SOCIETY
CNN lists Taipei 101 ride
Taipei 101 on Thursday beat other world-renowned skyscrapers in the selection of 49 life-changing journeys by CNN Travel with its 39-second elevator ride that travels non-stop to the building’s 89th-floor observation deck at a record speed of 1,010m per minute. Listed among the 43km-long Inca Trail of Peru and the Masai Mara National Reserve of Kenya, the 508m-tall building provides tourists “the sheer pleasure of blasting above the stifling masses in a steel box that pushes the limits of people-mover technology,” the travel review said. This was the second time a tourist attraction in Taiwan has made it onto the Web site of the US network’s travel section this week, after Guanshan (關山) in Kenting (墾丁) was hailed as one of the “12 superb sunset spots around the world” on Monday.
SOCIETY
Heatwave day off uncertain
The government remained undecided on whether a working day could be declared a holiday due to high temperature, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Deputy Minister Chang Nien-chung (張念中) said yesterday. Chang made the remarks after Cabinet members remained divided at an inter-governmental meeting called to discuss the issue. There is no exact definition of what criteria must be met in order to qualify as a day off due to high temperature, Chang said. Chang said his office has instructed the Central Weather Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control to collect more information on how to determine the criteria and on cases of heat stroke in hot weather for further discussions. On Thursday last week, the mercury in Taipei hit 39.3°C, the highest temperature recorded in the city by the Central Weather Bureau since records began 117 years ago.
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
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