■ WEATHER
Cold front arrives
Cooler temperatures are expected nationwide this week as the first cold front of the fall arrives today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The bureau forecast cloudy and rainy skies in the north, northeast and east of the country. Afternoon showers are likely in the west, central Taiwan and in the south. The front is likely to affect the weather for two-to-three days. Temperatures are forecast to peak today at 32?C in the north, 33?C in central Taiwan, 33?C in the south and 32?C in the east.
■ SOCIETY
Woman killed in accident
A car was struck by a metal object of unknown origin on Saturday while traveling south on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway, causing the immediate death of a female passenger, freeway patrol officers said. A Taipei resident surnamed Tsai, 49, was driving his wife, surnamed Wang, 44, back to Taipei from Keelung on a section of the freeway linking Hsichih and Neihu (內湖) in Taipei City when the object penetrated the windshield on the passenger side of the vehicle, officers said. A shaken Tsai said the incident had occurred very suddenly and he did not know where the metal object came from. He said he saw the object roll over the engine hood, smash through the windshield and strike his wife in the head. Police said the curved chunk of metal, measuring 40cm-by-20cm-by-3cm, appeared to be a brake drum.
■ TOURISM
Youths promote Taiwan
Ninety-three youngsters who received tourism promotion certificates from the National Youth Commission (NYC) have joined various volunteer services to help boost youth tourism in Taiwan, a NYC spokesman said yesterday. The volunteers were recruited earlier this year and divided into different groups -- youth travel news reporters, computer volunteers, international tourism ambassadors, international travel volunteers, travel promoters on campuses, and Japanese and Korean language interpreters. The youths participated in two training camps and seven professional training sessions, the spokesman said. Following training, the youths participated in a series of promotional activities, beginning in June, to boost the awareness of Taiwan among young international travelers, the spokesman said.
■ EDUCATION
MOE to spend on storage
The Ministry of Education has implemented a four-year plan to provide NT$50 million (US$1.5 million) annually, starting next year, for the installation or repair of storage cabinets at junior high and elementary schools. Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠), director of the ministry's Elementary Education Department, said that in order to reduce the weight of the books children carry to and from school, the ministry will subsidize schools so that they can provide storage for use by students. In the initial stage, Pan said priority would be given to younger students at elementary schools in every city and county. In addition to having to carry heavy backpacks, the nation's primary and secondary students spend more hours at schools than their peers in other countries, Pan said, adding that Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) had commissioned a panel of experts to look at the feasibility of implementing various adjustments and reforms to ease the burden on students.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
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