Record temperatures set
Seven weather stations nationwide yesterday recorded their highest-ever temperatures for October, with the station in Taipei reporting a record high of 36.8°C at 12:23pm, the highest since the station’s establishment in 1897, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said. The city’s previous highest October temperature was recorded on Oct. 7, 1938, at 36.1°C. A record was also broken at the station in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), where the temperature reached 36.3°C about noon, while Chiayi County and Kinmen reached 36.1°C and 35.3°C at 12:23pm respectively. Stations on Penghu, on Penghu’s Dongi Island (東吉嶼) and in Taichung’s Wuchi District (梧棲) recorded temperatures of 34.3°C, 33.7°C and 33.1°C respectively. The forecast for today is a daytime high of 36°C in northern Taiwan, the bureau said.
CRIME
Eleven illegal workers found
Taoyuan police are investigating the illegal employment of 11 Indonesians who were found in a parked van on Friday evening. Taoyuan police officer Chang Ping-yu (張秉榆) yesterday said officers in Bade District (八德) noticed a van about 8pm that appeared to be bouncing up and down. As the officers approached the vehicle, the people inside reportedly tried to open the doors to flee, but could not because they were so tightly packed into the rear of the van, although the driver was able to escape, Chang said. The five men and six women had all left their contracted jobs, and reportedly told police that they were working at short-term jobs they found through information provided by compatriots or friends, Chang said. They were told to meet at a certain location, where they were taken by van to the workplace.
TRANSPORTATION
Traffic jams predicted
Authorities are predicting heavy congestion on the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5) during certain periods of the Double Ten National Day long weekend. The four-day holiday runs from Saturday through Oct. 10. The National Freeway Bureau’s Web site said that it would like take 55 minutes, instead of the 11 minutes usual on weekdays, to travel between the Nangang System Interchange to New Taipei City’s Pinglin District (坪林) between 8am and 2pm on Saturday and from 12pm to 4pm the following day. Travel between Toucheng Township (頭城) in Yilan County and Pinglin is forecast to take 111 minutes instead of the usual 15 minutes between 3pm and 11pm on Sunday and Oct. 9 and from 12pm to 5pm on Oct. 10, the Web site said. The bureau predicted that the heaviest congestion for the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) and the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) is likely to be in the mornings for the first two days of the holiday and in the afternoons during the second half.
TRADE
Flower alliance MOU inked
Representatives from flower auction markets in six nations on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Taichung to establish the Flower Auction Markets Group to help boost sales of their flowers. Taiwanese officials joined representatives from the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Brazil and China in signing the memorandum to establish the Flower Auction Markets Group, facilitated by the International Association of Horticultural Producers. The association has also chosen Taichung to host the World Flora Expo from the end of next year into 2019. The event is to be held in four parks covering a total of 60.88 hectares.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
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