SOCIETY
Eid al-Fitr acceptance urged
The Ministry of Labor yesterday encouraged employers to allow their Muslim workers to observe Eid al-Fitr on Sunday. The day, marking the end of Ramadan, is an important holiday for Muslims, like Lunar New Year in the Chinese-speaking community, the ministry said. It is crucial that employers respect the religious beliefs of their foreign workers to create a harmonious relationship between labor and management, it added. Meanwhile, the Taipei City Government is on Sunday to hold an Eid al-Fitr celebration at the Taipei Travel Plaza near the Taipei Railway Station, the city’s Foreign and Disabled Labor Office said. The nation is home to about 252,000 Indonesian workers, 85 percent of whom are Muslim, ministry data show.
HEALTH
Encephalitis recorded
A woman from Pingtung County has contracted Japanese encephalitis, becoming the fourth person to be infected with the mosquito-borne disease in Taiwan this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The 53-year-old on May 26 sought medical treatment at a local hospital after experiencing fever and fainting, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Because the symptoms persisted, she was transferred to another hospital for further treatment, Chuang said, adding that the case was then reported as suspected Japanese encephalitis to the local health authority along with samples for laboratory testing. The diagnosis was confirmed on Sunday. The woman had not recently traveled overseas, Chuang quoted the CDC as saying. However, there is a pigeon and poultry farm approximately 2km from the woman’s residence, Chuang said.
WEATHER
Rain eases, mercury rises
The mercury in the north is set to rise to 35°C tomorrow as a rain front hovering over the nation for the past five days gradually moves north, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday, adding that chances of heavy rain remain high nationwide today. Bureau forecaster Hus Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said the rain significantly eased yesterday as the front gradually moved north and a southwest jet stream weakened. For tomorrow, the bureau said that chances of showers and thundershowers would still be high in the center and south due to southwest winds, while sunny to cloudy skies and afternoon thundershowers are forecast for the rest of the nation. From tomorrow to Friday, the average temperature is to gradually rise to between 33°C and 34°C nationwide, while the north could see a high of 35°C.
SOCIETY
Former health minister dies
Former minister of health Shih Chun-jen (施純仁) died of a heart attack on Sunday at Taipei Veterans’ General Hospital at the age of 93. Shih, a native of Taichung, received his early education during the Japanese colonial period and graduated from National Taiwan University in 1947, majoring in medicine. He then joined the National Defense Medical Center, where he worked for 38 years. Shih did a two-year residency at the Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada from 1956 to 1958, after which he returned to Taiwan to help develop the field of neurosurgery and cofound the Taiwan Neurological Society in 1977. Shih served as the head of the general surgery department at Tri-Service General Hospital — the teaching hospital of the National Defense Medical Center — from 1975 to 1984 and headed the Department of Health (which in 2013 became the Ministry of Health and Welfare) from 1986 to 1990.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
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