It has been accused of crushing national identity, pushing up prices and being the best friend of fraudsters and drug barons. But now the euro -- Europe's new single currency -- faces its toughest criticism: It can make you ill.
After years of anticipation, the coins and notes will be launched in 12 countries tomorrow. But millions of people who eagerly grab their new coins could see their hands turn into a scaly, diseased mass after minutes.
PHOTO: AP
The British Journal of Dermatology warns the coins could cause eczma among 45 million people. Austrian doctors have branded them a "very dirty currency." City traders have called the euro, which has fallen sharply in value, a "toilet currency" because it has gone down the pan.
Bank tellers and shop assistants have been advised to wear gloves for work, or to get a new job. The 1 and 2 coins contain high levels of nickel. European bureaucrats agreed to include the metal despite warnings that allergy to nickel affects up to one in seven people, particularly women.
Medical researchers have conducted tests showing the coins can make far more people sick than currencies they replace.
But a spokesman for the European Commission said: "Nickel is used extensively in a number of national currencies already -- there is no scientific evidence there will be any medical effects."
But Dominic Cummings, chief executive of the `No' Campaign, gloated: "This is one of many balls-ups in the brief history of the euro."
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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