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.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central