Iraq. Non-governmental organi-zations donated 13 con-tainers of relief material and US$2 million to Iraq through Mercy Corps last year.

■ Society
Guide dog respect urged
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called on the public yesterday to treat guide dogs for the blind in the proper manner. Ma made the remark during a meeting with 10 blind citizens and six guide dogs at Taipei City Hall. The meeting was organized by the Taiwan Guide Dog Association as part of a campaign to allow guide dogs to enter public places. While guide dogs are allowed to enter public places and shops in many countries, stores and bus drivers here consider them pets and refuse to allow them entry to their premises and vehicles. Chang Chiu-hsiung (張秋雄), chair-man of the Taiwan Guide Dog Association, urged the public to be aware that guide dogs are not pets but working animals. Ma also thanked the guide dogs by awarding them with certificates during the meeting.

■ Crime
Seller of fakes nabbed
Police arrested a man yesterday for selling fake brand-name products on his Web site, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Wang Kuo-chieh (王國杰) was apprehended after police raided his premises in Taipei and found many counterfeit brand-name goods. A bureau official said Wang, who holds both Republic of China and Canadian passports and is fluent in English, operated a Web site that sold the products to overseas customers for as little as one-tenth of the price of the genuine articles.
The Web site was written entirely in English and registered under a Yahoo US domain name. Wang was arrested for violating the Trademark Act (商標法).
■ Health
Children getting heavier
A survey released yesterday shows that the preva-lence of obesity among children has increased to 12 percent from 3 percent or 4 percent some 20 years ago, a worrisome pheno-mena caused mainly by inadequate exercise and overeating. The report also indicates that the number of women with a waist of more than 80cm has been 40 percent of the female population over the past 20 years, far higher than the 20 percent for males. Obesity among males aged over 19 has been growing in recent years, said Chu Nien-feng (祝年豐), a physician at the department of public health of the Tri-Service General Hospital, while announcing the survey results at the two-day Symposium on Nutrition Monitoring and Health Policy Development that opened yesterday in Taipei. Chu noted that weight-control measures popular among women might be the reason their obesity rate has not expanded.

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