■ Sports
Nike sponsors 5K run
A "Nike 5K Run" was held in Taipei yesterday, marking the first road race of the year. Sports stars cheered the runners on in the cold weather. A spokesman for Nike Group, the event's organizer, said that it had decided on 5km as the course's length to attract as many participants as possible, since the distance is suitable for a wide age group. To boost competitors' morale, the organizer also invited baseball star Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠) and basketball star Chien Wei-chuan (錢薇娟) to cheer them on at the midway point. Some national basketball players rode alongside runners in a press vehicle, while others rode bicycles near the end of the route, spurring runners to do their best on the final stretch. Lu Chih-tsung (呂宗志) and Lin Nien-tse (林念慈), both students at the National College of Physical Education and Sports in Kueishan (龜山), Taoyuan County, won the race in the male and female categories, respectively.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
■ Society
Su pledges aid to Hengchun
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday paid a visit to Hengchun Township (恆春) in Pingtung County, where a strong earthquake left two victims dead, dozens injured and caused three houses to collapse late last month. "Although there is no statute of compensation for victims of the Hengchun earthquake, like the Temporary Statute for the 921 Earthquake Reconstruction, Hengchun victims suffered as much as victims of the 921 Earthquake," the premier said. The 921 Earthquake occurred on Sept. 21, 1999 and killed more than 2,200 people. The Pingtung County Government said it needed at least NT$120 million to rebuild roads, bridges, public buildings and schools that were damaged by the earthquake.
■ Tourism
Medical stations set up
The Chiayi County Government has set up medical stations at two of the county's popular tourist spots to offer emergency medical treatment for visitors during weekends and holidays, local health officials said yesterday. One station opened on Saturday at Fenchihu Scenic Area in mountainous Chuchi Township (竹崎), while the other began operations at Juili Scenic Area in Meishan Township (梅山) yesterday, the officials said. The two new stations will operate on weekends and national holidays to serve those needing first-aid or treatment for serious injuries, the officials said. The Fenchihu station will operate from 8pm on the eve of every holiday through 8pm on the last day of the holiday, while the Juili station will be open from 5pm to 5pm during the same period.
■ Education
TECO donates to US school
Deputy Director Lin Wei-yang (林維揚) of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York donated stationery and 600 schoolbags to an elementary school in the Bronx on Saturday on behalf of the government. The donations were received by the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization on behalf of the fifth elementary school in the Bronx during a presentation ceremony. Also present at the event was TECO political section chief Lan Hsia-li (藍夏禮). Speaking at the ceremony, New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz thanked Taiwan for the generous donation. Hundreds of schoolchildren also attended the ceremony.
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
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