The torch for the Taipei Summer Universiade on Thursday started its tour of the capital ahead of opening of the Games on Saturday next week.
Xinyi District Office head Yu Chu-ping (游竹萍) carried the torch from Taipei City Hall, past the Taipei City Council, National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Eslite Bookstore’s Xinyi branch and Taipei 101.
The torch is to pass through Taipei’s 11 other districts by Tuesday next week and is then to be taken to various scenic spots in the city on Wednesday and Thursday.
It is to pass through Taipei’s old downtown, visiting sites such as Longshan Temple (龍山寺), Xiahai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟), the North Gate (北門) and Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) on Wednesday.
The next day, it is to go to the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, the Tianmu Baseball Stadium and the Grand Hotel, ending at Taipei Stadium, where the opening ceremony for the Games is to be held.
The torch was lit in Turin, Italy, on June 20 before being carried through Naples, Italy; Bangkok; and Daegu, South Korea, and arrived in Taiwan on June 29.
The torch on July 7 reached the top of Yushan (玉山), the nation’s highest peak, and on Tuesday finished a route that took it through the nation’s other 21 cities and counties.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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