WEATHER
Temperatures to rise
Temperatures across the nation could rise significantly over this week, starting today with daytime highs of 20°C to 26°C nationwide, the Central Weather Bureau said. From tomorrow to Wednesday, the mercury is expected to climb even higher, with daytime temperatures set to hover between 22°C and 27°C nationwide, the bureau said yesterday. Meanwhile, sporadic showers can be expected in northern and northeastern areas today and the chances of rain are likely to increase until mid-week, as clouds heavy with moisture move in from the south, the bureau said. It said that a newly formed tropical storm in the Pacific is unlikely to affect the nation significantly. Tropical Storm Sonamu, the first storm of this year’s Pacific typhoon season, was centered 1,800km south-southwest of Taiwan’s southernmost tip as of 8am yesterday, bureau forecasters said.
SOCIETY
Book fair to be held on ship
The Germany-registered passenger ship Logos Hope is scheduled to hold a book fair at Keelung Port from tomorrow until Jan. 20, the organizers said yesterday. More than 5,000 books on science, sport, cuisine, art, philosophy and language will be on display the German charity Good Books for All (GBA) Ships said. There will also be a “life experience” section that will allow visitors to, for example, feel what it is like to be an AIDS patient, the organizers said. Logos Hope is the latest addition to GBA Ships and is twice the size of MV Doulos, a similar type of floating bookstore that has visited the nation several times. The ship is carrying about 400 volunteer crew members from 56 countries, working in positions such as engineers, accountants and chefs.They will engage in cultural exchanges with visitors, the organizers said.
TRANSPORT
Spanish firm wins rail bid
A company from Spain has won the opening bid to build a light rail system in Greater Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung City Government Secretary-General Wu Hung-mo (吳宏謀) said Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles won the bid with a project cost estimate of about NT$5.68 billion (US$195.86 million), lower than the NT$5.8 billion base price set by the government. The Spanish firm will construct the project jointly with the Taipei-based Evergreen Construction Corp, Wu said. The 8.7km light rail transport system is a major project that is expected to help promote economic development in the area near Kaohsiung Port, according to the city government. The transport system will connect many important facilities in the city.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Representative appointed
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷) has been appointed Taiwan’s representative to the EU and Belgium, the Presidential Office announced on Friday. Tung, 60, will take up the post that was made vacant when his predecessor, David Lin (林永樂), was appointed foreign minister late last year. Once he formally assumes office, Tung is expected to push for a working holiday agreement with Belgium and an economic cooperation agreement with the EU. Well-versed in European and North American affairs, Tung has been posted in Houston and New York before taking over as deputy representative to the US in April 2008. Joseph Shih (石定), current deputy head of the ministry’s Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs, will succeed Tung as vice foreign minister.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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