■ CRIME
Chens have met before
The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) began to investigate former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) alleged corruption and money laundering cases this year, but its director, Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), actually crossed paths with Chen Shui-bian 23 years ago during another infamous case — when the former president’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was run over by a truck — local media reported on Sunday. Chen Shui-bian has always claimed the 1985 accident — which happened during Chen Shui-bian’s post-election tour to thank voters for their support after an unsuccessful bid for the county commissioner election in his native Tainan County — was politically motivated. Chen Shui-bian filed a lawsuit against the truck driver, Cheng Jung-tsai (張榮財), and Chen Yun-nan — who was a newly appointed prosecutor — was assigned to the case, ETTV-News reported. The case was closed after Chen Shui-bian withdrew the lawsuit after a second court hearing, the report said. When asked about the case by an ETTV reporter, Chen Yun-nan said he did not remember it.
■ DIPLOMACY
Freddy invites Dalai Lama
The lead vocalist of heavy metal band Chthonic, Freddy Lim (林昶佐), invited the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan in March during a meeting with him in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, said a statement released by Taiwan Guts United, a pro-independence organization created by Lim. Lim, who is planning to organize a Free Tibet Concert in March to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, went to Dharamsala to seek the Tibetan spiritual leader’s blessing for the event and invited him to attend the concert. The Dalai Lama responded positively, saying he felt honored to be invited and would seriously consider attending the concert. However, the Dalai Lama added that he was still working on his schedule after February, Taiwan Guts United executive director Liao Wei-cheng (廖偉程) said.
■ CHARITY
Dogged volunteers required
Animals Taiwan is calling for volunteers to help out with the Fourth Annual Pet Carnival on Saturday and Sunday. The event will include a fashion show featuring stray dogs housed by the rescue center. Volunteers are needed to walk the dogs, distribute fliers and help sell doggie treats at the event. The festivities will be held at Shinkong Mitsukoshi’s Ashanti Square in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義). Volunteers are also needed on Friday to help bathe and groom the dogs. For further information, contact liza@animalstaiwan.org.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
New Year lovers required
Still trying to figure out how to spend New Year’s Eve with your loved one? How about a public declaration of your love at Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County? The organizers of this year’s New Year’s Eve party at Sun Moon Lake said yesterday they were offering three couples the opportunity to express their love or even to propose to their partners on a floating waterside stage just before the countdown to the New Year begins. Those interested in taking part are urged to telephone Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration by noon tomorrow at 049-285-5668 ext. 360. The party, set to start at 7:30pm tomorrow at Shueishe Quay, will feature African dance, a musical fountain, a saxophone quartet and a show by Broadway performers, as well as other musical performances. A fireworks display will also take place to herald the New Year.
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