WEATHER
Rain expected today
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast rain across the nation today and into tomorrow as seasonal northeasterly winds continue to strengthen and a wet weather system from southern China moves east. Moisture brought by the two weather systems would gradually ease up today, resulting in drier and cloudy weather across some parts of Taiwan except northern, eastern and southern regions, which might see sporadic showers, the administration said. On Tuesday and Wednesday, seasonal northeasterly winds would continue to bring sporadic showers to Taipei and the surrounding area, eastern Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) in the south, it said. In other parts of Taiwan, drier and sunnier weather is to emerge on those two days, as the wet weather system from southern China eases up, it said.
SOCIETY
Pet memorial park opens
The first pet memorial park in Taiwan, “Happy Heaven Park,” opened in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋) on Friday, providing pet cremation, columbarium spaces and tree burials, a city official said. Taoyuan Department of Agriculture Director-General Chen Kuan-yi (陳冠儀) said the memorial park is the only legal pet memorial park in the nation, but three to four more service providers are applying to set up pet memorial parks in the city. Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng (張善政) said at the park’s opening ceremony that more services related to burying and memorializing pets would be provided, in the hope that all pets can be treated properly after their passing.
SOCIETY
Scooter rider killed in crash
A 42-year-old scooter rider has died after an underage driver on Friday afternoon struck him from behind while waiting in a left-turn box in Taichung’s Shalu District (沙鹿), police said yesterday. Police from nearby Cingshui District (清水) said in a statement that prosecutors were investigating the fatal collision at the intersection of Jhongcing Road and Jhongshan Road at 1:18pm. The scooter rider, surnamed Tsai (蔡), was stopped on Jhongshan Road when an unlicensed teenage driver drove a vehicle through a red light into the scooter left-turn box, police said. Tsai and his six-year-old daughter, who was a passenger on the scooter, were thrown to the ground and then struck by a second vehicle that was legally passing through the intersection from Jhongqing Road, police said. Tsai’s daughter is being treated for abrasions at a hospital, they said.
CRIME
Shop owner arrested
A Chinese herbal medicine shop owner has been arrested for allegedly selling rhinoceros horn powder, Taichung police said last week. His case has been turned over to prosecutors for further investigation, they added. Police raided the shop on Sept. 25 after received a tip that the owner, surnamed (林), was allegedly selling rhino horn powder. Among the alleged customers was a 65-year-old person identified as Ho (何), who reportedly spent NT$4.8 million (US$148,034) buying rhino horn powder starting in May 2021 to treat cancer before dying in April this year, police said. Powder obtained by a member of the public, allegedly from Lin’s shop, was verified by experts as coming from the horn of Indian rhinos, which the Ministry of Agriculture categorizes as a Class 1 endangered wild species, police said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
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
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