■ HEALTH
New labels for the blind
Health authorities yesterday introduced braille labels indicating dosage and other key information for prescription bottles. Twelve embossed symbols marked with braille, indicate how often to take the medicine, the dose to take and the medication's use. A sun with braille print indicates the medicine should be taken during the day, while a bowl of rice with chopsticks indicates the medicine should be taken before a meal and an empty bowl with a pair of chopsticks means it should be taken after a meal. The labels cost NT$50 each.
■ POLITICS
Deities lend a hand
Traditional deities might help promote the nation's bid for membership in the UN, some temple administrators said yesterday, one day after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) unveiled a campaign called "all deities safeguard Taiwan" during a visit to Kaohsiung's Tsaotien Temple. Temple communities said they would announce details in a press conference next week to help out with publicizing the UN bid. They said the publicity would take the form of annual tours of deity statues, such as Matsu statues, which could also be taken to New York to promote the bid. The campaign was inspired by a deity procession in front of UN headquarters in New York prior to the UN Assembly opening in September. The Presidential Office has encouraged the initiative, saying the use of creative projects that showcase Taiwanese culture would be "sure to attract more media attention."
■ ENVIRONMENT
Activists to hold parade
Environmental activists calling for concrete action to cut carbon-dioxide emissions yesterday invited the public to take part in a parade to raise public awareness about global warming on Saturday. "[East] Asia is the region with the worst global warming situation," Yang Chao-yueh (楊肇岳), a professor at National Taiwan University Oceanography, told a press conference. "In the past 50 years, average temperatures in the region have risen about 1oC ... It may not sound like a big deal now, but if we don't do anything at all, the situation will worsen -- and in 50 years, we'll suffer." Taiwan Environmental Protection Union secretary-general Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said the public should start to "use more public transportation and save energy." The parade will begin at 1:30pm at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Ho said.
■ EARTHQUAKES
Morning quake rattles south
A 5.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the southern half of the nation yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. The tremor struck at 9:41am and was centered 21km southeast of Lidao Village (利稻), Haituan Township (海端), in the mountains of Taitung County, the bureau said. It occurred at the relatively shallow depth of 8km, and was felt as far away as Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and the Hengchun Peninsula.
■ CRIME
Inside job alleged
Ground crew at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are suspected of colluding with smugglers in the trafficking of deer velvet -- the skin that covers a deer's horn -- which carries a tariff of up to 500 percent, an aviation police official said yesterday. Customs officials discovered eight cases of fresh deer velvet from Macau in a van leaving an airport warehouse on Nov. 3, he said. The shipment had not cleared customs and had not been authorized to be removed.
■ CRIME
Customs adds up seizures
A total of 329kg of illicit drugs has been seized this year so far, the Taipei Customs Office said. A spokesman said narcotics seizures last month totaled 25kg, including 23.6kg of ketamine and 1.33kg of heroin. He said about 45 percent of the drugs were detected by X-ray scanners at points of entry, while 33 percent were found with the help of informers. Most of the drugs seized were shipped via international express parcel services or carried by passengers who hid narcotics in their check-in luggage or carry-on bags. In addition to drugs, customs officials also confiscated 185kg of fresh deer antler velvet, 170 antelope horns, 276kg of hairy crabs, 100 counterfeit credit cards and a large number of pirated video games.
■ HEALTH
Drug warning issued
The Department of Health yesterday issued an additional warning about the drug Desmopressin. The spray form of the drug, marketed under the brand name Minirin, is associated with hyponatremia, which can lead to deadly seizures, the department said in a release. The department asked doctors to exercise caution when prescribing the drug. The second warning came after the US Food and Drug Administration cautioned against using the drug on Tuesday. The drug is no longer approved to control bed-wetting by children in the US. The department revised the approved uses for the drug to exclude bed-wetting earlier this year after the UK's Department of Health showed links between the drug and violent seizures. Desmopressin nasal spray is only approved in Taiwan to treat certain cases of diabetes and to test kidney functions, the department said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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