WEATHER
Temperatures to drop
A cold air mass is forecast to bring rain to parts of northern and eastern Taiwan starting tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Lows last night to early this morning were expected to be 14°C to 15°C in northern Taiwan and 15°C to 17°C in central and southern Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said. Daytime highs today would be 17°C to 18°C in the north and 20°C to 25°C in central and southern Taiwan, Tseng said. The effects of the cold air mass would continue until Tuesday, when sunny to cloudy skies and highs of more than 20°C would return across the nation, he said. Lows from tonight to Tuesday would be 13°C to 14°C, with Monday and early Tuesday morning expected to be the coldest, he said. Daytime highs would be 14°C to 16°C in northern Taiwan and 18°C to 19°C in eastern Taiwan. Central and southern regions would still experience daytime temperatures of more than 20°C, the CWA said.
Photo: CNA
EPIDEMIOLOGY
People urged to get jab
More than 40 percent of 100,000 government-funded flu vaccine doses were administered on the first day of distribution, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Amid high demand, the CDC urged eligible people, particularly those in high-risk groups, to get vaccinated promptly, as the flu season is expected to continue until the end of next month, despite a decline in cases last week. Those advised to receive the vaccine include people aged 65 or older, infants older than six months, preschool children and people with chronic conditions, the CDC said. The CDC rolled out the additional doses on Thursday after the flu-related death of actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), 48, on Feb. 2, which fueled a surge in vaccination rates. At its peak, more than 70,000 government-funded flu shots were administered in a single day, CDC data showed. Since the flu season began on Oct. 1 last year, 917 severe cases had been reported as of Monday, with people aged 65 or older accounting for 56 percent. The death toll was 181, the data showed.
DIPLOMACY
Czechia liberalizes permits
Taiwanese would be allowed to work in the Czech Republic without a work permit or employment card beginning early next month, Czech Minister of the Environment Petr Hladik said on Wednesday. Taiwan would join Prague’s list of non-EU states whose citizens can freely enter the Czech Republic’s labor market, Hladik said, although he did not specify an exact date. Taiwan had initially been set to join the list last year, but could only be added after Prague changed the law to recognize it as an “independent judicial jurisdiction.”
ZOOLOGY
Sound files released
The Hualien Formosa Association has uploaded 51 sound files of cetacean species from the waters off Hualien County onto an open-source research archive, association chairman Liao Hung-chi (廖鴻基) said on Sunday, which was International World Whale Day. The association has 107 sound files recorded during voyages that totaled more than two years at sea, Liao said. Fifty-one of the 107 audio files have been uploaded to Figshare, an open-access archive, the association said. All of the files on the archive include analyses and the date they were recorded for international researchers to use or cite, it added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan