■ Health
Whooping cough strikes
The Center for Disease Control yesterday reported the first case of a group infection of whooping cough this year and called on parents to have their infants vaccinated to fend off the respiratory disease. Health officials yesterday confirmed that a family had been infected when a two-month-old baby transmitted the bacteria infection to his uncles. "Usually, the whooping cough peak season lasts from April to July and affects about 20 people every year. The first case this year is an alarming sign of its coming," said Yan Jer-jea (顏哲傑), director of the center's immunization division. Yan called on parents to have their children vaccinated. "Most infants can be immunized against whooping cough if they get the DPT [diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus] shots," he said.
■ Charity
Book sale set for TAS
The Taipei American School's (TAS) Orphanage Club will hold its annual March book sale on Saturday from 10am to 5pm in the lobby and forecourt of the school. Club members have collected thousands of books, magazines, comic books and games, including best sellers, biographies, art and travel, children's books, cookbooks and English-teaching books. Hundreds of books in Chinese and other languages will also be available. Money raised from the book sale will provide funding for orphans and other needy children in Taiwan and outlying islands as well as other countries. The Orphanage Club is one of the oldest and largest student organizations at the school, with members ranging in age from junior-high to high-school students. TAS is located at 800 Chungshan N. Rd, Sec 6, in Tienmou.
■ Politics
President decorates Chien
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday decorated former Control Yuan president Fredrick Chien (錢復) with the Order of Chiang Kai-shek Grand Cordon to honor his contribution to the development of the country's democratic politics and enhancement of human rights. In his speech accepting the honor, Chien praised the contributions of all members of the Control Yuan and said his decoration by the president is a gesture of recognition to the Control Yuan as a whole. In view of a call from some suggesting that the Control Yuan be merged with other governing bodies, Chien, took the opportunity to plead on the Control Yuan's behalf and stressing the need to have an independent body to act as a watchdog.
■ Society
Senior citizen numbers rise
Senior citizens made up 9 percent of the overall population last year, higher than the global average of 7 percent, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. Taiwan ranked third in Asia in terms of the ratio of senior citizens to the total population, trailing only Japan, at 19 percent, and Hong Kong, at 12 percent. The global aging index, calculated by dividing the number of people aged 65 or over by the number of people aged below 14, stood at 23.3 last year. A higher index indicates a greyer population. By continent, North America had the highest aging index, at 57.1, while Africa had the lowest, at 7.1. Asia's average index was 20, with Japan's standing at a whopping 135.7. Taiwan became an aging society as defined by the UN in 1993 when the ratio of the country's senior citizens reached 7 percent of the total population for the first time. The aging index rose from 28.2 in 1993 to 45 last year.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS