CHARITY
Cleft lip program launched
Several organizations have launched a program to allow 150 Vietnamese with cleft lips or cleft palates to be treated free of cost at a hospital in their home country, said the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation, which is leading the effort. The patients are to receive reconstructive surgery at Odonto Maxillo Facial Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and the costs will be met under the financial program, a spokesman for the foundation said, adding that an education foundation in Taiwan and the hospital will also assemble a medical team to provide long-term care to impoverished patients with oral birth defects in the city. The foundation said it hopes the program will not only provide surgical intervention for Vietnamese patients, but will also offer an opportunity for Vietnamese doctors to learn from Taiwanese specialists.
TRADE
Rice exports to rise
Taiwan will export more rice this year than last year after securing orders through China’s lunchbox market, according to the Council of Agriculture. Chinese consumers can now enjoy rice grown in Taiwan as the Changhua-based Ting Hsin International Group has decided to sell lunchboxes using the rice through their 800 Family Mart convenience stores in China. Taiwan used to export rice to China in small packages only, and Ting Hsin’s move is likely to boost the country’s rice exports there, the council’s Agriculture and Food Agency said. Exports of the crop have increased substantially over the past four years, rising from 1,459 metric tonnes in 2010 to 2,718 tonnes last year, the agency said. During the first four months of this year, Taiwan exported 954 tonnes of rice. The nation now produces about 1.3 million tonnes of rice annually, the agency said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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