ENVIRONMENT
Nanhua Reservoir at 50%
The storage capacity of the Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫), is enough to supply water to Greater Tainan until the end of the year, Taiwan Water Corp said yesterday. The reservoir currently has 49.02 million tonnes of water, which is 50 percent of its storage capacity, the company said, adding that the storage level had increased by 5 million tonnes compared with the same period of last year. The increase was mainly the result of water being diverted into the reservoir from rivers in the Chishan (旗山) area of Greater Kaohsiung rather than from rainfall, the company said, adding that water rationing that was due to take effect on May 26 in Tainan had been canceled. However, the Tsengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), which provide agricultural irrigation water, are still suffering from shortages, the company said. As a result, irrigation for the second crop of rice paddies in the south would be postponed until June 21, because it would require at least 400 million tonnes of water, while the two reservoirs had taken in less than 100 million tonnes as of Tuesday. The Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) and Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in the north are at 90 percent of their capacities, the company said.
ZOOS
Rhino iguanas Taipei-bound
As part of a cooperation program for animal conservation and reproduction between the Singapore Zoo and Taipei City Zoo, three rhino iguanas will be sent to Taipei. The arrival date of the lizards, which are designated as first-class endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), was not announced. Taipei Zoo Director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said his zoo would also get three Burmese mountain tortoises. Taipei has already sent 10 tortoises to Singapore in return, including four elongated tortoises, four red-footed tortoises and two yellow-footed tortoises. These tortoises, classified as second-class rare species under CITES, arrived in Singapore on May 27, Yeh said.
CENTENNIAL
Mickey Mouse event set
The Republic of China (ROC) centennial will be honored at Disneyland on July 3, event organizers say. The celebration is being organized by an ROC expatriate group in the US. The chief organizer, Rick Chiu (邱啟宜), said the event would include a cowboy-themed banquet, a parade and a fireworks display. Famous Disney cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck would also be on hand to pose for photographs with visitors. Chiu said he hoped Taiwanese visitors would bring non-Taiwanese friends to the California park to celebrate the 100th birthday of the ROC.
FISHERIES
Taiwanese captain freed
A Taiwanese captain who was detained by Japanese authorities for illegally fishing within Japan’s exclusive economic zone on Monday was released on Tuesday after paying a fine. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials arrested Chou Huang Ko-sheng (周黃可勝), 46, and six crewmembers after finding the longline boat Hai Hung No. 119 inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone without permission and fishing illegally. The boat was detained about 343km southeast of the coast of Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture. Chou Huang, who acknowledged that he was fishing illegally, paid the fine of nearly ￥4 million (US$49,880). He and his crew were returned to their boat and allowed to sail to international waters.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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