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Taiwan Quick Take

■ WEATHER
Tropical storm approaches
Tropical storm Krosa is likely to affect the weather this weekend, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. As of yesterday afternoon, the center of the storm was located 1,070km southeast of Okinawa. The bureau said the storm is likely to linger in its present position before moving in a northwesterly direction. The maximum sustained wind speeds near its center reached 75kph, with gusts of up to 100kph. The bureau has cautioned vessels operating to the east of the Philippines to beware of the approaching storm.

■ HEALTH
Hualien issues virus alert
Hualien County reported 89 cases of enterovirus among schoolchildren in the first nine months of this year, resulting in the temporary closure of eight kindergartens and nurseries, the county health department said yesterday. Health officials reminded parents to teach their children good hygiene habits as the second wave of the disease usually strikes between September and October. They also urged parents to heed early symptoms of infection -- including drowsiness, fever, stiff necks and numb limbs, twitching as well as shortness of breath -- and to help their children seek treatment if they detect such symptoms.

■ CULTURE
City holding WWII exhibit
The Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs is holding an exhibition at the Taipei 228 Museum showcasing the city's involvement in World War II. The exhibition, "Taipei under air attacks during World War II," runs through Dec. 23 from 10am to 5pm, and displays pictures, sirens used to warn of air attacks and documents that were preserved by local collectors. "This exhibition brought us back to the city 60 years ago and showed many significant buildings that have now disappeared or have been reconstructed," historian and deputy director of Taipei City Archives Chuang Yung-ming (莊永明) said yesterday at the museum. As the air raids focused on the center of the city, the Presidential Office was seriously damaged, and many buildings, such as the Railroad Hotel and Taipei Secondary Girls' High School, disappeared forever, Chuang said. Video clips documenting air strikes on Taipei in October 1944 and May 1945 are also on show.

■ EXHIBITION
Flower showcase scheduled
The 2007 Taipei International Flower Exhibition will be held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 at the Taipei World Trade Center, with local growers and their counterparts in the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia participating, a spokesman for the Council of Agriculture, the event organizer, said yesterday. The spokesman said the last flower exhibition of this kind was held 12 years ago, with local flower sales then amounting to NT$9 billion (US$276 million) and exports valued at US$9.7 million. Local output has since grown to NT$12.5 billion, while exports surged to US$78 million last year, he said. The nation's flower exports have also seen changes in flora strains over the 12-year period, he said, with chrysanthemums leading exports in 1995 but gradually being replaced by other flowers, including the dancing lady, butterfly orchids and Eustoma. The show will be open to foreign buyers only on the first day, with representatives of 500 businesses from 30 countries accredited to visit the venue, the organizer said. The event will be open to the public from Nov. 1 through Nov. 4, the council said.

■ TECHNOLOGY
NARL, university join forces
The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) will open branches focusing on nanotechnology and chip design at National Chengkung University in Tainan later this week, the university said on Monday. A name-plate unveiling ceremony for the National Nanodevice Laboratories and the National Chip Implementation Center has been scheduled for today, a university spokesman said. NARL signed an agreement with the university earlier this year to further their cooperation in research into nanotechnology, advanced solar cell and chip design. The two laboratories are aimed at establishing a high-tech research and development base in the south, the spokesman said.

■ SOCIETY
Kaohsiung hosts bartenders
More than 600 bartenders and guests from 56 countries will attend the International Bartenders Association (IBA) meeting in Kaohsiung next month, the Bartenders Association of Taiwan (BAT) said yesterday. Announcing the news at a press conference, BAT officials said the IBA meeting, as well as the International Cocktail and Flairtending Competition, will be held in the city on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. Presidential Office Secretary-General Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said at the press conference that she hoped Taiwanese bartenders could retain the championship. Yeh, who is credited with promoting bartending during her tenure as acting Kaohsiung mayor, lauded Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), saying that during his tenure as Kaohsiung mayor in 1998 to 2005, he used some of the special allowance fund set aside for his discretionary use to help train young bartenders.


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