■SOCIETY
Group to visit from US
A delegation of more than 1,000 members of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in New York is slated to visit Taiwan to attend the Double Ten Day celebrations. The delegation will be the largest from the association to visit for the national day activities in the last eight years. Kenneth Liao (廖港民), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, expressed his appreciation on Friday for the association’s strong show of support for Taiwan, during a flag-presentation ceremony for the delegation held at the association’s headquarters. Speaking at the ceremony, association president Justin Yu (于金山) said the delegation did not include large numbers of Taiwanese-Americans in the greater New York area who also intended to return to Taiwan on their own for the celebrations. He said such a high level of support had rarely been seen during the Democratic Progressive Party administration.
■SPORTS
Kaohsiung arena finished
Kaohsiung inaugurated its new sports stadium yesterday in preparation for the 2009 World Games. Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said the dome-shaped arena, a multipurpose complex with a seating capacity of 15,000, took four years to complete. The central and city governments spent NT$1.5 billion (US$46.8 million), while the Kaohsiung Arena Development Corp, an affiliate of the Kaohsiung-based China Steel Corp, built the stadium at a total cost of approximately NT$7.9 billion. In addition to sports competitions, the stadium can be used as a venue for concerts and art exhibitions. Next year’s World Games will be held from July 16 to 26. The dance sports and gymnastics competitions will be held at the Kaohsiung Arena.
■HEALTH
Tainted bookends not here
The lead-tainted Harry Potter bookends recalled recently by a US importer are not sold in Taiwan, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection said yesterday. However, individuals who have bought similar products are advised to report them, the bureau said in a statement. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall on Tuesday in cooperation with the importer, Giftco Inc, after discovering that the paint on the bookends contained excessive lead. The bookends, in the shape of characters from the Harry Potter book series, were manufactured in Hong Kong and sold at elementary school fundraising events and discount and dollar stores in the US from June 2004 to January 2006.
■HEALTH
Kids lack balanced diets
Only 0.6 percent of elementary school students nationwide eat nutritionally balanced dinners. Kids are not getting enough fruits and vegetables, a survey conducted by Taipei Medical University Hospital showed. The survey, which interviewed 1,016 third to sixth grade students at nine schools countrywide this month, found that less than 30 percent of respondents ate either vegetables or fruit with dinner each day. Children should eat at least two servings of fruit, two servings of vegetables, four servings of grains and three servings of meat, eggs, or fish each day, said Su Hsiu-yueh (蘇秀悅), chief nutritionist at the hospital. Below-average academic performance may be related to poor nutrition, Su said, as the survey shows that more than 53 percent of respondents with low school grade eat fast food for dinner at least once a week, Su said.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS