ASTRONOMY
Museum touts sky events
A month of exciting celestial events awaits astronomy buffs, with two meteor showers and ideal conditions for two planet viewings from tomorrow, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. Sky watchers can start with the Southern Delta Aquariid shower, which is to peak on Sunday, the museum said, adding that up to 25 meteors per hour are expected to be visible in skies to the southeast from 8pm nightly. On Aug. 12, the Perseid meteor shower — one of the three most prolific of the year along with the Quadrantids in January and the Geminids in December — would, weather permitting, allow the viewing of nearly 100 shooting stars an hour, with the best time to see them starting at about 10pm, the museum said. Saturn and Jupiter next month will reach their brightest points of the year when they are in opposition, or at their closest to Earth, it said. The gas giants will be at opposition on Monday and Aug. 20 respectively, it said. The events will be visible with the naked eye, weather permitting, and livestreams would be available on the museum’s YouTube channel, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Dunn named AIT spokesman
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday announced Ed Dunn as its new spokesman. Before joining the AIT, Dunn was a member of the US Department of State’s Lawrence S. Eagleburger Fellowship, and worked at a global strategic communications and public affairs consulting firm, it said. He was the public affairs officer at the US embassy in Tallinn and deputy spokesperson at the US embassy in Jakarta, the AIT said, adding that Dunn’s other overseas tours include Guangzhou, China, and Islamabad. In Washington, he served as the acting director of the state department’s Office of Digital Engagement and as a Pakistan desk officer, it said. A native of Minnesota, Dunn has a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Chinese from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and studied US-China relations at the Johns Hopkins-SAIS Hopkins Nanjing Center, it added.
CULTURE
Exhibition to open today
An exhibition featuring photographs by 67 local artists from the 1930s to 2010 is to open today at the National Center of Photography and Images in Taipei. Curated by Albert Huang (黃建亮), Emerging Taiwanese Cultural Landscape is the second exhibition focused on Taiwanese photography to be held at the center, which officially opened in April, the center said. The exhibition includes 350 photos selected from the collections of the center and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung, it said. The exhibition, divided into “The Place,” “The Everyday,” “Rituals” and “Events,” aims to reflect different experiences and present Taiwan from a local perspective, it said.
TRANSPORTATION
TRA policy to remain
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said it would continue waiving fees for passengers canceling tickets, despite a COVID-19 alert on Tuesday being lowered from level 3 to level 2. The TRA started waiving the fees in May, when the alert was upgraded from level 2 to 3. On Tuesday, it resumed most of its rail services, except those that operate only at weekends, as well as tourism train services. From Tuesday, people were again allowed to board Tzuchiang Express trains with electronic tickets or monthly passes. However, sales of tickets without reserved seats are still suspended, it said.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
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