■WEATHER
CWB monitors Sinlaku
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) may issue a sea alert for Typhoon Sinlaku as it could move toward Taiwan, the bureau said yesterday. Sinlaku was upgraded from a tropical storm at 2am yesterday. As of 5:45pm, its center was located 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) in Pingtung County and it was moving north at a speed of 7km. The maximum wind speed near the center reached level 13 on the Beaufort scale. The radius of the storm topped 180km. Sinlaku was moving slowly because it lacked a guiding stream, and its path has been rather unpredictable as it has a tendency to shift from side to side. Because of the typhoon’s circumfluence, chances of showers or heavy rain remain high in the mountainous areas in the north and the northeast, the bureau said.
■SOCIETY
Adoptive parents sought
A charity in Kaohsiung City appealed on Tuesday for adoptive parents to care for six babies who range in age from one month to eight months. Guo Liang-ling (郭亮玲), chairwoman of the Hui Ji Charity of Kaohsiung, said a baby boy and five girls were left with the charity in the last few months by either unwed mothers or financially strapped parents who could not afford to raise their children. She said all six were in good health, although one appears to have a hereditary disease. The charity has limited facilities and a small staff, so it cannot take care of all six infants, Guo said.
■SOCIETY
Animal rights highlighted
Kaohsiung City Government will launch a series of animal rights education programs for elementary, junior high and high school students on Tuesday, the city government said yesterday. Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Lin Jen-yi (林仁益) told a press conference that lectures will be given at 15 schools. The city government will also hold a painting competition for students to show their concern for animals through their creativity, he said. The city government hopes to help students learn compassion and respect for all living beings, he said.
■SOCIETY
Cross-strait marriages rise
One out of every six couples married in Taipei City in the first seven months of this year were cross-strait or cross-cultural couples, the city government said yesterday. A total of 1,604 Taipei residents married overseas nationals, including those from China, Hong Kong and Macau, between January and July, representing 15.83 percent of all residents who got married during that period, the Department of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said. Most of the foreign spouses came from China — 819 — with 789 men marrying Chinese women, and 30 women marrying Chinese men. Officials attributed the growing number of cross-strait and interracial marriages to increased business and trade between Taiwan and China, as well as Taipei’s increasing globalization.
■SOCIETY
Free bus rides for Taichung
Taichung City will offer free bus rides during peak hour next year to help its residents get used to taking public transport ahead of the construction of its metro system, Deputy Taichung Mayor Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家旗) said yesterday. Although the city’s bus ridership has increased to 1.8 million per month from the previous level of just over 300,000, Hsiao said, bus commuters account for only 10 percent of the city’s total population. The ratio must be raised to a range between 20 percent and 30 percent to reach a balance in the future metro operations, he said.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant