ASTRONOMY
Venus eclipse visible today
Astronomy buffs have a chance to see the moon eclipse Venus today, albeit in less-than-stellar viewing conditions, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon, known as a lunar occultation, should be visible in Taiwan from noon to 1:03pm, and can also be observed in Hong Kong and parts of Southeast Asia, the museum said. The last time a lunar occultation of Venus could be seen in Taiwan was in 2003, and the next time will not be until 2036. Because the eclipse will occur during the day, it cannot be seen with the naked eye, although people with star tracking equatorial mounts can train their telescopes on Venus before dawn and track the planet until the occultation occurs, the museum said. Weather permitting, a narrated livestream of the event is to be broadcast on YouTube beginning at 11:40am.
WEATHER
Falling rocks injure driver
A scooter rider was taken to hospital with a broken arm after being hit by falling rocks in New Taipei City’s Wugu District (五股) on Wednesday, as areas across the nation were soaked under heavy rainfall. The man in his 50s lost his balance and broke his right arm after being hit by rocks that fell on Laiyi Road, the city’s fire department said. A weather station in the city’s Bali District (八里) recorded Wednesday’s rainfall at 184mm as of 8:50pm, while nine other locations in New Taipei City and Taoyuan recorded 157.5mm to 178mm of rain. In Alishan Township (阿里山), falling rocks damaged two cars in separate incidents on Wednesday, county police said, adding that the occupants of the vehicles were uninjured.
DIPLOMACY
Delegation tightens EU ties
A delegation led by Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺) met with European Commission officials to discuss bilateral economic ties during its trip to Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday. The Taiwanese and European sides exchanged views on trade and investment, and discussed ways to boost economic ties, the ministry said. The visit to Brussels is part of a trip that includes a stop in Lithuania from Wednesday to today. The 24-member delegation also attended roundtable talks with about 20 representatives from European businesses, think tanks and industry associations.
DEMOCRACY SUMMIT
Lawmakers speak for Taiwan
Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) on Wednesday said he would attend the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on June 9 and 10, where he is to discuss “standing up to China’s authoritarian bullying” with foreign parliamentarians. Lim said on social media that he would take part in discussions with German, Indian and Ugandan lawmakers during the summit, organized by the Alliance of Democracies. He hopes to ensure that Taiwan’s voice is heard, and to learn from other countries’ experiences, he said. Other lawmakers attending include Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳳), New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) and Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠). The summit, now in its fifth year, is scheduled to host discussions on the relationship between technology and democracy, along with ways to defend Ukraine, counter authoritarian power and build an alliance of democracies, the organizers said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching