CECC reports zero local COVID-19 cases, deaths
CECC reports zero local COVID-19 cases, deathsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases or deaths, but confirmed five imported cases: travelers who arrived from Japan, South Africa and Vietnam. The test results indicate that she was recently infected, which matches the conclusion made from contact tracing and her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results, Lo added. People line up for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 tests at New Taipei City Hospital’s Sanchong branch yesterday. He tested negative for IgM antibodies, but positive for IgG antibodies, indicating a previous infection some time ago, Lo said, adding that the student’ three family members tested negative for COVID-19. A total of 2,984 people associated with the Banciao cluster have undergone COVID-19 testing, and so far 22 have tested positive, 2,001 tested negative and 961 people are awaiting their test results, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: It’s Fu Pei-mei time
A screen grab from What she put on the table, a movie about the life of Fu Pei-mei. Fu Pei-mei is pictured on her five-minute cooking show, Fu Pei-mei Time. Fu’s last show, Fu Pei-mei Time (傅培梅時間), debuted in 1986, which featured her making five minute-meals five days a week. It was stressful to have to perfect a meal in such a short time on live television, but Fu writes that it was immensely rewarding. The entry read: “In those tougher times, Fu Pei-mei always relieved our hunger and worries, and also encouraged us to pay more attention to what we ate and to enjoy life more.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Experts comment on US mulling ‘Taiwan office’
Taiwan International Strategic Study Society director-general Wang Kun-yi, third left, chairs a symposium in Taipei yesterday on Taiwan-US relations on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Biden’s call with Xi was somewhat of a breakthrough, he said, adding that the Financial Times report was therefore surprising. Making the plan public at this time suggests that Biden wants to test Xi’s reaction, Wang Kun-yi said. “However, judging by the very strong response from China with regard to a planned Taiwan office in Lithuania, Beijing is unlikely to just let a name change happen without protest,” he said. However, the KMT does not believe that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would consider such a proposal, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Anger at biennial World Cup bid mounting
Anger at biennial World Cup bid mountingAFP, LAUSANNE, SwitzerlandFIFA risks plunging the world of soccer into a new conflict with its proposal to hold the World Cup every two years instead of four, raising the possibility of a divorce with leading clubs and the powerful European leagues. FIFA’s central argument is that a biennial World Cup would create more profits that could be distributed to federations in Africa, Asia and South America, who have a greater reliance on FIFA funds than the wealthy European leagues. So good luck with a World Cup like that,” he told the Times newspaper on Thursday. Major European clubs have opposed it as well. Perhaps sensing it was losing the battle of public opinion, FIFA gathered together a group of illustrious former players and coaches in Doha this week to defend the idea of a biennial World Cup.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Horse trainer charged by racing association in NY
Horse trainer charged by racing association in NYAP, NEW YORKThe New York Racing Association (NYRA) has charged Bob Baffert with detrimental conduct and scheduled a hearing for the two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer to respond to those allegations. Baffert was suspended by the association in May after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test, and he sued to have the suspension lifted. Horse trainer Bob Baffert watches workouts at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 28. “NYRA has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the sport of thoroughbred racing,” NYRA president Dave O’Rourke said in a statement. The rule, which takes effect on Sept. 30, also applies to any trainer directly or indirectly employed, supervised or advised by a suspended trainer.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Aluminum industry frets over supply snarls
Aluminum industry frets over supply snarlsBloombergSupply chain snags that have roiled commodity markets and this week helped push aluminum prices to a 13-year high are unlikely to ease any time soon. That was the message coming from producers, consumers, traders and shippers at North America’s largest aluminum conference, which ended on Friday. Compounding matters in the aluminum industry are worker shortages at plants and a lack of truck drivers to deliver what is available. Several aluminum conference attendees said that labor shortages are their biggest problem, and they do not have any idea when the situation will improve. Such a practice has a serious risk if prices fall and you’re carrying extra unhedged inventory.”The surge in aluminum prices comes as producers and consumers negotiate annual supply contracts.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Oil caps third weekly gain with Ida’s impact in view
Oil caps third weekly gain with Ida’s impact in viewBloombergOil gained for a third week, as investors focused on the ongoing production shut-ins in the US Gulf of Mexico because more refineries have resumed operations nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ida tore through the region. Brent crude for October delivery was up 2.06 percent at US$72.92 a barrel, posting a weekly increase of 0.43 percent. Photo: ReutersMore than 1 million barrels a day of US offshore crude production remains shut in after Ida swept through the area nearly two weeks ago. Meanwhile, more Louisiana refineries are resuming operations, raising demand for crude oil. China’s bold, but vague declaration to release oil reserves from its massive strategic stockpiles has some traders questioning the lasting impact of such a move by the world’s biggest crude importer.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Wall St down, Apple sinks on ruling
Photo: ReutersThe S&P 500 has risen about 19 percent this year, buoyed by support from dovish central bank policies and reopening optimism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.78 percent to close at 34,607.72 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.77 percent to 4,458.58. For the week, the S&P 500 lost 1.69 percent, the Dow declined 2.15 percent and the NASDAQ shed 1.61 percent. Friday was the first time since February that the S&P 500 had dropped for five days in a row. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the NASDAQ Composite recorded 55 new highs and 47 new lows.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Dollar gains with Treasury yields as Fed policy in focus
