WEATHER
Taoyuan hit by heavy rain
Taoyuan yesterday morning was hit by heavy rain due to a low-pressure system that brought unstable weather, and more rain was expected as extremely heavy rain warnings were in effect for Taoyuan and other areas in northern Taiwan. A weather station in Taoyuan’s Dayuan District (大園) had accumulated 128mm of rain as of 11:30am yesterday, the most anywhere in Taiwan, Central Weather Bureau data showed. The bureau’s heavy rain alert was also in effect for Taipei and Hsinchu City, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, as well as for Yilan County in the east, Taichung, and Changhua and Nantou counties in central Taiwan, and Chiayi City, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties in the south. A heavy rain warning is defined as 80mm of rainfall over a 24-hour period or more than 40mm in one hour.
HEALTH
Mpox travel notice issued
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday raised a travel notice relating to mpox for China and Thailand following surges in cases of the disease there, advising people to practice precaution when traveling to the two nations. The nations join 38 others on the Level 1 watch list — the lowest in the CDC’s three-tier travel alert system. The list also includes South Korea, Australia, the US and Japan, CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said. The CDC on Tuesday confirmed 14 mpox cases last week in Taiwan, bringing the total to 280 since the disease was designated a Category 2 communicable disease in June last year. The new cases were in New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and the ages of the people ranged from 20 to 60, Tseng said.
DIPLOMACY
Letter of intent signed
Taiwan and Guatemala on Monday signed a letter of intent at the Customs Administration in Taipei to promote cooperation in customs matters. The Customs Administration said the letter of intent was signed by Customs Administration Director-General Peng Ying-wei (彭英偉) and Marco Livio Diaz Reyes, head of the Guatemalan Superintendency of Tax Administration. The agreement is aimed at paving the way for the two nations to deepen bilateral customs cooperation through expertise and information sharing to more effectively crack down on criminal activity, the agency said. A long-term diplomatic ally, Guatemala signed a free-trade agreement with Taiwan in 2005 and a Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Authorized Economic Operator in 2021.
TOURISM
People chosen for campaign
A total of 15 groups and individuals, including a chef and YouTubers, have been selected to stay overnight in the Presidential Office Building as part of a government campaign to raise the nation’s global visibility. The campaign drew submissions from nearly 100 groups worldwide, Presidential Office spokesperson Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said on Monday. Running from next month to December, the program would give participants the chance to spend a night in the historical setting, and explore cities and counties that showcase Taiwan’s diverse attributes, Lin said. The selected participants include people from Canada, the US, Japan, Slovakia, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Israel, said Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶), secretary-general of the General Association of Chinese Culture, one of the campaign’s organizers.
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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