■ Politics
St Lucia mulls ties
Taiwan might resume formal diplomatic ties with St Lucia, a foreign ministry official said yesterday, as former prime minister John Compton's United Workers Party won Monday's general elections. Simon Ko (柯森耀), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Central and South American Affairs, said during a regular press briefing that Compton, who was friendly toward Taiwan while prime minister, might restore diplomatic ties after his party's election success. Compton, 81, led St Lucia for 29 years, first from 1964 to 1979, when St Lucia became independent and then from 1982 to 1996. Taiwan established diplomatic ties with Saint Lucia in 1984. Prime Minister Kenny Anthony, who took over in 1997, broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China during his first year in office.
■ Culture
Taipei spreads some cheer
The Taipei City Government will throw a Christmas party tomorrow at Neihu Technology Park, with hundreds of booths, concerts and dance performances along the streets to help residents celebrate the holiday. According to the Taipei City Department of Economic Development, Lanes 358 to 478 of Ruiguang Road will be closed during the party from 10am to 5pm tomorrow. In addition to discounted products provided by companies in the park, the festival will also include belly dancing, Christmas carols and gift giveaways in the holiday spirit. More information is available at 02-8791-6222.
■ Travel
Japan to amend driving laws
Taiwanese tourists will soon be able to drive in Japan with their international driver's licenses as soon as the Japanese Diet passes revised laws that will recognize Taiwan's driver's licenses next spring. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, Japan's National Policy Agency announced on Tuesday that it would revise the traffic laws to allow Taiwanese to drive in Japan with their international driver's licenses issued by Taiwan's government because the agency believes that "Taiwanese have an equal level of driving skills as the Japanese." Taiwan will in turn recognize Japan's driver's licenses, the ministry said. The ministry said the change in regulations will benefit the 2.5 million people who travel between Taiwan and Japan annually.
■ Health
Toxin prevents migraines
The results of a local study indicate that botulinum toxin is effective in treating migraine headaches, in addition to removing wrinkles, researchers said yesterday. The study, jointly conducted by six major medical centers in 2002 on 60 patients suffering from severe migraines, showed that patients saw a significant decrease in the frequency and intensity of migraines after they were injected with 0.5cc to 1cc of botulinum toxin at the exact spots of pain. The researchers noted that approximately 1.5 million people in Taiwan over the age of 15 suffer from migraines, and that these patients usually also suffer symptoms of nausea, vomiting and aversion to light and noise. Chen Jou-hsien (陳柔賢), a neurologist at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said migraine patients who have at least four migraines per week can consider receiving botulinum toxin therapy if they do not want to receive long-term preventive medication. The effect of one botulinum toxin therapy can last up to three months, he said.
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
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
HOSPITALITY HIT: Hotels in Hualien have an occupancy rate of 10 percent, down from 30 percent before the earthquake, a Tourism Administration official said The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a stimulus package of vouchers and subsidies to revive tourism in Hualien County following a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. The tremor on April 3, which killed at least 17 people and left two others missing, caused the county an estimated NT$3 billion (US$92.7 million) in damages. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to issue vouchers worth NT$200 at the price of NT$100 for purchases at the Dongdamen Night Market (東大門夜市) in Hualien City to boost spending, a ministry official told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Taipei. The ministry plans to issue 18,400