WEATHER
Heavy rain to continue
Many areas in the country yesterday saw their most significant periods of rainfall since the beginning of autumn, the Central Weather Bureau said, warning that heavy rain is expected to continue today. Under the influence of a passing cold front, the northern, eastern and central areas have seen considerable precipitation, the bureau said. While rainfall was forecast to ease yesterday, chances of occasional downpours in those areas remain, it added. Meanwhile, strong seasonal winds following the front are likely to keep temperatures across the island low until Tuesday, the bureau said.
CHARITY
Taiwan donates for Sandy
Taiwan donated US$300,000 on Friday to New York City and the states of New York and New Jersey for the reconstruction of communities that were destroyed by superstorm Sandy last month. The money is to be distributed equally among the three, which were among the hardest-hit areas, for post-storm reconstruction work, said Andrew Kao (高振群), director of Taiwan’s representative office in New York, who presented the donation at New York City Hall. Christine Quinn, speaker of the City Council, received the donation on behalf of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and expressed gratitude for Taiwan’s aid. Quinn said Sandy wreaked serious havoc in the New York area, where thousands of people are still homeless and are forced to live in shelters. Part of the donation will go to a foundation Bloomberg established and will help the reconstruction of small and medium-sized enterprises in the city, as well as allow children and their homeless families to have a Thanksgiving dinner, Quinn said.
DIPLOMACY
Suming to perform abroad
An award-winning Amis Aboriginal singer will perform in three South Pacific island nations, in a move to boost exchanges between Taiwan and these countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Suming (舒米恩) and his band are scheduled to visit Kiribati and Palau — both of which are diplomatic allies of the Republic of China — as well as Fiji between tomorrow and Nov. 30, performing five concerts featuring Amis tribal music, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷) said. Suming, from Taitung County, “brings new elements and life to traditional culture,” Tung said, adding that the tour is being organized by the ministry to promote cultural diplomacy and showcase the nation’s soft power. Suming last year won the Best Aboriginal Album in Taiwan’s 22nd Golden Melody Awards. The six-member group is to perform traditional folk music of the Amis and songs written by Suming. He said he would wear traditional tribal garb during the performances.
CULTURE
Writer producing food show
Writer and gourmet Jiao Tong yesterday said he would produce a 52-episode TV documentary on Taiwanese culinary culture set for broadcast in 2015. “I’d like to portray the most beautiful and essential things that are easily seen in Taiwan,” Jiao said. Inspired by A Bite of China, a seven-episode TV series made last year, Jiao said he also wanted to let the world, especially the Mandarin-speaking community, know more about Taiwan’s food culture. “It will not just focus on delicacies, but also Taiwan’s agriculture, aquaculture, livestock and food-processing sectors, he said. In terms of Chinese culinary culture, “Taiwan’s is definitely the best,” Jiao said.
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
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
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