WEATHER
CWB warns of 6°C nights
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday warned that temperatures in western Taiwan could at times drop below 6°C until tomorrow. Cold weather advisories were released for New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Chiayi City, Tainan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou and Yunlin counties. Lows of about 10°C are forecast for Keelung and Taipei, the CWB said. Cold weather would also affect Hsinchu City, Chiayi County, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, Yilan, Hualien and Kinmen counties, it said, where the minimum temperature might fall below 10°C through tomorrow. A low of 3.9°C was measured in Miaoli County’s Zaociao Township (造橋) early yesterday morning, while Hsinchu County’s Emei Township (峨眉) and Miaoli’s Gongguan Township (公館) reported 4.1°C, it said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Fuerza Bruta to perform
Fuerza Bruta, an Argentine postmodern theater group, is to perform in Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holiday from Jan. 22 to 29, promoter KHAM Ticket said in a statement yesterday. The show, which is also called Fuerza Bruta, has been a mainstay in New York since 2007, KHAM Ticket said. It delivers a dynamic and immersive theater experience without seats or specific storylines, which encourages the audience to engage with the performers, the promoter said. The group uses the floor, the ceiling and the walls for special effects and stunts, KHAM Ticket said. While in Taiwan, Fuerza Bruta would invite local entertainers to participate in its performances, including singer Yuki Hsu (徐懷鈺) on Jan. 24, singer Koo Jun-yup on Jan. 25, actor George Hu (胡宇威) on Jan. 27, members of boy band Uranus on Jan. 28 and talkshow host Brian Tseng (博恩) on Jan. 29, the promoter said. Fuerza Bruta would hold 18 shows at the Taipei Arena, but would limit attendance to 1,200 people at each performance, it said.
CRIME
Tainan official detained
Chen Kai-ling (陳凱凌), who heads the Tainan Economic Development Bureau, was taken into custody early yesterday morning and was being held incommunicado for allegedly accepting bribes, the Tainan District Court said. Chen told judicial officials that he forged documents and received bribes in the form of cash, banquets and sex, but denied committing property crimes, court spokeswoman Liu Hsiu-chun (劉秀君) said. Prosecutors on Thursday applied to detain Chen after questioning him, and the court approved the request and agreed to allow them to hold him incommunicado, as it considered Chen a flight risk, capable of destroying, forging or colluding to tamper with evidence, Liu said.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
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