WEATHER
Hail peppers Alishan visitors
A rare barrage of hailstones yesterday fell on Alishan, stunning visitors at the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area in southern Chiayi County. Ice pellets of about 0.9cm fell unexpectedly between 2:04pm and 2:18pm, the Central Weather Administration’s Alishan observation station said. The hail near the Jhaoping station on the Alishan Forest Railway line lasted until about 2:40pm, the station said. Many visitors and train passengers were quick to take pictures and film the rare scene, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office workers said. The station, which said the temperature on Alishan at the time was 19.7°C, attributed the hail to a cold-core low pressure system passing over Taiwan. The presence of the system increased the temperature difference between the upper atmosphere and warm surface temperatures, leading to the development of convective currents that can lead to thunderstorms and the formation of hail, it said.
SPORTS
Taiwan wins e-sports title
Taiwanese e-sports team Ban Mei Gaming (BMG) on Sunday defeated a team from Thailand to win this year’s Arena of Valor Premier League championship title in Bangkok. BMG routed Thailand’s Buriram United Esports 4-1 in Arena of Valor, a multiplayer online game, to walk home with US$200,000 of prize money. BMG member Wu Cheng-yen (吳承晏) was also named the Finals’ Most Valuable Player after the tournament. Wu said he first started playing Arena of Valor with friends in elementary school, and later dreamed of becoming a professional player in junior-high school. His parents were against the idea of him trying to make a living in gaming, but soon acquiesced when he convinced them his e-sports skills had surpassed his abilities at school, he said. “They became supportive even before I had won anything,” he added. The tournament, which ran from June 12 to Sunday, featured teams from Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
SOCIETY
Fewer balloon festival visitors
The annual Taiwan International Balloon Festival on Saturday opened in Taitung County’s Luye Township (鹿野) with fewer visitors than usual, as tourism has been significantly affected after a massive earthquake in April in neighboring Hualien County. About 15,000 visitors attended the opening, the Taitung County Government said. Officials estimated the number of visitors at this year’s opening was about 30 percent lower than in previous years. Pan Kuei-lan (潘貴蘭), vice chairperson of Taitung’s Luminous Hot Spring Resort & Spa and former Taitung Tourism Association head, said that although the crowds were smaller than in previous years, tourists are gradually returning, adding that she hopes that the 45-day event would help bring tourists back to the county. After the opening ceremony, 21 hot air balloons of different designs, including a panda-shaped balloon from Japan and a Matsu (媽祖) balloon created by the county government and Taitung City Tianhou Temple were launched. The festival is to feature more than 40 hot air balloons from 14 countries, Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) said. In addition, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty, the festival was collaborating with Sanrio Taiwan to present 12 Night Glow Concerts, the most ever in the festival’s history, Taitung County Transportation and Development Department head Pu Ming-cheng (卜敏正) said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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