FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Medic team to aid Ukraine
A volunteer medical team composed of Taiwanese members of the North American Taiwanese Medical Association is to leave for Ukraine today to provide medical services for local residents. Led by physician Tsai Jung (蔡榮), the 11-member team is to stay in Ukraine until Wednesday next week. Aside from providing humanitarian aid, the team would show that Taiwan stands with Ukraine, physician Lin Jung-sung (林榮松) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Legislative Speaker You Si-kun praised the team’s efforts and said that they demonstrate the “Taiwanese spirit.” United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) has donated NT$10 million (US$313,735) to support the kindness of the team. Ukrainians have united to defend their country against Russia’s aggression, which should inspire Taiwan to come together in the face of the threats posed by China, Tsao said.
TRANSPORT
Umbrella-sharing launched
The Taipei MRT system yesterday launched an umbrella-sharing service across its stations, allowing people to rent umbrellas and return them at different sites. A total of 266 umbrella service sites have been set up at the MRT’s 117 stations, operator Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said. The rental fee is NT$19 for the first hour, NT$29 for the second, with a 24-hour cap of NT$39, it said. If the umbrella is not returned after one day, an additional NT$20 would be charged every 24 hours thereafter, it added. If the user has not returned the umbrella after 14 days, or an umbrella is vandalized or lost, the user would be charged NT$799, it said. Users can select various payment methods after downloading the Raingo app on their smartphone or tablet and registering by providing personal information such as a phone number and e-mail address, it said. Users who register successfully before the end of this month and enter a special discount number would receive two coupons, each one allowing them to rent an umbrella free for a 24-hour period, it added.
RETAIL
Eslite to open largest store
Eslite Spectrum is to open its largest branch in Asia at the Yulong City mall in New Taipei’s Sindian District (新店) on Sept. 28, it announced yesterday. In a press statement, the leisure and lifestyle retailer said the 19,000 ping (62,810m2) branch is to occupy B1 to the 4th floor at the mall, and would feature almost 250 vendors. The branch is to hold a soft opening ahead of its formal opening on Sept. 28, the company said. Eslite said it expects the Sindian branch to become its highest-earning location, and to help make up for profits lost when it closes its branch in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) in December. The company has previously said that when the Xinyi store closes, it would move the location’s designated 24-hour bookstore branch to its store in Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. Eslite added that it is planning to start the phased opening of a new branch in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯) in October, which at 7,500 ping, would be its largest store in central and southern Taiwan.
LEISURE
Cijin Beach closed
The Port of Kaohsiung’s operator on Sunday closed off Cijin Beach (旗津海水浴場) pending cleanup, one day after beachgoers reported finding tar balls washed up in a swimming area and along the shoreline. Taiwan International Ports Corp said the beach would be closed for at least three days to complete the cleanup before the forecast arrival tomorrow of Typhoon Saola. After closing off the beach at 6am, contract workers managed to clean up about 12kg of tar balls from the beach by the afternoon, leaving only scattered traces behind, the operator said. The pollution could have leaked from the container ship Angel, which sank about 5km outside the harbor on July 21, but further investigation was needed to confirm the source, it said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
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