WEATHER
Heat wave continues
A temperature of 41°C was recorded in Taitung County’s Taimali Township (太麻里) at 13:35pm yesterday, the hottest in Taiwan so far this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. It was driven by the occurrence of foehn winds — warm, dry gusts of wind descending from the sheltered side of mountains into valleys — CWA data showed. Similar heat also affected northern and central Taiwan, with Taipei and Yunlin County recording 39.1°C and 37.3°C respectively. Heat alerts have been issued for most areas in the nation yesterday, and high temperatures are expected to persist throughout next week. Extremely high temperatures above 37°C might become less common after Saturday, the CWA said.
Photo: CNA
ENTERTAINMENT
Roller coaster malfunction
An unstable power supply caused one of Janfusun Fancyworld’s rides to malfunction on Friday and left people stranded mid-air, the amusement park said on Saturday. Some facilities stopped operating at about 1pm, including the ride “Diving Machine G5,” which left 16 people stuck. Personnel responded immediately and rescued them within 15 minutes, the statement said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident. The power supply was restored about five minutes later and everything was back to normal within 20 minutes, it said. The theme park said it checked all its facilities to ensure they were operating normally after the incident.
CRIME
Charges for fugitive dropped
Charges against a fugitive Filipino migrant worker, who was accused of allegedly murdering his compatriot girlfriend in Tainan in 1998, have been dropped, as the statute of limitations has expired. The Tainan District Court on Thursday said it had on Wednesday closed its case against Romeo Lansang, who has been missing since his indictment on Oct. 1, 1998, for the murder of Liza A. Leria. Leria had allegedly met up with Lansang in Tainan on July 11, 1998, and they had a fight, during which Leria scratched Lansang’s face and he allegedly retaliated by stabbing her. Lansang fled the scene and Leria bled to death. Her body was discovered by a jogger the next day and Lansang was identified as the primary suspect. Although a warrant for his arrest was issued on May 25, 1999, authorities have been unable to locate him, the verdict said.
SOCIETY
Family sentenced to jail
A family of three who were caught selling tainted liquid eggs have been sentenced to at least two years in prison for fraud. The verdict against Yuanshan Eggs Co founder Hsiao Cho-fu (蕭卓福), his wife Hsiao Wu Ching-tsen (蕭吳清岑) and their son Hsiao Wen-ho (蕭文河), was handed down on Friday, the Taoyuan District Court said. Between May 1, 2013, and Aug. 11, 2018, the family sourced bad-quality eggs from farms in central Taiwan at low prices and sold them in liquid form to local businesses for higher profits, the ruling said. The Hsiaos ordered employees to turn eggs with broken eggshells, and those that had become moldy or had maggots into liquid eggs, it said. The family was indicted for alleged fraud under the Criminal Code by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office in April 2019. Hsiao Cho-fu was given a 26-month jail sentence, while his son got 28 months and his wife received 24 months, the court said. About NT$57.65 million (US$1.77 million) in illegal profits was also seized. The ruling can still be appealed.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
URBAN HEAT: The average temperature in Wanhua District tends to be higher because it is a low-lying area, while Xinyi District is hotter because of overdevelopment, experts say Heat in the nation’s metropolitan areas is becoming increasingly difficult to dissipate due to climate change and increases in areas experiencing urban heat effects, a study conducted by National Cheng Kung University’s Building and Climate Lab (BCLab) showed. The lab used weather data collected on Saturday last week and created a temperature map, which showed high-temperature areas in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan have expanded and could soon be connected to each other. The phenomenon is similar to a 60km-long corridor near Tokyo experiencing urban heat effects, the study showed. The lab’s temperature map showed that Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), which