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.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)