SOCIETY
Double Ten show in Chiayi
The Double Ten National Day fireworks display is to be held at the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in Chiayi County on Monday, the committee responsible for National Day celebrations said. In addition to the 25,000 fireworks to be set off, a 360-degree dancing water display featuring a light sculpture projection and a sound and light show is to be staged during the 45-minute performance, the county’s Tourism Bureau said. Drones would also feature, accompanied by music performed by the Taipei Sinfonietta and Philharmonic Orchestra, it said, adding that the orchestra would play a range of pieces from traditional Taiwanese folk songs to songs by popular local singers and bands, such as Wu Bai (伍佰) and China Blue. A bazaar would be open from 2pm near the museum’s southern branch, selling local products and food at more than 400 stands, while 12,000 free parking spaces would be available, the county government said.
EARTHQUAKES
Three quakes hit east coast
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Hualien County early yesterday morning, and two hours later a magnitude 3.5 quake hit Taitung County, the Central Weather Bureau said. The hypocenter of the magnitude 5.3 quake, which occurred at 4:25am, was 58.2km south-southwest of Hualien County Hall in Fongbin Township (豐濱) at a depth of 23.5km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said. The hypocenter of the magnitude 3.6 quake, which hit at 6:30am, was 33.8km north of Taitung County Hall in Guanshan Township (關山) at a depth of 8km. An additional magnitude 3.5 quake struck at 8:16am. Its hypocenter was in Chihshang Township (池上), 32 km north of Taitung County Hall, at a depth of 7.6km, the bureau said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
TRAFFIC
Driver, 91, kills woman
A woman was killed and three others injured after a 91-year-old man who had had his license revoked reversed at high speed onto a sidewalk in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) at 5:22pm on Saturday afternoon. The 91-year-old, surnamed Lee (李), reversed his car at high speed nearly 200m in the wrong direction, police said. Lee’s car clipped two scooter drivers waiting at an intersection, before running over a 13-year-old boy and his 51-year-old mother standing on the adjacent sidewalk and crashing into a tree, police said. The mother, surnamed Teng (鄧), was killed, while her son and the two scooter drivers were hospitalized. Police said no trace of alcohol was found in Lee’s system.
CRIME
Paiwan artist charged
Paiwan artist Sakuliu Pavavaljung was on Sept. 21 charged with offenses against sexual autonomy by Pingtung County prosecutors after an investigation that took nine months, according to court documents released last week. Sakuliu, 62, who received a National Award for Arts in 2018, was charged with sexual assault after allegations were made against him last year. The first accusation appeared in a piece titled Story of a Small Town posted online in December last year by artist Kuo Yu-ping (郭俞平), who described how a Paiwan artist she called Kulusa sexually assaulted a 19-year-old female fan earlier that same year. Many readers speculated that Sakuliu was the artist alluded to in the story and police launched an investigation. Days later, engineer Yu Yue-lien (余悅廉) said that Sakuliu had attempted to sexually assault her in the summer of 2006. Sakuliu has denied all allegations.
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