SOCIETY
Actor Nicky Wu weds
Actor Nicky Wu (吳奇隆) yesterday announced his marriage to Chinese actress Liu Shishi (劉詩詩). The 44-year-old Wu posted photographs of the couple’s marriage certificate and rings with the caption “cherish happiness” on his Sina Weibo microblog. Wu and Liu, 27, met in 2011 on the set of the Chinese TV series Scarlet Heart (步步驚心), the show that made Liu famous. Wu shot to fame in the 1980s in Taiwan as a member of the Little Tigers boy band. He continued his singing career after the trio disbanded in 1995 and moved into acting. Since 2000 he has focused his career in China, starring in films and TV series.
HEALTH
Warning on monkey bites
The Centers for Disease Control urged visitors to Yushan National Park to be careful if encountering Formosan macaques after almost half the monkeys in the park’s Tataka area have tested positive for the herpes B virus. The agency said National Pingtung University of Science and Technology researchers recently tested Formosan macaques in the park and found 47 percent carried the virus, which can infect animals as well as humans. “If bitten by an infected Formosan macaque, people could be infected with the human herpes B virus,” CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Although there are only 40 cases of humans being infected with the herpes B virus, the mortality rate is more than 70 percent for those who do not receive proper treatment, he said. Survivors are often left with serious after-effects, he said. If bitten by a monkey, the victim should sanitize the wound immediately with soap or iodine and wash it with clean water for 15 to 20 minutes before seeking medical treatment, he said. Victims should also be vaccinated against rabies.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
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