The New York Post
Date: August 24, 2019
By: Eileen AJ Connelly6

Two people were injured Saturday when a weakening Typhoon Bailu crossed southern Taiwan.

The storm forced the shutdown of businesses and schools, and airlines canceled more than 350 flights as the island braced for landslides, floods and high seas, Reuters reported. Some 34,000 soldiers were deployed in the south amid fears of flooding.

The storm, the first to make landfall on the island in more than two years, reached Taiwan Saturday afternoon with winds up to 85 miles per hour. Nearly 30,000 homes lost power and some areas saw flooding as it moved northwest across the island.

Heavy rain was expected to continue through Sunday, Taiwan News said.    [SOURCE]

Residents tackle insects with flame thrower and water

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Thousands of flying ants recently invaded a village in Chiayi County for the fifth year running, forcing locals to go as far as using flame throwers to repel the invasion, reports said Saturday (August 24).

The unwanted visitors started arriving in Zhongpu in August 2015, annoying residents by invading their homes as soon as they turned on lights in the evening, the Central News Agency reported.

At the time, residents started using sticky paper and bowls of water to catch the insects, according to Hsu Shao-tang (徐紹唐), the former chairman of a Chiayi County rescue association. In one night, they would catch thousands of ants, he said.

The latest wave arrived Friday (August 23) night, according to Hsu. He tur

ned on just one light inside his home and went out for a two-hour walk. When he came back, he found thousands of ants covering the pillars of the house, and decided to take them on with a flame thrower, CNA reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/24
By: Liu Chien-pang, Tyson Lu and Ko Lin

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) Some 10,000 households in southern Taiwan are still without electricity after Tropical Storm Bailu swept through the region Saturday and caused blackouts to 73,210 homes in Taiwan, the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) said.

As of 6 p.m., a total of 13,519 households were left without power, with the majority of them in Taitung County, followed by Nantou County, Hualien County, Pingtung County, Chiayi County, and Tainan City.

According to the center, power is expected to be fully restored at around 10 p.m.

In its latest briefing, the CEOC said Bailu also caused severe mudslides in several mountainous areas.    [FULL  STORY]

STORM CLEANUP: With Tropical Storm Bailu bringing rain to Taiwan this weekend, the CDC urged people to remove standing water near their homes when the weather clears

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 25, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday confirmed a new case of indigenous dengue fever in

Tainan and urged people to clean up potential mosquito breeding sites near homes after a storm passes.

A man in his 30s who lives in Datong Borough (大同) of Tainan’s East District (東) had a fever, muscle pain and rashes from Aug. 10, but was not diagnosed with dengue despite two visits to a doctor, the centers said, adding that he had not traveled overseas recently.

Earlier in the month, the man’s sister, who lives in Kaohsiung, was diagnosed with dengue, with that case reported to the CDC and the woman hospitalized on Aug. 13.

The man was tested for dengue in response to that case and the result came back positive on Friday.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 23 August, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Air pollution is worse in southern Taiwan[/caption] Lung cancer is a disease often associated with smoking. But not everyone getting the disease in Taiwan today smokes. Might Taiwan’s air quality be to blame?

A study by the National Health Research Institutes has found that smoking is not the main cause of lung cancer. The study has found that the number of people with lung cancer is correlated with air pollution.

About 53% of lung cancer patients in Taiwan today have never smoked. Other research conducted by Taipei Medical University has come up with a similar figure. The study results suggest that air pollution is to blame for these cases.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei church gathers gas masks in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/23
By: Micah McCartney, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Hong Kong's police force employs increasingly brutal tactics to quash the protests that have gripped the city since June, including the use of tear gas indoors, gas masks have become a rare commodity, and some pro-democracy protesters are turning to Taiwan to meet the demand.

Police in Hong Kong have fired in excess of 1,800 tear gas canisters at protesters since the beginning of the city-wide demonstrations, which began in opposition to a bill that would permit extradition to China. With gas masks running out of stock in July and deliveries from China being halted to stymie protesters' efforts, sales of gas masks are surging in Taiwan.

According to one Taipei wholesaler, gas mask sales exceeded 3,000 in one month — a number three times greater than the total amount ordered in 2018. Another supplier in the city, Ceachain (世筌企業股份有限公司), has also seen a dramatic spike in mask sales, having already sold out of one brand, though other, equally effective masks are available as long as orders are made a day before pickup, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Hong Kongers in Taiwan are reportedly making purchases in person on behalf of friends involved in the pro-democracy movement, typically buying multiple sets of masks and accompanying air filters and filter pads, according to a staff member at Fusheng Chemicals and Instruments. "The police have not guaranteed they won't use [tear gas] on the August 31 protest, so it might be safer for us to buy them here to prepare in advance," the SMCP quoted one Hong Kong customer as saying.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/23
By: Lin Chang-shun and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) Nine National Security Bureau (NSB) and Presidential Office officials and four China Airlines (CAL) staffers have been formally charged after trying to smuggle cigarettes in conjunction with an overseas visit by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) last month.

Of the 13 individuals involved, 11 were indicted for violating both the Anti-Corruption Act and the Tax Collection Act while the other two where only charged with violating the tax law, according to a Taipei District Prosecutors Office statement Friday.

In the indictments, prosecutors alleged that NSB security agent Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), who traveled with the president as part of her security detail, pre-ordered 9,200 cartons from CAL's online duty-free store on July 8, three days before Tsai left on her trip to the United States and the Caribbean.

The cigarettes were then put into storage at an airport warehouse owned by China Pacific Catering Services Ltd.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 22 August, 2019
By: Paula Chao

One Taiwanese senior citizen has received a special gift for her 108th birthday — a bedside Peking opera performance put on just for her.

It’s a gift from Huashan Social Welfare Foundation, an NGO that is dedicated to helping older people who are incapacitated, diagnosed with dementia, or have no one to care for them.

Since its establishment in 1999, the foundation has helped over 23,000 senior citizens, cleaning their houses, accompanying them to the doctors, and making their lives easier in other ways, too.

This Peking opera performance is being put on for an audience of one — 108-year-old Grandma Lee, who has been bed-ridden for years. To celebrate her birthday, the Huashan Social Welfare Foundation decided to help make one of her dreams come true, inviting a Peking opera actress to give a private bedside performance.    [FULL  STORY]

If you plan on visiting Taipei soon, you can now apply to stay in the Presidential Office Building. Application deadline is on August 31.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/08/22
By: Taiwan Scene

Would you spend a night at the Presidential Office Building (總統府) in Taiwan? It's one of Taipei's most iconic buildings and 2019 marks its 100th anniversary.

In honor of its centenary, the Presidential Office will be granting greater access to the public, inviting 20 groups of overseas guests to spend the night at the historic location.

The Presidential Office Building often holds open houses, granting members of the public access to the main entrance, entrance hall and auditorium, as well as the south and north courtyards and first floor exhibition areas.

In coordination with the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC), Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), and Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Spend a Night @ Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building will have personal housekeepers welcoming the lucky guests upon their arrival in Taiwan. They will stay in a private room within the building that has been renovated into a cozy Taiwanese-style hotel room.    [FULL  STORY]