■ ENVIRONMENT
Chen congratulates Gore
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) congratulated former US vice president Al Gore yesterday for winning the Nobel Peace Prize and expressed hope that the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) would help Taiwan's initiative to establish a World Environment Organization (WEO) under a UN framework. Chen, who is in the Marshall Islands for a summit with leaders of the country's six diplomatic allies in the Pacific, said the environmental abuse in the Pacific region has posed a severe threat to the sustainable existence of the six allies. "This is a serious matter, a matter of life and death," Chen said, urging the leaders of the six allies to write to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other UN member countries to jointly push for the establishment of the WEO.
■ HEALTH
Make-up lead levels okay
The lead content of cosmetics and skin care products on the local market fall within permissible levels and should not cause panic among consumers, Department of Health (DOH) officials said yesterday. The officials made the remarks in response to the results of tests on 33 brand-name lipsticks released recently by the US-based Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which found that 61 percent contained lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). Liao Chi-chou (廖繼洲), head of the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs, said that many cosmetics and skin care products such as lipstick and toner contain very small amounts of lead -- less than 20ppm. DOH officials said consumers should not overreact to the test results, as people normally only apply lipstick to their skin rather than ingest it.
■ COMPETITIONS
Taiwan first at Olympiad
Taiwan took home the lion's share of medals with three gold and one silver at the first International Earth Science Olympiad in Seoul, South Korea. The second place went to South Korea while the US came third. The gold medalists were juniors from the Kaohsiung Municipal Senior High School, National Taichung Girls' Senior High School and Taipei Municipal First Girls High School. The silver medalist was a sophomore from National Tainan First Senior High School. Team leader Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥), an earth science professor at National Normal Taiwan University, said they had expected to compete with 11 countries, but only 24 contenders from seven countries showed up. He expects at least 20 participating countries in next year's event, which will be held in the Philippines. Chang said he told the organizers he would like Taiwan to host the third Olympiad in 2009, adding that he hoped the Ministry of Education would back the proposal.
■ HEALTH
Dengue cases break record
The Tainan City Government reported that as of Friday, the number of confirmed cases of dengue fever had broken the 500 mark and reached 511, making it the city's worst ever outbreak of the disease. City officials said they discovered clusters of dengue fever infection in households in both northern and eastern parts of the city and urged the public to be on guard. With the National Athletic Meet scheduled to open in Tainan City this week, the city government has pulled out all the stops to eradicate mosquitos and ensure the safety of participating athletes. Health officials also urged the public to remove any containers of standing water that could serve as breeding ground for the disease-bearing mosquitos.
■ POLITICS
DPP supports quick review
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus will push for the review of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominees for grand justices before the legislature goes into recess in December ahead of the legislative elections on Jan. 12, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said yesterday. Ker made the comments in response to Chen's remarks on Thursday that he would nominate four grand justice candidates and 29 Control Yuan members after he returns from a summit with the nation's Pacific allies on the Marshall Islands. On Sept. 27, the legislature approved four grand justices, as well as the president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan, from a list of 10 nominees proposed by Chen in August. Four nominees were rejected after pan-blue lawmakers questioned the four nominees' ties to the DPP.
■ TRADE
Organic produce touted
Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山) will lead a delegation to Canada today to promote the county's organic produce. Tu Li-hua (杜麗華), director of the Hualien County Government's Department of Agriculture, said this will be the first time a government agency has presided over a project to export agricultural produce to Canada. Tu said that Hualien's farmers have just received export orders from Canada for agricultural produce worth NT$10 million (US$309,000). Although exports might not be as high as originally expected, Canada still represents a good outlet for Hualien's high-quality organic agricultural products, especially after passing Canada's strict produce testing, Tu said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV