■ POLITICS
DPP appeals committee veto
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appealed to the Cabinet yesterday to overturn the Referendum Review Committee's rejection of the party's proposal to hold a referendum on applying to join the UN under the name "Taiwan." DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun told a press conference that the committee's rejection was illegal and unconstitutional because a "referendum is a democratic mechanism for the people to directly exercise their rights ... In order to bring return justice and dignity to the nation, the DPP made the appeal to the Cabinet ... The Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] has departed from mainstream public opinion because it remains opposed to the nation's application for UN membership under the name `Taiwan.'" The Referendum Review Committee voted 12 to 8 last Friday to reject the DPP's proposal. Committee chairman Kao Yuang-kuang (高永光) told reporters that referendums were reserved for controversial issues of public concern.
■ POLITICS
KMT sponsors photo show
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the lifting of martial law, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is sponsoring a photo exhibition at the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum that opened yesterday and will run through Sunday. The exhibition features photos documenting the period when former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) ended 38 years of martial law on July 15, 1987. KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) expressed his appreciation for Chiang's decision. He also urged the public to cherish the democratic process. "The Taiwanese people should look ahead and face the future with an open mind," Wu said at the opening ceremony yesterday. The exhibition will travel to Tainan City's Lungshen Community from July 10 to July 15 before moving to the KMT's Taichung branch office from July 17 to July 22. It will also be shown at the Taoyuan County Government building from July 31 to Aug. 5.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Taipei warns energy gluttons
The Taipei City Government may fine companies that fail to adopt energy-saving measures, Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday. Hau said the city government and all city-run institutions and public schools have been required to reduce power consumption by 1 percent per year. Hau said the city may pass regulations governing energy-saving practices by the end of the year. Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), director of Taipei's Department of Economic Development, said if all residents set their air conditioners just 10C higher than they used to and ensure that cool air does not escape outside, they could help the city save the equivalent of 553,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide, or the carbon offset of planting 50 million trees a year. In 2005, Taipei's carbon dioxide emissions reached 15.1 million tonnes, Chen said, adding that 71.5 percent of the emissions came from non-residential users.
■ EARTHQUAKES
South rocked by tremor
An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck the coast of Pingtung County at 3:18pm yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau reported. Bureau officials said the intensity was measured 2 in Kaohsiung County, Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County, while it measured 1 in Pingtung City. The epicenter of the quake was 46.2km southwest of Kaohsiung City. The depth of the quake was 15.5km. As of press time there were no reports of injuries or aftershocks.
■ GOVERNMENT
Film commission planned
The Taipei City Government has decided to set up a film commission as part of its efforts to market the city and revitalize the declining domestic film and television industries, Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) announced yesterday. Hau adopted the proposed regulations by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs, which will govern the formation of the film commission. He said one of the organization's tasks will be assisting relevant businesses in the making of films in the city. City Director of Cultural Affairs Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) said the new unit will serve as the sole channel within the city government for applications dealing with film and television industry services, such as location leasing. Lee explained that the film commission will try to provide every possible service to the film-making sector as part of its drive to attract the foreign and domestic film and television industries.
■ HEALTH
Rubella hits foreign workers
Two factories in Taoyuan and Miaoli counties have reported cluster infections of rubella among their foreign laborers, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday. Chou Chih-hao (周志浩), deputy director of the DOH Center for Disease Control, said that out of 61 suspected rubella cases, 12 were confirmed. Rubella, commonly known as German measles or 3-day measles, is an infection that primarily affects the skin and lymph nodes. It is caused by the rubella virus and is usually transmitted by droplets from the nose or throat. Chou said both factories have vaccinated 893 foreign laborers and more are expected to be given shots. Twenty-six suspected cases are still under quarantine.
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:
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
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