CRIME
Cody Wilson sent to US
Cody Wilson, a US citizen who fled to Taiwan after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Texas, was yesterday escorted by National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where he was put on a 10pm flight to Houston. Taiwanese aviation security officers were expected to accompany Wilson on the flight and US law enforcement would board to arrest Wilson after the airplane lands in Houston, sources said. Wilson was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Bureau in a cheap hotel in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) on Friday evening. NIA official Chang Wen-hsiu (張文秀) yesterday said that the US on Friday sent a notice to Taiwan, saying that Wilson’s passport had been revoked, which made Wilson’s stay in Taiwan illegal. After Wilson’s arrest in Taipei, his lawyer contacted the NIA on Friday, saying that Wilson was willing to leave Taiwan, Chang said, adding that the lawyer said his willingness to leave Taiwan came after negotiations with US prosecutors.
WEATHER
Storm might affect Taiwan
A tropical storm has formed over the Pacific, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Tropical Storm Trami, which was 2,150km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) in southern Taiwan as of 8am yesterday, was moving west-northwest at 23kph toward Japan’s Okinawa. Although Trami is expected not to affect Taiwan in the short term, it is forecast to come closest to Taiwan on Thursday or Friday, bringing rain to the northern and eastern parts of the country, the bureau said. Trami could affect Taiwan if it continues to gain strength and develops into a typhoon by Thursday or Friday, meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said.
HEALTHCARE
Care rule change proposed
As many as 28,000 households could benefit from a proposed loosening of regulations governing applications for respite care services when their regular foreign caregivers take time off, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Thursday. The rule change, which could be adopted as soon as November, would allow those who qualify to apply for a maximum of 21 days of respite care annually without having to go through a 30-day waiting period without care, which is the situation at present, Long-term Care Services Division official Chou Tao-chun (周道君) said. If implemented, the provision would initially focus on applicants who are severely disabled with limited support, such as individuals who live alone or are older than 75, Chou said. According to the plan, low-income households would be fully subsidized for respite care services, while middle-low-income and general households would be required to pay 5 percent and 16 percent of costs respectively.
SPORTS
Team wins tug-of-war gold
Taiwanese athletes yesterday snagged another gold medal at the Tug of War International Federation World Outdoor Championships in South Africa, giving Taiwan six gold medals at this year’s championship, with other events still being contested. The tug-of-war team from Taipei Jingmei Girls’ High School and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) defeated the host country to win the women’s under-23 500kg title. On Friday, another team of students from Jingmei Girls’ High School and NTNU won a gold medal in the women’s 500kg tug-of-war after defeating Switzerland 2-0 in the finals.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final