■ TECHNOLOGY
Invention show planned
The 2007 Taipei International Invention Show and Technomart (TIIST) is slated for Sept. 27-30 at the Taipei World Trade Center, a government official said yesterday. According to the official, this year's TIIST, to be sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Education and the National Science Council, will be larger than last year's event. During the three-day exhibition, a total of 947 standard booths will be set up for individual inventors, invention groups and manufacturers from Europe, America and Asia to display their most recent inventions, the official said. Entering its third year, the TIIST aims to boost international technology deals, the official said.
■ DIPLOMACY
US group supports WHO bid
The Medical Society of Delaware (MSD) in the US sent a letter on Thursday to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), urging her to support Taiwan's bid to join the international health body. The society's president, Janice Tildon-Burton, said in the letter that Taiwan has made every effort possible in its bids for to join WHO over the past years, but all its efforts have been in vain. The world health regulatory body's exclusion of Taiwan has not only been unfair to the 23 million people of Taiwan, but has also violated WHO founding objectives, the MSD head said. She said that, boasting one of the world's most advanced public health systems, Taiwan has actively participated in international humanitarian assistance efforts, and as such should be admitted into the WHO.
■ AGRICULTURE
Pingtung park goes ahead
The Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park (PABP) is scheduled to open in July following the completion of first-stage factory construction work, a park executive said yesterday. According to PABP Preparatory Office director Chen Chien-pin (陳建斌), the first stage of standard factory construction at the Faifeng Base was completed earlier this month. Chen said that given the enthusiastic response of local and foreign manufacturers, the park administration is working towards a second-stage factory project at the Taiyuan Base which is expected to begin next February and to be completed in April 2009. The Haifeng Base, located in Changchih Township (長治), will see the development of nine key industries, while the Taiyuan Base, located in Fangliao Township (枋寮), will be a fish-breeding zone, Chen said.
■ PUBLIC SAFETY
Fire breaks out near Keelung
A fire that broke out on Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) off Keelung around 12pm on Saturday and lasted for 11 hours damaged an estimated 40 hectares of land -- an area equivalent to one-third of the small island, fire department officials said yesterday. The cause of the fire is still unclear, but after a preliminary investigation, experts have not ruled out the possibility that high-temperature exhaust from low-flying military aircraft crossing the area caused the fire. Discarded cigarettes could also have been the cause, Keelung City officials said. The fire department was at the scene shortly after receiving an emergency call, but because of insufficient water supplies, the fire spread very quickly, the officials said. The fire was brought under control after nearly 11 hours with assistance from the national airborne emergency relief center.
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
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