SOCIETY
Prime view of Jupiter
Astronomy buffs will have a chance to find out what is happening with the great red spot on Jupiter when the planet moves closest to Earth and reaches its brightest today, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. The opposition of Jupiter, which occurs when the Earth comes between the sun and the largest planet in the solar system, will offer the best view of Jupiter this year, it said. The great red spot is a persistent high-pressure region in the atmosphere of Jupiter, producing an anticyclonic storm, the largest in the solar system, and has been continuously observed since 1830. The opposition will take place at 11:28pm, although Jupiter will be visible to the naked eye all night, weather permitting, the museum said. The planet will remain relatively bright until the middle of this month, it added. Those interested in getting a closer look should visit the museum between 7pm and 9pm on Saturdays this month to use its telescope, it said.
ENTERTAINMENT
LGBTQ films in Bangkok
The Taiwan LGBTQ Film Festival in Bangkok opened on Saturday with a screening of Small Talk (日常對話), a documentary by Huang Hui-chen (黃惠偵) detailing her relationship with her mother. After the screening, a forum was hosted by Jay Lin (林志杰), founder and chief executive of Taipei-based Portico Media and founder of LGBTQ streaming platform GagaOOLala, to highlight the steps that Taiwan went through to legalize same-sex marriage. The week-long festival was curated by Chen Yen-lin (陳彥霖), Alliance Francaise de Bangkok and the Documentary Club, and aims to highlight the development of Taiwan’s LGBTQ rights and same-sex-marriage legislation. Films in the festival include Blue Gate Crossing (藍色大門), Queer Taiwan (酷兒台灣), Tale of the Lost Boys (他和他的心旅程), Juliets and I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (黑眼圈), a 2006 Malaysian-Taiwanese romantic drama written and directed by Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮).
TOURISM
Kinmen carnival announced
Kinmen’s nine-week summer tourist carnival, focusing on the local fauna, landscape, battlefields and ceramics industry, opens on July 1, with new activities every week until the end of August, the Kinmen County Government said. First up is to be a birdwatching tour to spot migratory blue-tailed bee-eaters on their way south, it said. The carnival would also involve Jiangong Islet (建功嶼), which is connected to Kinmen by a walkway accessible only at low tide, will allow visitors to see horseshoe crabs in the intertidal zone on either side, it added. Battlefield tourism is to be highlighted in August at the Liuyu camp, a converted military base that now offers firefights in an indoor laser tag facility. A tour of the Kinmen Ceramic Factory, the nation’s only government-owned kiln, will give visitors a chance to learn how to mold, glaze and paint porcelain, it added.
CRIME
Teen drug offenses decline
The number of teenagers arrested for drug offenses has dropped over the past three years, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said. There was a 27.95 percent annual decline last year to 6,886, compared with 9,558 in 2017 and 9,583 in 2016, it said on Wednesday. The decline can be attributed to the efforts of the ministries of education and justice to raise awareness about the dangers of drug abuse, it said. The National Police Agency has launched a new anti-drug campaign featuring online educational videos and more random spot checks at places frequented by teenagers, it said.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
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