HEALTH
Blood reserves at 3.4 days
The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation on Wednesday called on the public to donate blood as blood banks’ reserves dropped to 3.4 days of supply on average, well below the official seven-day safe level. The foundation said type O blood was in shortest supply, with only 2.4 days left on average. It was followed by type A blood at 3.4 days, type B at 5 days and type AB at 5.1 days. The shortages were most critical in Hsinchu, where 2.4 days of supply were available on average, while 3.3 days were available in Taipei and Taichung, and 4.2 days in Kaohsiung, the foundation said. Taipei Blood Center planning division head Liu Chun-hong (劉俊宏) said his office received donations of only 12,000 bags of blood last week, down from an average of about 16,000. Liu said many people interested in donating blood were ineligible because they had a cold or recently returned from overseas. There has been increased demand for blood from people with cardiovascular disease complications amid colder weather, Liu said.
SECURITY
Liu Te-chin to join NSC
General Liu Te-chin (劉得金), a former inspector-general at the Ministry of National Defense, has been appointed deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC). Liu is to assume his new post on Wednesday, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Liu, who has received training at top military institutions in Taiwan and the US, retired as head of the ministry’s Inspector General’s Office last year. Prior to that, he had served as deputy chief of the Army Command Headquarters and head of the Huadong Defense Command.
FOOD
Cheese courses to start
The Council of Agriculture has designed mozzarella-making courses in an effort to bolster the nation’s nascent cheese industry. The Livestock Research Institute yesterday said it had developed “professional” and “simplified” versions of the course, adding that the professional version was designed for professionals at food manufacturers, while the simplified curriculum was designed for schools and organizations involved in food and agriculture education. Institute Director Huang Jeng-fang (黃振芳) said that feedback after pilot courses was extremely positive. The institute said that it designed the courses after it determined that food preferences have changed and a local cheese industry has begun to take root. Inquiries about the courses can be made to institute assistant researcher Yeh Jui-han (葉瑞涵) at (06) 591-1211 ex 2307.
HEALTH
FDA bans eucalyptus oil
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday said it would ban the use of oil or extracts from eucalyptus leaves in food or healthcare items from Jan. 1 next year. It said only trace amounts of the extracts would be allowed as a flavor enhancer, but not as a main ingredient. FDA food items division head Chou Pei-ju (周珮如) said lozenges containing trace amounts of eucalyptus extracts would be allowed, while eucalyptus oil capsules would be banned. The ban aims to prevent interactions with the substance, which is used as a herbal medicine and as an ingredient in some over-the-counter drugs, she said. Citing EU reports, Chou said that consuming large amounts of eucalyptus-derived products can cause toxic reactions.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
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