WEATHER
Temperature to fall
Temperatures tomorrow are to fall as low as 16°C as seasonal winds from the northeast intensify, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The north is to see the greatest effect, with daytime temperatures of up to 23°C, bureau forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. Temperatures in central and southern Taiwan could fall to 17°C and 19°C respectively from daytime highs of 25°C to 27°C, Lee said. The system could continue to affect conditions around the nation until Saturday, but its strength is expected to fade after tomorrow, sending temperatures higher. Yesterday, a cloud system moved north from southern Taiwan, causing scattered rainfall around the nation and heavy rain in mountainous areas. Daytime temperatures were about 23°C in the north and rose up to 27°C in central and southern Taiwan, the bureau added.
ENTERTAINMENT
Taipei 101 to host party
Taipei 101 is for the first time to host a “#Party101 Jazz Night Lounge Party” on its first floor office lobby on New Year’s Eve. In addition to jazz performances, virtual-reality games and photograph sticker machines, hundreds of bottles of whiskey, thousands of bottles of craft beer, soft drinks and various light refreshments are to be offered to partygoers. Only 1,010 guests would be able to attend, of which 500 could pay extra to watch the New Year fireworks from the building’s viewing platform. Tickets are to go on sale on Dec. 1. The skyscraper is also to hold its annual fireworks show, which is to feature 16,000 fireworks and its “T-Pad” LED lighting system measuring 100.8m by 168m on the building’s north side.
POLITICS
Chang eyes presidency
Former premier Simon Chang (張善政), who advised Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates in Saturday’s nine-in-one elections, on Monday said he is considering running in the 2020 presidential election as an independent candidate. The 64-year-old, who serves as chairman of the Taiwan Mobile Foundation, said that he began to consider joining the race when people asked him to run for president while stumping for candidates in Saturday’s local elections. Chang was vice premier under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from Dec. 7, 2014, to Feb. 1, 2016. Chang then served as premier until May 20, 2016.
ARTS
Cheang to fly to Venice
Taiwanese multimedia artist Cheang Shu-lea (鄭淑麗) is to represent the nation at the 58th Venice Arte Biennale, the first female artist to be chosen since 2015, the Taiwan Fine Arts Museum said on Monday. Cheang is to be the first woman to represent the Taiwan pavilion since the nation began to send a single artist to the biennale in 2015, according to the museum’s press release. Cheang said in a statement that her piece, titled 3x3x6, was inspired by the exhibition venue, Palazzo delle Prigioni, which was a Venetian government prison in the 16th century. The work addresses the theme of crime and punishment, as well as modern imprisonment and surveillance devices, and 10 historical figures imprisoned due to their sexual orientation are included in the piece to highlight transgender issues, the artist said. The 58th Venice Arte Biennale is to take place from May 11 to Nov. 24 next year, according to the exhibition’s Web site.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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