HEALTH
CDC warns on dengue
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged the public to take precautions against dengue fever during the typhoon season. As of Monday last week, the nation had seen 289 dengue fever cases this year, compared with 254 in the same period last year, the CDC said. That included 17 confirmed cases during the week of June 30 to Monday last week, it said. The threat from abroad is also increasing, with Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Cambodia having recorded more cases this year than usual, it added. Considering that the number of dengue fever cases is on the rise, the outbreak could expand further during the typhoon season when the environment is favorable for mosquito breeding, it said. CDC officials reminded people to keep their homes free of standing water and take steps to avoid mosquito bites. Dengue fever is an infectious tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. The symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and skin rash. In a small proportion of cases, the disease can develop into dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal.
TRANSPORTATION
Tigerair to open Tokyo route
Tigerair Taiwan, a joint venture between China Airlines and Singapore’s Tiger Airways, yesterday said it would launch flights between Kaohsiung and Narita Airport on Sept. 1 to capitalize on increasing interest in travel between the two nations. The new daily flight will depart Kaohsiung at 3:20pm and leave from Narita on the return leg at 12:10pm (Japan time), the airline said. Tokyo will be Tigerair Taiwan’s third international destination from Kaohsiung, after the budget carrier launched flights from the southern city to Macau in December last year and to Osaka earlier this month.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
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