TOURISM
Queen’s Head repairs to start
Repair work to combat erosion affecting the iconic Queen’s Head rock formation at Yehliu Geopark (野柳公園) in New Taipei City is to begin on Thursday, the Tourism Bureau said. A group of specialists led by Hsieh Kuo-huang (謝國煌), a professor at National Taiwan University’s Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, will inject nano-sealant into the rock formation to improve its resistance to erosion and solidify its structure. A clear majority of respondents — 63 percent — in a June survey favor using artificial means to protect the landmark after geological experts said the circumference of the rock’s neck has decreased drastically due to natural erosion and could break off in five to 10 years, the bureau said.
SOCIETY
Group honors Norwegian
Norwegian missionary doctor Olav Bjorgaas has been awarded the “Fervent Global Love of Lives Medal” by the Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation in recognition of his contributions to the nation. Chou Chin-hua (周進華), founder of the non-profit organization, presented the medal to Bjorgaas in the Norwegian city of Stavanger on Friday. Bjorgaas, 88, was first dispatched to Taiwan in 1954 to care for leprosy patients at the Losheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium (樂生療養院) in Taipei. He later founded the Pingtung Christian Hospital and the nation’s first nursing home for disabled children. Until his retirement and departure from Taiwan in 1984, he had cared for more than 6,000 leprosy patients and 18,000 polio patients. The foundation was established in memory of Chou Ta-kuan (周大觀), who died of cancer in 1997 at the age of 10, and the medal set up by his parents to commemorate Chou’s love of life end encourage others to emulate him.
CRIME
Ko may face local charges
Taiwanese actor Kai Ko (柯震東), who is currently detained in Beijing for alleged use of marijuana, could face a penalty once he returns to Taiwan, the Taipei City Police Department has said. The 23-year-old actor could face legal action for using pot, which is classified as a Category 2 narcotic under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例), the department said. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office will likely summon Ko for questioning, but since he was not caught in Taiwan, he will not be handcuffed on arrival, according to a senior police officer. The office has requested assistance from the Chinese authorities and asked that they preserve the evidence they have collected. Local authorities can pursue Taiwanese who commit crimes in China based on Article 75 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which stipulates that criminal offenses committed in China are still punishable in accordance with Taiwanese laws, although punishment can be waived in whole or in part.
CULTURE
Xingtian goes ‘green’
Taipei’s Xingtian Temple (行天宮) announced yesterday that it will remove its big incense burner and offering tables tomorrow to save resources and help the environment. The decision was made in line with the increasing gravity of environmental degradation, trends the temple managers said remind them of the need to make better use of nature’s resources and treat all beings with kindness and compassion. Instead of making offerings and burning incense, the temple suggested that believers show their respect to the deities by clapping their hands and praying sincerely.
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:
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