WEATHER
Storm bringing rain
Tropical Storm Krosa, which formed near the Philippines early yesterday, is expected to bring rain to the north and east of the nation today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. As of 8am, Krosa was centered about 1,160km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving west at 24kph. It is packing maximum sustained winds of 72kph, gusting to 101kph, the bureau said. Krosa is not likely to affect Taiwan directly, but may cause high waves along coastal areas and unstable weather nationwide until tomorrow, it said. Limited showers are likely in the north and east of the country over the weekend, the bureau said.
CRIME
Feces-slingers sought
Taipei police said they have identified a possible suspect involved in Monday’s attack by two scooter-riding feces-flingers on singer Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰). Police said they tracked the license plate of the scooter used in the incident to a 22-year-old man whose whereabouts are currently unknown. The police said they have asked the man’s father to contact him and convince him to come forward. Hsiao narrowly escaped the attack outside of his home when two suspects hurled excrement into his car as he was on his way to work. The excrement missed Hsiao, but his driver and other passengers were not so lucky. The driver also sustained injuries when he attempted to stop the poo-slingers.
SOCIETY
Power lines removed
Construction workers on Tuesday removed several power lines to ensure better views for visitors to Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman’s Rubber Duck in Taoyuan County. Five cables that were preventing people from enjoying an unobstructed front view of the inflatable art installation were brought down and laid in ditches, according to the Taoyuan County Cultural Affairs Bureau. Three remaining cables have been left where they are because they do not affect photograph opportunities, the bureau said. The sculpture went on display on Saturday as part of a landscape art festival in the county, and had attracted an estimated 930,000 visitors as of Tuesday.
TOURISM
Peru seeking more visitors
Peru is hoping to see 4,000 visitors from Taiwan by the end of this year as a result of burgeoning economic and cultural ties, Commercial Office of Peru in Taipei Director Gycs Gordon said yesterday. “Taiwan is one of the fastest-growing markets for us,” Gordon said, adding that the number of Taiwanese visiting his nation has been growing by 20 percent annually. Gordon said Peru hopes 10,000 tourists from Taiwan will visit by the end of 2016 following a series of promotional events hosted by the Peruvian Commission for the Promotion of Exports, which launched its first road show in Taiwan yesterday. Commission members will be meeting with Taiwanese travel agents through trade fairs and business-to-business events during their stay.
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
‘T-DOME’: IBCS would increase Taiwan’s defense capabilities, enabling air defense units to use data from any sensor system and cut reaction time, a defense official said A defense official yesterday said that a purported new arms sale the US is assembling for Taiwan likely includes Integrated Battle Command Systems (IBCS). The anonymous official’s comments came hours after the Financial Times (FT) reported that Washington is preparing a US$20 billion arms sale encompassing “Patriot missiles and other weapons,” citing eight sources. The Taiwanese official said the IBCS is an advanced command and control system that would play a key role in President William Lai’s (賴清德) flagship defense program, the “T-Dome,” an integrated air defense network to counter ballistic missiles and other threats. The IBCS would increase Taiwan’s
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