WEATHER
Hot weather forecast
A cold weather front, which brought periods of heavy rain and cooler weather across much of the nation yesterday, would give way to hot and mostly sunny weather over the coming week, forecasters said yesterday. The Central Weather Administration issued a heavy rain advisory yesterday for Taipei and New Taipei City, mountainous areas of Miaoli County and from Taichung down to Pingtung County in the western half of Taiwan. More than 80mm of rain within 24 hours or more than 40mm in a single hour was expected. As the system moves into the Bashi Channel today, temperatures would rise across Taiwan, with rain giving way to cloudy weather in the south and clouds giving way to sunny conditions in other regions, independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said. Tomorrow and Wednesday, sunny weather is expected across Taiwan, with temperatures in some areas reaching highs of up to 35°C and overnight temperatures dropping as low as 17°C, Wu said. According to the latest European forecasting models, hot and partly sunny conditions would prevail in Taiwan from Thursday through Tuesday next week, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
TRAFFIC
Pedestrian zone launched
A trial pedestrian zone was launched in Taipei’s Yongkang Street (永康街) area on Saturday, with streets closed to most vehicles on weekends through June 10 to promote a more pedestrian-friendly environment, the Taipei City Government said. The campaign, which limits vehicle access from 2pm to 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays, spans about 250m of Yongkang Street — from its intersection with Xinyi Road (信義路) Sec 2 to Lane 14 — and includes nearby alleys around the popular tourist destination. During the trial period, only vehicles with local access permits or those making deliveries would be allowed through, with police and traffic volunteers onsite to enforce the restrictions, the city government said in a news release. Taipei Department of Transportation Director Hsieh Ming-hung (謝銘鴻) on Saturday said that the first day of the trial went better than expected, adding that the city would continue gathering public feedback and adjust the plan as needed. Local borough warden Lee Ming-ying (李明螢) said the mixed residential-commercial area might not be suitable for regular street closures.
CULTURE
French festival returns
The second edition of the Kaohsiung French Festival would take place in the southern port city on Friday next week to promote French culture with a variety of activities ranging from art and sports to gastronomy. The festival would return to Kaohsiung from Friday next week to May 25, offering an “even richer cultural experience” that builds on the success of last year’s event, which attracted about 110,000 visitors over three days, the French Office in Taipei said. The event would serve as a testament to the deepening cooperation between France and Kaohsiung, it added. The three-day event at the city’s Pier-2 Art Center features outdoor concerts, a market with about 100 French and Taiwanese brands, drawing workshops, petanque games and virtual-reality film screenings, among other activities. For this year’s festival, French illustrator Christopher Boyd would also showcase his work, which highlights the beauty of the French Riviera and the importance of maritime conservation, the French office said. Such visuals for the event are intended to align with this year’s UN Ocean Conference, which is scheduled to take place in the coastal city of Nice, in southern France, from June 9 to 13, 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
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
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
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