COVID-19: Preschool cluster confirmed as Delta variant
COVID-19: Preschool cluster confirmed as Delta variantCOMPLICATED: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said the 10 preschool cases shared a genome sequence, but that it differed from the aircrew cluster’s sequenceBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterA cluster of 23 infections at a preschool in New Taipei City have been confirmed as being from the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei TimesThe first case in the preschool cluster was reported on Sunday, a preschool teacher, while several preschool students and their family members tested positive in the following days, he said. Chen said that 1,013 close contacts of the preschool cluster have been placed in home isolation and 49 are practicing self-health management. Among them, 358 have tested negative, 22 have tested positive and 633 are waiting for their results, he said. Genome sequencing on virus samples collected from 10 cases in the preschool cluster showed that they are all infected with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
September 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Amazon to open two cashierless Whole Foods stores
Amazon to open two cashierless Whole Foods storesAP, NEW YORKThere will be something missing at two Whole Foods Market Inc stores opening next year: the rows of cashiers. Amazon.com Inc, which owns the grocery chain, yesterday said that it would bring its cashierless technology to two Whole Foods stores for the first time, letting shoppers grab what they need and leave without having to open their wallets. Amazon first unveiled the cashierless technology in 2018 at an Amazon Go convenience store and has expanded it to larger Amazon supermarkets, but it would be the first time it has appeared at Whole Foods, a chain of more than 500 grocery stores Amazon bought four years ago. They are to be stocked with the typical Whole Foods fare, including seafood, fresh-squeezed orange juice and organic vegetables. It also declined to say if it plans to bring the technology to more Whole Foods locations.
Source:Taipei Times
September 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Wong Chi-huey honored
Wong Chi-huey honoredStaff writer, with CNAFormer Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) is likely to become the first person in Taiwan to receive the Welch Award in Chemistry, anonymous sources have said. The purpose of the award is “to foster and encourage basic chemical research and to recognize, in a substantial manner, the value of chemical research contributions for the benefit of humankind,” the foundation’s Web site says. Chemist and former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey sits at his desk in an undated photograph. Wong, who had been impeached because of bribery charges related to OBI Pharma Inc (浩鼎), in 2016 resigned from his position as the president of Academia Sinica. Some say Wong could have won the award a few years earlier, but was hampered by the charges.
Source:Taipei Times
September 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Organizers of Tiananmen vigil arrested by HK police
Organizers of Tiananmen vigil arrested by HK policeAFP, HONG KONGHong Kong police yesterday arrested four members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the group behind annual vigils for the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a day after they refused to cooperate with a national security investigation. Hong Kong Alliance vice chairwoman Chow Han-tung speaks to reporters in Hong Kong on Sunday. “Anyone who has violated the National Security Law of Hong Kong and other laws of Hong Kong must be punished by the law,” the Chinese National Security Bureau in Hong Kong said. “Even before a trial begins, Hong Kong Alliance is presumed guilty. It completely violates the presumption of innocence in the past,” former Hong Kong lawmaker Nathan Law (羅冠聰) said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Japan upgrades GDP on raised business spending
Japan upgrades GDP on raised business spendingReuters, TOKYOJapan’s economy grew faster than initially estimated in the April-to-June quarter, helped by solid capital expenditure, although a resurgence in COVID-19 is undermining service-sector consumption and clouding the outlook. A worker checks a spool of recycled paper at a Corelex Shinei Co toilet paper factory in Fuji, Japan, on Tuesday. Japan’s GDP expanded at an annualized pace of 1.9 percent in the three months to June. “Japan’s recovery is lagging behind other advanced economies. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s GDP, grew 0.9 percent from April to June compared with the previous three months, up slightly from a preliminary estimate of a 0.8 percent gain.
Source:Taipei Times
September 08, 2021 15:56 UTC
Allianz faces a new probe by regulator in Germany
Allianz faces a new probe by regulator in GermanyBloombergThe German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has started its own investigation into Allianz SE’s Structured Alpha Funds, which are at the center of lawsuits and probes in the US following steep losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reuters reported on the BaFin probe earlier. Officials for Allianz and BaFin declined to comment. Allianz last month disclosed that the US Department of Justice had started a probe into the funds and warned that the matter could “materially impact” future earnings, sending shares of the insurer tumbling. Allianz told a Manhattan federal judge in February that the plaintiffs are sophisticated investors that chose high-risk private funds with their eyes open.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
South Korean firm Coupang launches second Taipei site
South Korean firm Coupang launches second Taipei siteBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterSouth Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Corp yesterday launched its second outlet in Taipei after opening its first in Zhongshan District (中山) in July. The new site in Xinyi District (信義) suggests that Coupang, often described as “the Amazon of South Korea,” is to contest the app-based delivery space occupied by Foodpanda Taiwan Co (富胖達) and Uber Eats Taiwan. A Coupang Corp employee delivers an eco-bag carrying fresh food in Bucheon, South Korea, on Feb. 19. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/BloombergCoupang says it delivers within 15 minutes for orders to Songshan (松山), Daan (大安), Xinyi, Zhongshan and Datong (大同) districts. Coupang founder and chief executive officer Bom Kim said that he is excited by the opportunities in the Taiwanese market.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Cluster cases likely not Alpha, CECC says
Among the eight new local cases, seven were in New Taipei City, including five people linked to the preschool cluster, and one in Taipei, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. A cleaner sanitizes a playground at the affiliated kindergarten of an elementary school in Taipei yesterday, after a cluster of COVID-19 cases were linked to a kindergarten in New Taipei City. Photo: CNAThe cluster has since expanded to 15 people, with nine cases — eight students and a parent — reported on Monday, and five more cases — a student, three parents and a one-year-old sibling of a student — reported yesterday, Chen said. The CECC also reported four imported COVID-19 cases: two Taiwanese, one Japanese and one Malaysian. The 12 new cases brought the total number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan to 16,047, of which 14,386 were domestic infections reported since May 15, when the country first recorded more than 100 cases in a single day.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Vaccine donation arrives from Japan
COVID-19: Vaccine donation arrives from JapanStaff writer, with CNAA batch of 64,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Japan arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon, the fourth such donation made by Tokyo. A driver transports Japan’s donation of 64,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Japan first donated 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan on June 4, followed by 1.13 million doses on July 8 and 970,000 doses on July 15. To date, Taiwan has taken delivery of approximately 13 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, about 6 million of which were donated by other nations. The US is the second-largest vaccine donor to Taiwan after Japan with a donation of 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, followed by Poland, which donated 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
CPI rise linked to transport costs, rain
CPI rise linked to transport costs, rainQ4 SUBSIDENCE? Food costs alone pushed the CPI reading up by 0.59 percentage points, Tsao added. Food and transportation prices combined accounted for 60 percent of the growth in the CPI, Tsao said. Garment prices rose 2.04 percent, while living costs increased 1.25 percent due to higher house repair and rent costs, the report said. The wholesale price index (WPI), a measure of commercial production costs, increased 11.88 percent, as healthy demand boosted prices for raw materials and oil products, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Listed firms report record profit from investments
Listed firms report record profit from investmentsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterListed firms in Taiwan reported record combined profit of NT$243 billion (US$8.78 billion) from investments in China and NT$576.3 billion from investments in other overseas markets in the first half of this year, with the electronics, semiconductor and shipping sectors contributing the most, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday. Commission data showed that as of the end of June, 1,196 listed companies, or about 73 percent of the nation’s 1,629 listed firms, had investments in China. Semiconductor firms were third, with a combined profit of NT$22.4 billion, up 62 percent, the commission said. Listed firms reported combined profit of NT$576.3 billion from overseas investments, excluding China, up 275 percent from NT$209.3 billion a year earlier, it said. Computer suppliers and semiconductor firms were second and third respectively, with combined profit of NT$53.6 billion and NT$48.7 billion, the commission added.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Painting, ‘guqin’ listed as Hsinchu cultural assets
Painting, ‘guqin’ listed as Hsinchu cultural assetsBy Hung Mei-hsiu and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerHsinchu’s traditional architectural painting and guqin (古琴) have been named intangible cultural assets, bringing the city’s total to six and marking the first time the instrument has been recognized by any region. The guqin is China’s oldest musical instrument with a history dating back 3,000 years, the Hsinchu Cultural Affairs Bureau said last week. The detailed and colorful paintings of Fu Pai-tsun (傅?村) have also been registered as intangible cultural assets in recognition of his more than 60 years decorating shrines and temples. Like the other preservers of culture, he uses traditional methods, including freehand blowing and molding of glass, it said. The other three intangible cultural assets listed in Hsinchu are woodcarving, lacquer art and mother-of-pearl inlays.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Future vision
Five-star hotels’ buffet restaurants offering discountsSALES BOOST: Top hotels are expecting business to pick up next month, when the Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers program is rolled out to invigorate demand Taipei’s five-star hotels have reopened their buffet restaurants at discounted charges to boost food sales after authorities last month gave the green light to conditional dine-in services. Buffet restaurants, the main driver of hotels’ food revenue, have continued to be hit hard by social distancing requirements that ban guests from picking up food on their own to their heart’s content. Rather, waitstaff put the food on customers’ plates or customers place an order and waitstaff deliver to their table. Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Taipei (台北遠東國際大飯店) yesterday reopened its buffet restaurant Cafe (遠東Cafe) and adopted the former style. It also givesBy Crystal Hsu
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
NPP caucus unveils 28 bills, amendments on to-do list
NPP caucus unveils 28 bills, amendments on to-do listBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe New Power Party (NPP) legislative caucus yesterday listed 28 bills and amendments that it aims to help pass during the new legislative session, adding that it would focus on a “vacant home tax act” and amendments to laws governing investment from China. Legislators need to review the draft of the vacant home tax act, which is backed by the Democratic Progressive Party, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said. Taiwan had 1.66 million vacant homes last year, up from 1.23 million in 2000, Chiu said, citing Ministry of the Interior data. From left, New Power Party (NPP) legislators Claire Wang, Chiu Hsien-chih and Chen Jiau-hua introduce the NPP caucus’ priority bills for the new legislative session at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. “We have seen a rise in funding from China disguised as investments from other countries to avoid scrutiny by the Investment Commission.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Cabinet holds ‘no stance’ on idea of ‘Greater Hsinchu’
Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) later proposed that the new “Greater Hsinchu” become the nation’s seventh special municipality, an idea for which Lin yesterday voiced support. Traffic congests the Ching-kuo Bridge connecting Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City and Hsinchu City in an undated photograph. Without Miaoli County, creating “Greater Hsinchu” would involve revising the Local Government Act (地方制度法). Statistics from the end of last month show that Hsinchu County has a population of 573,858, while Hsinchu City has 452,781 people for a total of 1.03 million. In response to media queries, an Executive Yuan official yesterday said that the Cabinet has not yet formally discussed the proposal.
Source:Taipei Times
September 07, 2021 15:56 UTC