WEATHER
New cold front expected
Miaoli in northern Taiwan recorded the lowest temperature of 7.5°C of all low-lying areas in Taiwan proper early yesterday morning as a strong continental cold air mass continued to grip the country, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Data compiled by the agency showed temperatures in most areas in northern and northeastern Taiwan dipped below 10°C early yesterday morning. The cold air mass is likely to weaken today, sending temperatures slightly higher, while brief rain is forecast in eastern Taiwan, the Hangchun Peninsula, as well as the mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, the CWA said. Another weather front is expected to set in tomorrow as a northeasterly wind system gathers momentum, it said, adding that it is likely to strengthen and affect the nation until Wednesday.
ARTS
Sundance returns to Taipei
The Sundance Film Festival Asia, an expansion of the independent film event in the US, is to be held in Taipei for the second time on Aug. 21 to 25. “2024 marks the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival in the United States,” a statement from the Sundance Institute and G2Go Entertainment said. “The continuation of Sundance Film Festival Asia in Taipei is a further celebration of this marvelous achievement and a commitment to invigorate local artists with outreach and dialogue.” The organizers have begun accepting submissions for a short-film competition for the film festival’s Asia event, which drew more than 250 entries last year, the statement said. Submissions are open until May 31, and the winner is to be announced at the opening event of the film festival and receive a NT$50,000 cash prize, it said.
CRIME
Woman arrested over drugs
A section assistant in the Taipei Department of Social Welfare who on Wednesday was allegedly found with more than 20g of cannabis has denied dealing the drug after her arrest by local police, sources said. Police from the Daan Precinct (大安) said they began investigating the city government employee, surnamed Liu (劉), after a man caught with cannabis during a roadside stop in January said he had bought drugs from her. Liu was arrested along with her boyfriend, surnamed Chou (周), following a series of searches and raids on Wednesday, during which police seized “dozens of grams of cannabis” as well as drug paraphernalia. Liu and Chou denied selling drugs, saying that the seized cannabis was for personal use only, a source familiar with the matter said. The pair were transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and are currently being investigated for narcotics offenses.
ARTS
Biennale includes Idas Losin
Taiwanese oil painter Idas Losin is to be the second indigenous artist from Taiwan to participate in the Biennale of Sydney, titled “Ten Thousand Suns,” which runs from yesterday to June 10. The 48-year-old artist from the Truku and Atayal communities in Hualien County follows in the footsteps of Aluaiy Kaumakan (武玉玲), who attended the previous edition of the Australian event — one of the three biggest international art biennials in the world. Idas Losin’s murals are to be exhibited at the entrance of the University of New South Wales Galleries at the biennial, for which she reorganized three pieces related to Easter Island to represent the Moai statues and Rongorongo, a unique kind of hieroglyph. The other Taiwanese participant in the event is Li Jiun-yang (李俊陽).
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS