■ 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.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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