■ Weather
Warmer days on the way
The arrival of a polar air mass has brought inclement weather to most parts of the nation, and weather conditions are not expected to improve until tomorrow, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. According to the bureau, the cold front has brought showers to many parts of Taiwan and pushed the mercury down, with Tamsui (淡水) in the north recording 12.5oC early yesterday. The bureau said that there is a 60 percent to 70 percent chance of rain for most parts of the nation over the next two days, with heavy rain expected in mountainous regions. Temperatures will reach around 16oC in the north, 20oC in the east and 23oC in the south in the day. Temperatures are expected to rise from tomorrow, but northern Taiwan will continue to experience showers, the bureau said.
■ Society
After-school hours extended
Elementary schools in Taipei City will be permitted to extend their after-school care for one hour to 7pm under a new measure that is expected to be implemented soon, the city's director of education said yesterday. Wu Ching-ji (吳清基), however, added that while the city government supports the idea of prolonging the current child care schemes to cater for busy parents who are unable to look after their children after school, it will respect each school's decision on whether to extend its after-school care. Wu made the announcement at a press conference held by the Federation of Parents Associations in Taipei City at the city hall. The group suggested that as the number of double-income families and single-parent families has been on the increase in the city, the city government should work to create a safe environment for children with parents who work.
■ Fishing
Agency defends subsidies
Fishing subsidies for the purpose of environmental protection and marine resource conservation should be allowed, while subsidized fishing operations should be prohibited, officials from the Fisheries Agency said on Monday. The officials made the remarks after Taiwan was labeled as one of the world's leading subsidizers of fishing following its opposition to a comprehensive ban on subsidies to fishing fleets at the WTO. Taiwanese representatives will continue to explain the nation's stance on the issue to the international community, the officials said. Taiwan provides far fewer fishing subsidies than Japan and South Korea, the officials stressed, adding that Taiwan ranks 20th in the world and 11th in Asia in terms of subsidies for fishing operations, while globally, Japan is in first place and South Korea is 12th.
■ Society
Density second highest
The country's population density of 632 people per square kilometer is the second highest in the world among countries with a population of at least 10 million, according to statistics released yesterday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). Bangladesh tops the list with a population density of 985 people. Among the 25 cities and counties in Taiwan, the population density of the two largest municipalities -- Taipei and Kaohsiung -- is the highest, at nearly 10,000 people per square kilometer, according to the DGBAS statistics. The tallies indicate that the nation's population stood at 22.87 million at the end of last year, up 106,000 from the level at the end of the previous year. During the year, there was a net natural increase of 69,000.
■ Diplomacy
Dormitory fight not over
Japanese lawyers representing Taiwan vowed to fight back yesterday after Japan's Supreme Court sided with Beijing in a decades-old legal battle over a student dormitory. "We will continue our fight, considering the possibility of a fresh civil lawsuit or other legal means," attorney Noriyasu Kaneko said. The Republic of China government bought the five-storey building in Kyoto in 1950. In 1967, Taipei filed a lawsuit seeking to evict pro-Beijing students from the building. It had won previous lawsuits saying it owned the dormitory, but the Supreme Court ruled on March 27 that Taipei lost the right after Tokyo decided in 1972 to recognize Beijing.
■ Tourism
Youth plan released
In an effort to attract young tourists, the National Youth Commission (NYC) is recruiting 120 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30 to help promote youth travel, an NYC official said yesterday. The NYC plans to recruit 120 volunteers specialized in different fields, including 20 each from the fields of news reporting, computer operations and international tourism promotion. In addition, it will select 50 volunteers to promote campus life. The NYC welcomes applications through next Saturday. To promote exchanges between Taiwan and Japan, the NYC will is also seeking 10 international travel volunteers to encourage Japanese youths to visit Taiwan. To be eligible, applicants must be Japanese nationals, reside in Taiwan and speak both Chinese and Japanese fluently, the official said. Those selected must attend a training session from April 27 to April 28, after which they will receive certificates from the NYC and work as volunteers. Forms are available at www.youthtravel.tw.
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