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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Leisure
Market extends service
The weekend Jianguo Flower Market (建國花市) is extending its service to accommodate holiday shoppers. The market will be open daily from 9am to 10pm from today through Friday and from 9am to 6pm on Lunar New Year's eve on Saturday. The market is also holding an exhibition on peonies, known as the "king of the flowers" and a popular choice among Chinese who believe they bring fortune and good luck. The exhibition will feature imported peonies from Japan, flower arrangements to mark the advent of the year of the pig and gardening demonstration and courses. The market will be closed from Lunar New Year's day and will reopen on the first weekend in March. For more information, call (02) 2702-6493.

■ Health
Public urged to donate blood
The Kaohsiung Blood Center is calling on the public to donate blood ahead of the Lunar New Year, which falls next Sunday, to help deal with an expected blood shortage during the holidays, the center's spokesman said yesterday. The center provides about 1,200 250cc bags of blood to medical institutes in Kaohsiung and Pingtung cities and counties daily, the spokesman said, adding that the center has a backup supply of only four days -- well below its minimum safety level of seven days. With several cold fronts forecast to hit the nation during the holiday period, the center expects an increase in the number of patients with cardiovascular disease, putting a strain on blood supply, the spokesman said. All four blood types -- O, A, B and AB -- are in short supply, and the center welcomes donations to ensure sufficient supplies of blood during the holidays, the spokesman said.

■ Politics
Ballot recount tomorrow
The Kaohsiung Election Commission yesterday began categorizing ballots from December's Kaohsiung mayoral election in preparation for the ballot recount at the Kaohsiung District Court tomorrow. The court is expected to conduct a thorough reexamination of the 6,622 invalid ballots in accordance with a court ruling on Feb. 2. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英), along with his lawyer and KMT Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Po-lin (黃柏霖), went to the commission's office yesterday to supervise the ballot categorization. Huang Chun-ying told the press that he hoped "democratic values could be safeguarded" through the recount. Asked whether he thought he would emerge the victor after the recount, Huang said he would respect the final judicial ruling. Huang lost the election to Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) by a margin of 1,114 votes. He had filed suit to have the results annulled.

■ Environment
New Year `clean up'
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday launched a one-week national "clean-up" campaign ahead of the Lunar New Year. The campaign, which began yesterday and runs until Friday, is designed around the traditional notion of sweeping out the old to make way for the new. During the clean-up campaign, people can dispose of any large waste items, such as old furniture, for recycling at designated sites and time as regulated by local governments. While cleaning up indoors, people should check for any possible breeding spots for disease-carrying mosquitoes in or around their homes, EPA officials suggested. They also reminded people to clean the public area within four meters of their homes, including road surfaces and gullies.


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