A charter flight to evacuate Taiwanese is scheduled to depart from Tel Aviv, Israel, today and arrive in Italy later in the day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Following a thorough assessment, the ministry directed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv to arrange an evacuation flight from Ben Gurion International Airport to Fiumicino International Airport in Rome, the ministry said in a news release.
Due to rapidly changing circumstances, the ministry said it is urging Taiwanese in Israel to use the flight for a timely departure.
Photo:AFP
The ministry encouraged local Taiwanese who have not registered for the flight to promptly contact the representative office in Tel Aviv by calling 0544-275-204.
If there are spare seats, people with a humanitarian focus, embassy personnel and nationals from countries friendly to Taiwan might also be considered, the statement said.
Since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the ministry and the representative office in Israel have been assisting Taiwanese to leave the country by air and land, the release said.
It had helped 157 Taiwanese depart Israel ahead of today’s flight, it said, adding that the office remains in close contact with Taiwanese in Israel, ready to provide assistance.
According to a UN news release on Wednesday, authorities in Israel have confirmed that 1,300 people have been killed and more than 4,200 have been injured.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Gaza, with more than 12,500 injured and hundreds unaccounted for, the UN said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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