WEATHER
Typhoon threatens fireworks
The prospect of strong winds from Typhoon Vongfong could hamper National Day fireworks on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Although the typhoon is not likely to have a direct impact on the nation, the gusts it causes nationwide could affect fireworks displays the forecasters said. There could also be heavy waves along coastal areas as the storm approaches, the bureau said. As of 2pm yesterday, Vongfong was centered 2,280km east-southeast of the southernmost tip of Taiwan, moving west-northwest at 29kph, forecasters said, adding that it had maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph. Northern and eastern Taiwan could also see showers on National Day, while cloudy to sunny skies are expected in other parts of the nation, the bureau said. Regarding temperatures, daytime lows on Friday are expected to hover at about 24°Celsius across the nation, the bureau said.
ASTRONOMY
Events to mark eclipse
Skywatchers around the nation can participate in a variety of events scheduled for tomorrow, when a total lunar eclipse is to be visible in Taiwan. In Taipei, the Taipei Astronomical Museum is to open its observatory to the public between 5:30pm and 8:30pm and provide a live broadcast of the eclipse inside the museum, it said. Prizes are to be offered in a quiz contest, it added. In Taoyuan, the National Central University is to allow public access to its observatory between 5pm and 10pm and give a free lecture about the moon at 7:30pm. In Greater Taichung, the National Museum of Natural Science has planned events at the museum and at the Taichung Metropolitan Park, inviting skywatchers to join a series of lectures and observations between 3pm and 9 pm. In tomorrow evening’s eclipse, the moon will appear copper as it enters Earth’s shadow between 6:25pm and 7:25pm, officials said.
CRIME
Suspects caught in Egypt
The government will make its best effort to have authorities in Cairo repatriate 40 Taiwanese fraud suspects who were recently arrested in Egypt, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Ko (柯森耀) said yesterday. The ministry is working to ensure that the suspects are not sent to China, Ko told legislators during a legislative hearing. He said that the ministry sent diplomats to Egypt, which lacks official ties with Taiwan, to secure jurisdiction over the suspects and ask officials to ensure their basic rights. Media outlets reported that the suspects were detained in late July on allegations of operating a telephone fraud ring.
DIPLOMACY
Lee named Australia envoy
Veteran diplomat David Lee (李大維) has been appointed the nation’s top envoy to Australia. Lee, who had been the head of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, said he would do his utmost to fulfill expectations as Taiwan bids to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, of which Australia is a member. Katherine Chang (張小月), who had been the nation’s representative to Australia, is to fill the vacancy left by Lee, a statement issued by the Presidential Office said on Friday. The office did not give a reason for the swap of positions. Lee has served as vice minister of foreign affairs as well as the representative to the EU, Belgium, the US and Canada. He was named chairman of the council in July 2012.
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