HEALTH
Five mats found defective
A random inspection of 20 commercially available summer sleeping mats discovered five samples that contained excessive amounts of the preservative formaldehyde, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The samples were selected from among an assortment of retailers in the first half of this year, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection said, adding that the defective products were ordered off store shelves. Despite its widespread use as a commercial preservative, formaldehyde is classified as a carcinogen and in excessive amounts can cause respiratory tract infections, headaches, an abnormally high heart rate and skin irritation, the bureau said. The tests also revealed labeling problems on three products, it said. People should avoid purchasing sleeping mats with unclear labels or a strong chemical smell, the bureau said, adding that new mats should be thoroughly washed and sun-dried before use.
HEALTH
Vietnamese saved from fire
Three migrant workers from Vietnam were treated for smoke inhalation after being rescued from a fire at an apartment in Taoyuan, the Taoyuan Fire Department said yesterday. The incident happened a few minutes after midnight on Thursday in Lujhu District (蘆竹), it said, adding that the Vietnamese were rescued by firefighters from a ninth-floor balcony. Fire engines carrying 72 firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze in about an hour, it said, adding that there were no other reported injuries. The three victims were taken to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) for treatment. The cause of fire is under investigation, authorities said.
CULTURE
Van Gogh goes high-tech
An exhibition that employs high-definition imagery of artwork by 19th century Dutch master Vincent van Gogh is to be held in Taipei early next year, organizer JUSTLIVE said on Thursday. Dubbed “Van Gogh Alive,” it is to be the first time this type of high-tech artistic expo is held in Taiwan, the entertainment subsidiary of online streaming service KKBOX said. The show features more than 3,000 Van Gogh images and paintings, creating a display that fills giant screens, walls, columns, ceilings and even the floor, JUSTLIVE said. The show combines multichannel motion graphics and cinema-quality surround sound, using up to 40 high-definition projectors that provide visitors with an immersive experience, it said. The show is to be held at Taipei’s Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co’s A11 store from Jan. 15 to April 5 and Kaohsiung’s Shin Kong Mitsukoshi store from April 18 to July 12, it added.
CRIME
Three detained for robbery
Three men were detained for allegedly robbing a Malaysian tourist of NT$300,000 in Taipei, police said on Wednesday. The tourist was duped into taking what she thought was an Uber ride to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday, the last day of her trip, police said. However, instead of taking her to the airport, the car drove to Yangmingshan, where the driver and another man forcibly took her passport, cellphone and handbag, which contained NT$300,000 in cash, police said. The woman sustained injuries to her hands and feet, as she attempted to fend off the men and later flee, police said, adding that the men left the woman in the mountainous area and drove away with her belongings. A special investigation team tracked down the two men and a third suspect, who allegedly set up the robbery, police said.
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:
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
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