HEALTH
Mideast travelers warned
People planning to travel to the Middle East should pay attention to their personal hygiene, as the season for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has arrived, the Centers for Disease Control said yesterday. The centers is urging Middle East-bound travelers to avoid visiting farmland and having contact with camels or people with respiratory symptoms. The disease tends to become prevalent from this month and peak in September, the centers said, adding that no cases have been confirmed in Taiwan. The centers said symptoms of MERS-CoV include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
TRAVEL
Check visa rules: MOFA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is urging travelers to check in advance the requirements for visa-free entry to their destination, after 158 people were denied entry to foreign countries last year because they could not present the necessary documents. The number is a 45 percent increase from 2009, the ministry said.
EARTHQUAKE
Quake jolts eastern areas
A magnitude 4 earthquake jolted eastern Taiwan at 5:37pm yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau reported. The earthquake’s epicenter was at sea about 37.6km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 8.4km, bureau officials said. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale. On Saturday last week, Yilan County was also rattled by two earthquakes measuring at 3.5 and 3.7 respectively on the Richter scale.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Academics have expressed mixed views on President William Lai’s (賴清德) nomination of High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) as a Constitutional Court justice and the head of the nation’s top judicial body. While prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including Judy Ju (朱富美), an incumbent, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, would be unprecedented. Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂) said that Tsai’s nomination was an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the legislature, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
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