TimesNowNews.com
Date: Dec 30, 2018

TaiGenomics uses AI to process, analyse and draw inferences from vast amounts of medical and genetic data provided by patients and hospitals.

Microsoft, Taiwan AI Labs team up for genetic analysis  |  Photo Credit: IANS

San Francisco/Taipei: Microsoft and Taiwan AI Labs have collaborated and unveiled TaiGenomics — an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based genetic analysis platform — using Microsoft Azure Cloud computing and storage capabilities.

The platform uses AI to process, analyse and draw inferences from vast amounts of medical and genetic data provided by patients and hospitals, MSPoweruser.com reported late on Friday.    [FULL  STORY]

A total of 8 night markets in Tainan to be fitted with bilingual menus

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/30
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After a successful pilot program, the Tainan City Government will roll out bilingual menus throughout eight night markets to promote tourism, reported CNA.

The menus will be developed in both Chinese and English, and will be implemented throughout the county in 2019.

Earlier this year, the county government developed bilingual menus for food vendors at three night markets in the municipality, and the program will be expanded to include five more.

The Tainan Flower, Wusheng, and Yanxing night markets now have bilingual menus, while the Sinying, Xinshi, Jiali, Yongda, and Xiaobei night markets will be fitted with them in the future.    [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/30
By: William Yen

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) With the end of 2018 knocking at the door, countdown parties and firework displays have been organized around the country to celebrate the end of the year and to create a festive cheer for 2019.

At the various New Year’s Eve parties, celebrities, singers and dancers will perform across the country to join crowds in counting down to the new year.

The New Year’s Eve Countdown Party and Taipei 101 fireworks display in Taipei will be held from 7 p.m. Monday until 1 a.m. Tuesday in Taipei City Hall Square and include performances by pop diva aMei (張惠妹), hip hop trio MJ116 (頑童), South Korean girl group EXID and other artists.

Video taken from Chinese Television System (CTS) YouTube channel

This year’s Taipei 101 firework display will have approximately 16,000 rounds and will run for 360 seconds. It will be accompanied by animated show on a LED lighting system called the T-Pad, which will be projected from north side of Taipei 101 from the 35th to the 90th floors.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 31, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged people to take precautions

against the flu over the New Year’s holiday, as flu cases have been on the rise in Taiwan over the past few weeks.

In the week ending on Dec. 22, a total of 68,148 people sought outpatient or emergency treatment for flu-like symptoms at hospitals and clinics across the nation, compared with 61,628 people the week before, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, adding that 20 of the patients — 85 percent of whom had not received flu vaccines — developed serious flu complications.

The predominant flu strain over the past four weeks has been H3N2, Chuang said.

Temperatures during the New Year holiday and the rest of the week are expected to be relatively low, and Chuang urged people who plan on participating in New Year’s Eve festivities to protect themselves against the flu by wearing masks and frequently washing their hands.   [FULL  STORY]

The winners are Nanliao in Penghu, Pinglin in New Taipei City, and the coast of Yilan

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Three scenic areas from Taiwan made the Top 100 Green Destinations for the ITB travel fair in Berlin, tying with the Philippines for the highest number of an Asian country, reports said Saturday.

The three areas were Nanliao (南寮) in Penghu County, Pinglin (坪林) in New Taipei City, and the Northeast Coast scenic area (東北角) in Yilan County, the Central News Agency reported.

The three areas selected to represent the Philippines were Bojo, the Lio Tourism Estate on El Nido, and San Carlos City.

2018 was the fourth year that a Dutch-based foundation made a selection of global tourism destinations based on criteria such as sustainable development, social, cultural and economic conservation, and environmental protection.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/29
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Chi Jo-yao 

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Money laundering has emerged as the third largest category of economic crime in Taiwan this year following a crackdown on the practice driven by a legal revision passed in 2017, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said Saturday.

A total of 501 money laundering cases involving 1,337 suspects and some NT$2.1 billion (US$68 million) were cracked in the first 11 months of 2018, according to MOI figures.

That compares to only 51 money laundering cases involving 274 suspects and NT$1.33 billion were solved during the same period of 2017, MOI figures showed.

The MOI attributed the increase to an amendment to the Money Laundering Control Act that took effect on June 28, 2017, which expanded the scope of anti-money laundering investigations, laid down stricter rules for high-ranking officials, and strengthened international police cooperation.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 30, 2018
By Wu Jen-chieh and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Police have captured a suspect in a bank robbery that took place in New Taipei City’s

Banciao District (板橋).

The man, surnamed Yu (游), is suspected of robbing a Sunny Bank branch on Dusing Road at 2pm on Friday and was found at his residence with the money at 6:45pm yesterday, police said.

They said Yu barged into the branch carrying a gun, which was later discovered to be a toy, before reportedly fleeing the scene with NT$3.33 million (US$108,352) in cash, all of which took 101 seconds.

Police said they tracked Yu using surveillance camera footage, adding that he had fled the scene on a scooter, which had been reported stolen from the district’s Houpu (後埔) area.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 28 December, 2018
By: Paula Chao

A civic group called Citizen Congress Watch has chosen “chaos” as the word of the year to describe Taiwan’s legislature.

The group said Friday that the word “chaos” reflects government policy flip-flops and confusion surrounding last month’s elections.

The group posted the Chinese character “luan,” or chaos, on the front door of a legislative building to urge the public to pay attention to public affairs and governance.

The word was selected by nearly 1,600 people in a vote held between December 5th and 22nd.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan can look to Switzerland for national reform argues Wu Chin-sheng

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/28
By: Wu Chin-sheng 吳進生

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – How does Taiwan become the Switzerland of the east? We must think about Taiwan and look at Switzerland’s small government, low taxes, optimal land use, safety, and honest practices.

Switzerland’s Canton of Zug is an Economic Hub

Switzerland is a mountainous country, and when looking up, one might think of them as mountains of gold. Taiwan is also mountainous place, but Taiwan’s mountains look desolate.

For the ninth consecutive year, Switzerland was ranked the world’s most competitive economy by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. According to the 2018 report, Switzerland was followed by the United States, Singapore, the Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan and Finland.    [FULL  STORY]