TRAVEL
Germany warning issued
Taiwanese visiting Germany have been advised to be on the alert against potential terrorist attacks around the end of the month, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday. The travel warning was issued after German Minister of the Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Wednesday that his ministry had obtained concrete evidence that terrorists were planning to launch attacks in Germany by the end of the month, MOFA spokesman James Chang (章計平) said. For now, the travel alert for Germany will remain gray, the lowest level in the MOFA’s four-color system, Chang said. However, Taiwanese visitors to Germany should take extra safety precautions, he said. German officials said the terror warning was serious enough for them to “expect an attack at any time.”
DIPLOMACY
US ambassador to visit
Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large of the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, is scheduled to visit Taiwan tomorrow for a four-day visit, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a press release yesterday. The ambassador will meet with government officials and local non-governmental organizations to exchange views on working together to end human trafficking, the AIT said. Taiwan was listed in “Tier 1” — the highest level — in this year’s Trafficking in Persons Report, which was published by the US Department of State in June, because of Taiwan’s full compliance with the minimum standard for the elimination of trafficking. CdeBaca was appointed by US President Barack Obama in May last year to coordinate US government activities in the global fight against contemporary forms of slavery. AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt, meanwhile, is also scheduled to visit Taiwan and deliver a speech soon after the Nov. 27 special municipality elections, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.
ARTS
Taipei County festival opens
Arts lovers are expected to pack into the Left Bank Arts Festival to see a wide range of performances and activities in the next few days after the annual event opened in Taipei County yesterday. Hosted by the Shihsanhang Archeological Museum, the festival this year invited groups of artists to create works that are related to the Tamsui River. Lin Hsiu-wei (林秀偉), producer for the Contemporary Legend Theater, and famous opera diva Wei Hai-min (魏海敏) are jointly presenting work at the festival. In addition to lively dance and theater performances, participants can learn first-hand about traditional Taiwanese craftsmanship from bronze sculptor Wu Tsung-lin (吳宗霖), tree carver Lee Yung-mou (李永謀) and Hakka blue-dye artist Hsieh Pei-hua (謝佩華). The Left Bank Arts Festival runs at three separate venues until Nov. 28.
SOCIETY
iPhone addiction rising
Apple’s iPhone series is giving rise to an “iPhone addiction,” said Yang Tsung-tsai (楊聰財), a psychiatrist at Cardinal Tien Hospital in Sindian (新店), Taipei County. Yang said one of his patients, a high school student, couldn’t take his eyes off his phone, surfing the Internet in class and staying up late to play with his phone and missing classes as a result. Another psychiatrist, Lee Kuang-hui (李光輝), said iPhone addiction seemed to have eclipsed computer addiction. Yang said those who spend all their time online probably have a latent emotional disorder or even depression and should seek medical treatment.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
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