Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan Quick Take

■ WEATHER
Bureau issues rain alert
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday issued a heavy rain alert to people in western, northeastern and eastern regions of the country, as well as for Kinmen (金門), Matzu (馬祖) and Penghu (澎湖), as a stationary front is expected to bring heavy rain to these areas. The bureau, said that the rainy weather will continue throughout the weekend. Residents of affected areas should also beware of lightning and strong winds that might accompany the rain. The bureau said the possibility of rain would remain high next week. Meanwhile, the bureau announced that Typhoon Yutu had formed near Guam yesterday. The bureau forecast that Taiwan would be spared as the typhoon is moving north and is unlikely to approach the country.

■ CRIME
Chinese tourist disappears
A Chinese tourist might have sneaked into Taiwan from Kinmen with the help of local human traffickers, local county officials said on Friday. Kinmen tourism bureau officials said the 19-year-old tourist, surnamed Wei, might have entered Taiwan via Kinmen, where he arrived on Monday with a 17-member group from Xiamen for a three-day tour. The local travel agency that organized the tour contacted Kinmen police after Wei disappeared, the officials said, adding that police were still searching for him. Wei could be the first visitor to abscond since tourists from Fujian were allowed to make sight-seeing trips to Kinmen via the "three small links" in December 2004.

■ SOCIETY
Spouses group established
A support association for Indonesian spouses of Taiwanese citizens was established in Kaohsiung City yesterday with the assistance of the city's Bureau of Social Affairs. A ceremony was held at the Kaohsiung City Service Center for New Immigrant Families to celebrate the birth of the "Kaohsiung City Indonesian Good Sisters Association," as well as the inauguration of the association's first chairwoman, Wu Chiu-o (吳秋娥), who has lived in the city for 18 years since marrying a local resident. In her address at the ceremony, Wu expressed in fluent Mandarin and Taiwanese her gratitude for the city government's care for Indonesian spouses, which she said had helped her to easily adapt to life in Taiwan. A total of 862 Indonesian spouses live in Kaohsiung City.

■ SOCIETY
Scholars go `scavenging'
A group of Fulbright scholars, some of the 800 US faculty and professionals sent abroad each year under the scheme, held a "photo scavenger hunt" involving hundreds of local and foreign students on the MRT system yesterday. Titled the "Blue Line Challenge" because the event was held mostly in stations on the MRT blue line, the scavenger hunt brought together nearly 300 Taiwanese and Western young people to compete for a cash prize, event organizer and Fulbright scholar Joel Backaler said. The participants split up into camera-toting teams of eight to 10 people to "scavenge" for the best photograph, he said. The pictures would then be judged with NT$8,000 going to the group that snapped the best shot, he said, adding that the event aimed to promote cultural exchange and friendship between locals and foreigners. For more information, visit blueline.mylife-time.net.

■ COMPETITION
Students win design contest
Four Students at Ming-Dao Senior High School in Taichung County have won first prize in an international Web site design competition titled "Doors to Diplomacy 2007" sponsored by the US Department of State. Chang Chia-wei (張珈瑋), Hung Ching-ting (洪敬婷), Chiao Hsu-han (趙緒涵) and Chen Yen-yu (陳彥妤) won the championship with a project titled "The Role of Taiwan in World Health-International Medical Aid." The competition was aimed at encouraging high-school students around the world to create Web pages carrying messages about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. A total of 195 Web page design projects from 38 countries were submitted.

■ TECHNOLOGY
Taiwan No. 7 in digital index
Taiwan ranks seventh in the world in the Digital Opportunity Index (DOI) evaluation of the World Information Society Report 2007, the National Information and Communication Initiative (NICI) said yesterday. The report was released by the UN's International Telecommunication Union, which promotes international cooperation in telecommunications. Taiwan moved up three spots from last year's survey, which looks at 181 economies around the world, NICI said. The Digital Opportunity Index is based on 11 core information and communication technology indicators in three clusters -- opportunity, infrastructure and use. In this year's evaluation, Taiwan ranked 2nd in infrastructure, 6th in opportunity and 23rd in use, NICI said. The government will spend NT$55.6 billion (US$1.66 billion) from this year through 2011 on reinforcing the nation's information and communi-cation infrastructure.


This story has been viewed 1383 times.