■ Health
Kids need regular snacks
Unlike adults, it is important for young children of kindergarten age to snack regularly, in order to get their required nutrients, officials from the Taipei City Government's Department of Health said yesterday. "This doesn't mean that they should only eat cakes and sweets though," Deputy Director of the Department of Health Promotion Lee Chieh-fang (李玠芳) said. However, according to a survey conducted by the John Tung Foundation, in which 742 kindergartens across Taiwan participated, snacks that were high in sugar, salt and oil content were dished out to children in five out of 10 snack times during the course of the week. In a move to promote a "healthy eating culture," the Xinyi District Health Center in Taipei City, in addition to educating kindergarten kitchen staff about children's nutrition needs, has also created recipes for healthy eating which can be obtained by calling (02) 2723-4598, extension 261.
■ Earthquake
Temblor shakes Taipei
An earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale hit Taipei and the surrounding area yesterday, causing buildings to sway, according to seismologists. The quake came amid a controversial warning that the weight of the world's tallest skyscraper may cause an increase in temblors. The quake struck at 18:15pm with an epicenter around 7.3km southeast of the capital, the Seismology Center said. The tremor, which originated 64.3km below the earth, was strongly felt in Taipei, although there were no immediate reports of damage.
■ Food safety
DOH may toughen laws
The Department of Health (DOH) has recently completed a proposed amendment to laws concerning food product management in an effort to stop dishonest food producers from selling substandard food that is hazardous to health. The problem of food safety is a perennial concern among consumers because of frequent news reports exposing the sale of dangerous food such as pork from sick hogs and contaminated cooked eggs. In the proposed amendment, punishments for dishonesty in the food businesses will be stiffened, allowing health authorities to ban problematic goods from being traded as soon as they are found to contain toxic or hazardous substances, or to carry no descriptions or incomplete descriptions of their contents.
■ Environment
EPA prepares trash policy
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will launch a publicity drive this month to prepare for the nationwide implementation of a garbage separation policy on Jan. 1. The policy, which has been enforced in 10 cities and counties nationwide since the beginning of this year, requires the public to sort their garbage into three categories -- ordinary garbage, recyclables and food scraps -- before taking it out to the garbage truck. Garbage that is not properly separated will be rejected, with offenders facing a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$6,000. The policy is set to expand to all 25 cities and counties across the nation next year. Local EPA staff will open garbage bags for inspection to see if the rules are being followed, EPA officials said. During the first three months, while the policy is being implemented, offenders will not be fined but will be given advice. Those who ignore the advice will be fined.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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