■ Healthe
Bank kicks off blood drive
A volunteer organization founded by the Taipei Fuban Bank Charity Foundation launched a nationwide campaign yesterday to encourage the public to donate blood. The "Lottery Love" group, which is made up of lottery traders around the country, kicked off a "donate blood, get free lottery tickets" activity in Taipei. Similar events will take place in Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien until July 24. Donors get free lottery tickets worth NT$100 (US$3.13) with each donation of 250cc of blood, according to the organizer, who said the campaign is aimed at relieving a blood shortage.
■ Education
School expo seeks graduates
New high school and university graduates flocked to the 2005 Central Taiwan University, College and Graduate School Exposition at the Taichung World Trade Center yesterday to acquire information on advanced educational facilities in central Taiwan. The two-day expo is one of four events of its kind, with other shows in northern, western and southern parts of the country also opening yesterday. A total of 72 universities and colleges set up booths at the fair and put on various promotional activities to attract graduates. Besides public presentations of faculty information, each school also prepared small-scale workshops for visitors to make direct contact with relevant school authorities.
■ Security
Port joins anti-terror drive
Kaohsiung Port on Friday joined the Container Security Initiative led by the US in a global effort to fight terrorism, according to a spokesman for the Kaohsiung Customs Bureau under the Ministry of Finance. According to the bureau official, a group of US officials have been stationed at the bureau to help kick off preparations to facilitate a fast-track passage through US seaport customs for containers coming from Kaohsiung. The operations are expected to officially start late next month after the US provides Kaohsiung Port with two large X-ray machines to help carry out security checks on containers bound for the US, the official said. The Container Security Initiative was spearheaded by the US Department of Homeland Security.
■ Crime
Illegal Chinese less: NPA
The problem of illegal Chinese immigrants working in the country has been reduced as a result to a crackdown by law enforcement authorities, police said yesterday. A total of 457 illegal Chinese immigrants were arrested between January and May, down 464, or 50.38 percent, over the same period of last year, according to statistics from the National Police Agency. Of these illegal immigrants, 114 were women, which represents a decrease of 517, or 81.93 percent compared with the same period last year. However, the number of men increased by 53 to 343. At the time of their arrest, 247 people were working illegally in Taiwan, 183 had not started working and 27 were engaged in prostitution and other sex-related activities. During the same period, police also arrested 119 employers who hired illegal Chinese immigrants and 25 agents who brokered the employment of illegal Chinese immigrants. While 1,029 illegal Chinese immigrants were repatriated from January to May, 2,080 were still confined as of the end of May.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
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