WEATHER
Temperature swings
Day-night temperature differences across most of the nation have been significant since Thursday, reaching “highly dangerous” levels in some areas of northern Taiwan and “dangerous” in other parts of the country, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Temperature differences within 24 hours of more than 13°C are “highly dangerous,” while an 11-degree difference is “dangerous,” 9 degrees is “alert-level” and 7 degrees is designated “take notice,” the CWA said. Drastic temperature are caused by radiative cooling, a phenomenon in which the ground rapidly loses heat under clear skies and dry conditions, the CWA said.
Photo provided by the Central Weather Administration
SPORT
NBA Taiwan night held
The NBA’s Washington Wizards hosted a Taiwanese Heritage Night during their match against the Orlando Magic on Friday. The Taiwan-themed event, sponsored by the nonprofit Millennial Global Youth, featured a bucket hat giveaway for ticketholders at the Capitol One Arena in Washington. The hats came in two designs: one was solid red with the Wizards’ team logo and the Chinese characters for “Washington Wizards,” while the other featured a white background adorned with Taiwan’s national flag. The nonprofit also produced a limited edition of 300 jerseys given to ticket holders featuring the word “Taiwan” and the number “52,” which phonetically resembles “I love Taiwan” in Chinese. Millennial Global Youth was founded by a group of Taiwanese living in Washington, and works to promote multiculturalism and diversity.
FIRE
Tainan blaze kills one
A woman was killed after a fire broke out in an industrial zone in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康) early yesterday morning, the city’s fire bureau said. The bureau received a report of the fire in the Asia-Pacific Industrial Zone on Zhongzheng Road at 2:11am, it said. Firefighters who arrived at the scene quickly learned that a woman was trapped on the building’s second floor and they immediately began battling the blaze using water hoses, it said. The woman was later found dead at the scene, the bureau said. Preliminary investigations by police and firefighters identified the deceased as a 76-year-old woman. A total of 115 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which was eventually extinguished at 5:55am, it said. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
DIPLOMACY
Lin meets new envoy
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Friday met with new Somaliland Representative to Taiwan Mahmoud Adam Jama Galaal, with both expressing hope for strengthened bilateral ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Galaal was appointed by the new government of Somaliland after Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi was inaugurated on Dec. 12 last year. He arrived in Taipei at the end of January. Lin welcomed Galaal to Taiwan and expressed hope for continued bilateral collaboration in multiple fields, including education, healthcare, agriculture, information and communications, security, and energy resources, the ministry said in a news release. Galaal said that Somaliland is keen to deepen collaboration with Taiwan, and thanked the nation for funding various projects in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, including the expansion of the main road connecting Egal International Airport to the city center and the construction of a medical center.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
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