Dollar gains with Treasury yields as Fed policy in focusReuters, NEW YORKThe US dollar on Friday rose in line with higher US Treasury yields, as investors focused on when the US Federal Reserve is likely to begin reducing its asset purchases. The greenback has risen from a one-month low on Friday last week after jobs data for last month showed that jobs growth slowed, while wage inflation rose more than expected. Fed officials are grappling with rising price pressures while jobs growth remains below their targets. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Fed officials would seek to make an agreement at the Fed’s meeting this month to begin paring bond purchases in November. The euro on Friday fell 0.07 percent to US$1.1816, a day after the European Central Bank said it would trim emergency bond purchases over the coming quarter.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Ministry mum on TECRO name change
The US is “seriously considering a request from Taiwan to change the name of its mission in the US capital from ‘Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office’ [TECRO] to ‘Taiwan Representative Office,’” the paper reported on Friday, citing several anonymous sources close to the matter. The nameplate of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US is pictured in an undated photograph. The ministry yesterday said it has no comment on the report. The government would continue to steer Taiwan-US relations pragmatically, and in accordance with mutual trust and shared interests, it said. The office, to be named “the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” is to be located in Vilnius, Wu has said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
US soccer head vows to ‘equalize’ World Cup payments
US soccer head vows to ‘equalize’ World Cup paymentsAFP, LOS ANGELESThe US Soccer Federation aims to “equalize” World Cup prize money for its men’s and women’s national teams as part of efforts to settle ongoing litigation with its women players, federation president Cindy Parlow Cone said on Friday. The question of World Cup prize money formed a prominent part of a lawsuit filed by the US women’s soccer team in 2019, which accused the body of “stubbornly refusing” to pay it’s men and women’s players equally. The 2019 lawsuit cited the discrepancy in World Cup prize money payments paid to the two teams in 2014 and 2015. The US men received US$5.375 million for reaching the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup, while the women received US$1.725 million for winning the 2015 tournament. The federation has said that its hands are tied because the prize money is set by FIFA, which awarded US$38 million to France for winning the 2018 men’s World Cup in Russia, but only US$4 million to the American women for winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
National Day celebrations to be smaller this year
National Day celebrations to be smaller this yearStaff writer, with CNADouble Ten National Day celebrations would this year have fewer participants than last year and the general public might be excluded, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) told a news event on Wednesday to unveil the logo for the celebrations. Banners for the Double Ten National Day celebrations in Taipei are pictured on Wednesday last week. Moreover, the number of participants in a National Day evening banquet in Hsinchu City on Oct. 9 would be limited, he said, without giving a specific figure. People attending the National Day fireworks in Kaohsiung on Oct. 10 would have to remain in designated areas, Chen said. The logo also bears the words “Taiwan National Day 2021,” which has drawn criticism from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the omission of the country’s formal name, the Republic of China.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Greek winemakers delve the depths of underwater aging
Greek winemakers delve the depths of underwater agingBy Vassilis Kyriakoulis / AFP, NAOUSSA, GreeceWinemakers in northern Greece are diving into the unknown by plunging hundreds of bottles of their wine into the depths of a local river. As a band ceremoniously played traditional Greek songs, a crane lowered a large metal crate holding about 500 bottles of wine from off the riverbank. A metal crate containing 500 bottles of Xinomavro wine is lowered into the Arapitsa River in Naousa, Greece, on Sept. 5. Photo: AFPAbout 22 makers of Xinomavro, a wine made from a dark-skinned grape variety, proudly watched, hoping the water cellar will broaden the varieties of the products. About 5,000 tonnes of Xinomavro wine are produced there annually.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Afghan women could still play, board chairman says
Afghan women could still play, board chairman saysAFP, SYDNEYWomen could still be allowed to play cricket, the chairman of Afghanistan’s Cricket Board on Friday told an Australian broadcaster in an apparent backflip on the Taliban’s hardline stance. “We will give you our clear position on how we will allow women to play cricket,” he told SBS Radio Pashto, the broadcaster reported on its English-language Web site. Under International Cricket Council (ICC) regulations, nations with Test status must also have an active women’s team. Despite reports that many of the women’s team were in hiding in Kabul and that members of the Taliban had come looking for them, Fazli insisted they were safe. “The women cricket coach Diana Barakzai and her players are all safe and living in their home country,” he told SBS.
Source:Taipei Times
September 11, 2021 09:56 UTC
Pangolin aged 23 dies at Taipei Zoo
Pangolin aged 23 dies at Taipei ZooBy Tsai Ya-hua and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaipei Zoo’s pangolin Chuanpang (穿胖), the world’s oldest and most virile scaly anteater on record, died on Wednesday of kidney failure, the zoo said yesterday. Chuanpang was 23 years and nine months old at the time of his death, the zoo said. The pangolin had kidney problems since 2018, when veterinarians first noticed that it was losing weight, the zoo said. Pangolin named Chuanpang is pictured at Taipei Zoo in an undated photograph. “Chuanpang lived a legendary life as a key contributor to pangolin conservation, in addition to being our pride and joy,” zoo spokesman Eric Tsao (曹先紹) said in a statement.
Source:Taipei Times
September 10, 2021 15:56 UTC