WEATHER
Mercury to drop again
Temperatures around the nation could drop again starting on Friday due to the arrival of a cold air mass from China, the Central Weather Bureau forecast yesterday. The mercury could fall by about 2oC on Friday and Saturday, before rising on Sunday, when the cold air mass is expected to weaken, the bureau said. Day and night temperatures around the country may vary by up to 10oC, especially in the central and southern areas, from today until Dec. 9, it added. Daily highs during that period are expected to reach 23oC to 24oC in the north, northeast and east, while climbing to 26oC and 27oC in the central and southern regions, the bureau said.
TRAVEL
Bangkok travel alert issued
The government on Monday issued a yellow alert for travel to Bangkok and its surrounding areas, warning Taiwanese to reconsider visiting Thailand’s capital as anti-government protests continued. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Taiwanese planning to visit Bangkok to be vigilant about their personal safety, ministry spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安) said at a regular news conference yesterday. A “gray” travel alert for Thailand has been in place since early last month, as anti-government protesters in the capital tried to storm Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s office, demanding that she step down amid claims that her government is controlled by her elder brother, ousted former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, foreign media reports said. Kao also urged citizens not to visit crowded areas in Bangkok and avoid wearing yellow and red shirts, which are the colors donned by the fighting political factions in Thailand.
POLITICS
Legislature votes on CEC
The Legislative Yuan yesterday voted to retain Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and Vice Chairperson Liu Yi-chou (劉義周) in their posts, and approved four nominees to the commission. After legislators cast their ballots along party lines, Chang, 71, and Liu both won another four-year term by a margin of 65-42, with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers endorsing the Executive Yuan’s nominees and the opposition parties voting against them. The Democratic Progressive Party caucus said it voted against the nominations because President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had used the commission as a political tool during the so-called “September strife” and because the candidates did not include representatives from the opposition.
ENTERTAINMENT
Barbie Hsu is pregnant
Actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) — also known as Big S — announced late on Monday that she and her husband are expecting a baby, confirming recent rumors that she is pregnant. Hsu’s statement sparked a media frenzy since she and her husband, Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲), are well-known in Taiwan and China, and because the high-profile couple have reportedly wanted a baby since tying the knot in 2011. Hsu, the elder sister of TV hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣, better known as Little S), married Wang in a lavish wedding in China. The 37-year-old actress became a household name in Taiwan in the 1990s as a member of the duo girl group S.O.S with Dee Hsu, but is best known for her subsequent role in the TV drama Meteor Garden (流星花園).
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Academics have expressed mixed views on President William Lai’s (賴清德) nomination of High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) as a Constitutional Court justice and the head of the nation’s top judicial body. While prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including Judy Ju (朱富美), an incumbent, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, would be unprecedented. Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂) said that Tsai’s nomination was an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the legislature, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
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