WEATHER
Depression emerges
An emerging tropical low-pressure system in the Pacific Ocean could affect the weather during the Double Ten National Day long weekend, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Atmospheric pressure over the Pacific is expected to develop into a tropical low-pressure system by today, the bureau said. While forecasting models suggest different possible outcomes, three potential developments are anticipated, it said. In the first model, the system moves south toward the Bashi Channel and the Philippines, and would have only a minimal effect on Taiwan, such as stronger winds and waves off the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), the bureau said. In the second model, the system moves from Japan’s Ryukyu Islands toward the nation and might bring rain to northern Taiwan during the three-day holiday starting on Friday, it said. In the third scenario, the system heads toward Japan and does not affect Taiwan, the bureau said.
CULTURE
All-night festival held
Taipei’s fifth annual Nuit Blanche art festival took place from Saturday night to early yesterday morning, a 12-hour marathon of exhibits and performances, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally held in more than 120 cities around the world on the first Saturday of October, Taipei was one of only four cities that held the event this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the others being Paris, Toronto and Kyoto. Taipei’s festival, which ran from 6pm to 6am, featured 21 art installations and 50 performance troupes. Spread around seven locations in Nangang District (南港), including the Taipei Music Center, the Taipei Extreme Sports Training Center, and a repair and maintenance facility operated by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower). Being able to access Power Equipment Repair and Maintenance Taipower was seen as one of the festival’s highlights, given that it has never been opened to the public since it was established in 1984.
CRIME
Man arrested over drugs
Taoyuan police on Thursday arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly selling illicit drugs while disguised as a food courier. The city’s Taoyuan Precinct found through social media that the suspect, surnamed Yeh (葉), was looking to sell illicit drugs, precinct officials said on Friday. Officers contacted Yeh online and arranged a transaction outside a convenience store, they said. He arrived wearing a food delivery service uniform and was arrested at about 5pm on Thursday, police said. Sixteen instant coffee packets containing drugs were found in a delivery box attached to Yeh’s scooter, police said.
HEALTH
New dengue fever case
One new confirmed case of indigenous dengue fever was reported yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that the woman is believed to be part of a cluster infection associated with a farm in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The woman in her 70s lives worked on a bamboo shoot farm in Wuliao Borough (五寮) from Sept. 12 to 14 and Sept. 16 and 17, it said. She developed joint and bone pain on Sept. 26 and sought treatment on Thursday. The farm cluster includes 34 confirmed cases in New Taipei City and five in Taoyuan. There have been 55 confirmed indigenous dengue cases so far this year, 35 in New Taipei City and 20 in Taoyuan.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
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