EDUCATION
Taipei launches AI course
Taipei’s Department of Education yesterday announced the launch of a cloud-based programming course created with the assistance of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). The course incorporates an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted learning system developed by UPenn with a Python course taught by Kung Ling-chieh (孔令傑), an associate professor at National Taiwan University’s College of Management, the department said. The AI-assisted coding course would reach more than 1,100 students from 14 high schools in Taipei that have joined the city’s cloud-based learning and teaching platform, the department said. High-school students who complete the course and its supplementary assignments and tests would receive a certificate jointly issued by the city’s education department and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), it said. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and Arend Zwartjes, the AIT’s public affairs officer, attended yesterday’s public launch. Chiang said he hoped the course would bolster students’ competitiveness in the age of AI and pledged that the city would continue to improve information technology education.
Photo: CNA
WEATHER
Cardiac deaths rise in cold
Two continental cold air masses have swept Taiwan since New Year’s Day, during which 437 nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) deaths were reported as of Friday, with an emergency physician warning that the cold weather could increase health risks for people with chronic diseases. From Jan. 1 to Friday last week, a total of 437 nontraumatic, internal medicine-related OHCA deaths were recorded, including 54 on Friday, statistics from the National Fire Agency showed. National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine acting director Chang Wei-tien (張維典) said that cold temperatures or drastic weather changes often result in a rise in cardiovascular emergencies. Although patients are admitted to the emergency department at all hours, clinical experience has shown that the most severe cases tend to occur in the early morning, when temperatures are lowest, he said. Chang urged people with cardiovascular diseases or risk factors, particularly older adults, to take extra precautions during the early hours of the day.
DIPLOMACY
Minister to visit Palau
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would represent Taiwan at Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr’s inauguration on Thursday, a diplomatic source said yesterday. Lin would lead Taiwan’s delegation on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) to congratulate Whipps on winning a second term in office, the unnamed source said. The foreign minister would be joined by a business and trade delegation headed by Lee Hsien-yi (李賢義), chair of the state-owned Taiwan International Ports Corp, the source added. The business and trade delegation would also include representatives from Chunghwa Telecom, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, the Taipei-based Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association and the government-funded Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund. Palau is one of 12 states that maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Whipps has been supportive of Taiwan since he first took office in 2021 and has repeatedly accused China of pressuring Palau to switch sides by weaponizing tourism.
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
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