People hold placards at a news conference hosted by the Taichung Economic Development Bureau yesterday to promote the Taichung Hot Pot and Grill Festival. Registration for businesses wanting to participate in the festival is to close at noon on July 13, the bureau said.
Photo: CNA
Torrential rains from a passing tropical storm shut down a swathe of southern Taiwan today, forcing more than 5 million people to stay home from work or school. Typhoon Mekkhala, now a tropical storm and nearing southern Japan's Ryukyu Islands, did not make direct landfall in Taiwan, but its outer bands brought heavy rain to parts of the nation, especially Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung in the south. The governments of all three regions, where more than 5 million people live, ordered offices and schools closed today. Severe flooding in Tainan shut down a section of the main north-south railway line. No casualties have been
A Chinese man who uploaded video footage of restricted areas at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport would be barred from entering Taiwan for two years, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said today. The man uploaded a video to the Shanghai-based platform Bilibili on Thursday last week under the account name "White Sheep in the Sky" (天上白羊), documenting his arrival at the airport. The video included footage of security screening and immigration inspection areas, where photography is clearly prohibited. The video also repeatedly referred to Taiwan as "China Taiwan" and appeared to intentionally cover the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) flag with a
YELLOW ALERT: Work and classes are to be suspended in 10 districts in Kaohsiung, and residents in areas in Hualien County have been evacuated over flood risk, officials said The combined influence of Tropical Storm Mekkhala and the southwest jetstream brought torrential rainfall to Taiwan, with severe flooding reported in Taipei and multiple other regions. Today, work and classes are to be suspended in 10 districts of Kaohsiung — Namasiya (那瑪夏), Taoyuan (桃源), Jiaxian (甲仙), Liugui (六龜), Maolin (茂林), Meinong (美濃), Qishan (旗山), Neimen (內門), Shanlin (杉林) and Tianliao (田寮) — while Pingtung County would suspend work and classes across the entire county. Meanwhile, residents of seven areas in Hualien County’s Fonglin (鳳林) and Wanrong (萬榮) townships were to be evacuated yesterday, after a flood alert was issued for a
The new MRT Sanying Line in New Taipei City is scheduled to open on Tuesday next week, with rides free through Aug. 31 as part of a two-month trial period, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. The New Taipei City Government’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems and New Taipei Metro Corp are to operate a new 14.29km-long metro line connecting 12 stations across the city’s Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽) and Yingge (鶯歌) districts. The commute time from the Sanying area into Taipei and New Taipei City is expected to be cut by up to 20 minutes, Hou