WEATHER
Taipei sees record heat
The mercury rose to 38.9°C in Taipei yesterday, the highest temperature ever recorded in the city in the month of June since the Taipei weather station was established in 1896, the Central Weather Bureau said. The temperature was recorded at 1:15pm, it said. High temperatures in the city are caused by a Pacific high-pressure system, prevailing hot and dry southwest winds, and the geographical features of the Taipei Basin, it added. Elsewhere in the nation, the mercury soared past 36°C in New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung, as well as Changhua and Hsinchu counties, the bureau said.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
US warplanes spotted
Several US warplanes were separately spotted flying over the Bashi Channel near Taiwan yesterday, aircraft tracking accounts said on Twitter. The South China Sea Probing Initiative, run by the Peking University Institute of Ocean Research, posted that an EP-3E electronic warfare plane and a RC-135U reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Bashi Channel. The aircraft were flying toward the South China Sea from the US’ Kadena Air Base in Japan, it said. A P-8A maritime patrol aircraft and a C40A Clipper followed in similar flight paths at different periods, the initiative said. Meanwhile, a tweet by aircraft tracking site Golf 9 showed a KC-135R operating over the Bashi Channel. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the sightings, saying only that aviation activities over waters surrounding Taiwan are being constantly monitored by the military.
CRIME
Migrant stabbed to death
A Vietnamese migrant worker was stabbed to death in New Taipei City on Saturday evening during a dispute with a group of men stemming from a prior altercation, authorities said. The victim, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead after being taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital’s Tamsui branch by paramedics, the city’s Fire Department said. The man died due to heavy blood loss from a stab wound on the right side of his chest, it said. Police sealed off the crime scene, interviewed witnesses and examined surveillance camera footage. After five hours of efforts, two of the suspects, who are also Vietnamese, were taken into custody, police said, adding that the murder weapon had been found. Initial findings showed that the victim had been involved in an alcohol-fueled scuffle with one of the suspects prior to Saturday’s attack, police said.
SOCIETY
Game highlights nature
A Taiwanese company has developed a board game, titled Forest Guardians, that features the natural wonders of Taiwan. In the game, players act as rangers overseeing the natural landscape in the nation. Their missions include planting trees, helping animals and preventing threats, such as forest fires or illegal loggers, from damaging the ecosystem, Shepherd Kit Co founder Lin Chi-wei (林啟維) said earlier this month. The game was conceived as part of a collaboration with the Hualien Forest District Office under the Council of Agriculture’s Forestry Bureau to draw attention to forest conservation and the ranger profession, before evolving into a broader version that incorporates natural wonders from across the nation, he said. Products combined with local elements can serve as a foothold for Taiwan to promote itself to the world, he added.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
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