WEATHER
Cooler weather expected
Clearer skies and higher temperatures should continue across the nation until tomorrow, when an approaching front is expected to bring rain and cooler weather, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. A stable weather front today could see daily highs exceed 30ºC, with cloudy to sunny skies expected in most areas, forecasters said. Temperatures today are likely to be between 20ºC and 31ºC in northern areas of the nation and between 22ºC and 30ºC in southern areas, the bureau said. However, the warm weather is likely to be interrupted by an approaching front tomorrow, with daily highs set to drop by 5ºC in northern areas, it said. The front will likely also bring a higher probability of rain and thunderstorms across the country, the bureau said, adding that rainy weather could continue into next week.
TOURISM
Taiwanese honest: poll
Taiwanese are the world’s ninth-most honest hotel guests, an industry survey released on Monday showed. Of the 28 countries and one territory, Hong Kong, surveyed, Denmark topped the list as the country with the world’s most honest hotel guests, followed by the Netherlands and Norway, with Taiwan and South Korea taking joint ninth, according to the survey conducted by hotels.com, a Web site for booking hotel rooms. Brazil, Canada and Hong Kong were tied for fourth place, followed by Italy, which was ranked seven, and Russia in eighth. China was ranked 23rd, along with the US, hotels.com said. The survey also found that the items most commonly taken from hotels are magazines, books, linens and towels. Other frequently stolen items taken were bathrobes, pillows, lamps and clocks. The survey was conducted in January and collected 8,600 responses.
CRIME
Circus performer killed
Russian circus performer Alikov Attire reportedly died in a knife brawl at the Cingjing Farm (清境農場) tourist resort in Nantou County yesterday. Local police said the 27-year-old was allegedly killed by Persaev Ruslan, 57, the circus’ director. The police said the two men got in a fight in their dormitory at the resort, where the circus is performing on a one-year contract. Ruslan was reportedly angry at Attire for mishandling his horse during yesterday’s noontime performance, causing Ruslan to fall off the horse twice, police said. Attire was stabbed twice in the left part of his chest, severing his aorta and resulting in profuse bleeding, police said. Other circus members called an ambulance, but Attire died at the scene when the police and paramedics arrived. Ruslan has been detained by the police for questioning and remained in custody as of press time.
TOURISM
‘Times’ writes up Taipei
The New York Times recently published an article in its weekend edition advising would-be visitors to Taipei how to experience all of the city’s major draws in 36 hours. The article on the paper’s travel page describes Taipei as a city that never sleeps, “welcoming residents and visitors to brush up on their history, explore their spirituality and, most of all, satisfy their taste buds,” Hsu Yeou-jey wrote. The article suggested that visitors sample tea at Muzha and descend the mountains after sunset to take in the view of the Taipei skyline at twilight. The National Palace Museum, the night market at Huaxi Street, Taipei 101 and the flagship Eslite Bookstore are also on the writer’s recommendation list.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
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