■IMMIGRATION
US visa lottery opens
The American Institute in Taiwan announced yesterday that the US Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery, which started yesterday, would run until 1am on Dec. 2. Those interested should visit www.dvlottery.state.gov for complete and authoritative information on eligibility requirements and application procedures. All applications must be submitted via the Internet. People born in Taiwan proper and Penghu are eligible to participate in the DV program this year. Those born in other places should consult the Web site to check whether their place of birth is included on the lottery list. Given the large amount of applications expected, the AIT has encouraged applicants to submit their entries early. There is no fee to participate in the visa lottery program.
■CRIME
Ketamine seized off Tamsui
Coast Guard officials seized more than 140kg of Ketamine yesterday in Taipei County, the Coastal Patrol Directorate General (CPDG) said. In a pre-dawn operation off the coast of Tamsui (淡水), CPDG cutters chased and intercepted a Chinese fishing boat in strong winds. On board, the officers discovered 142.6kg of Ketamine — a white crystalline powder used as a general anesthetic in human and veterinary medicine, but also used in conjunction with ecstasy by drug abusers. The confiscated drug, concealed in tea bags, has a street value exceeding NT$110 million (US$3.41 million), the CPDG said. The skipper, surnamed Zhang, and his two crew members were taken to the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office later yesterday for further questioning.
■DIPLOMACY
Idaho governor to visit
Idaho State Governor C.L. Butch Otter will lead a delegation on a visit to Taiwan on Oct. 19 for exchanges on business and the economy, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told CNA on Thursday. Otter will become the first US state governor to visit Taiwan this year, the official said. The 30-member delegation, including state government officials and representatives of Idaho-based enterprises, will stay in Taiwan for four days before flying to Japan on Oct. 22, the official said. The delegation will meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Foreign Minister Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊), as well as visiting the Department of Health and local enterprises that have business relations with Idaho, including those in the meat and glass industries.
■TRANSPORT
E-bus system expanded
Taipei City’s Transportation Department yesterday announced the expansion of its “e-bus” system to more than 2,500 buses, with real-time information available for download via the Internet and mobile phone. Information about bus positions, the number of stops before the bus arrives and estimated arrival times can also be found on message boards at a total of 230 bus stops, said Liu Chia-liang (劉佳良), a division chief at the department. Liu said the department was also rolling out a new edition of its Web page, which will provide more detailed information on bus routes and schedules via electronic maps. Commissioner of the department Luo Shiaw-shyan (羅孝賢) said the e-bus system would be expanded to cover all municipal buses by next year. Real-time bus information can be found on the departments Web site at www.e-bus.taipei.gov.tw.
■DIPLOMACY
AIT sponsors discussions
From Monday to Thursday next week, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is sponsoring the visit of David Plotke, professor of political science at the New School, a university in New York City. Plotke will give lectures and lead discussions in Taiwan on topics related to this year’s US presidential election, including such themes as democracy and the US electoral process, voters and public opinion, the US presidential candidates and US foreign policy in this election and beyond. Plotke will speak at various universities in Taipei and Kaohsiung. The programs are free of charge and open to the public. For more information, call the American Cultural Center at (02) 2723-2959 ext. 230.
■SOCIETY
Taipei celebrates Id-al-Fitr
Indonesian workers in Taiwan who missed out on the Id-al-Fitr celebrations held worldwide on Tuesday because of work can make up for it by joining Id-al-Fitr festivities organized by Taipei City’s Department of Labor, the Indonesian representative office in Taipei and Chinese Muslim Association deputy secretary-general Ishag Ma (馬孝棋) said yesterday. Id-al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, is an important holiday for Muslims. To comfort homesick Indonesian workers in Taiwan — who number more than 20,000 in Taipei and over 120,000 nationwide — festivities including games and Indonesian performances will be held at Taipei’s Da-an Forest Park (大安森林公園) tomorrow beginning at 9am and continuing until around 4pm or 5pm.
■TOURISM
Janice Lai to visit China
Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) will lead a delegation to China later this month to encourage Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. Lai said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government has allowed a maximum of 3,000 Chinese tourists to enter Taiwan through weekend charter flights since July. However, she said, many of China’s travel agencies are only familiar with the around-the-island tour, which normally takes about 10 days.
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
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
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