Team Taiwan ready to sail down Seine for Olympic opening ceremony

Team Taiwan ready to sail down Seine for Olympic opening ceremony

2024-07-26

All is ready for the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris. This year for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the event won’t take place in a stadium. Instead, athletes from 206 delegations will sail down the River Seine on 85 boats. The ceremony will start at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday Taiwan time and Team Taiwan is scheduled to board their boat at 2:25 a.m. This year’s flagbearers are shuttler Tai Tzu-ying and breakdancer Quake.

Police conduct a final patrol along the banks of the Seine. Paris is ready for an Olympic opening ceremony like never before.

For the first time in the Games’ history, athletes won’t be marching into a stadium. Instead, they’ll cruise down the river on boats.

A total of 85 boats will transport 206 delegations along the Seine. Taiwan will be on the 74th boat, along with Tajikistan, Tanzania and Chad. The ceremony will start at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday Taiwan time. Team Taiwan will board the boat at 2:25 a.m. and disembark at 3:55 a.m. The ceremony is scheduled to conclude at 5:15 a.m.

Quake
Breakdancer
Of course I’m very honored to be able to carry the flag. I hope I’ll wave it well.

This year’s flagbearers symbolize the passing of the torch to a rising generation. They are shuttler Tai Tzu-ying, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and b-boy Quake, who is taking part in the Olympics for the first time this year thanks to the introduction of breakdacing to the program. On the boat will be 39 members of Team Taiwan: 21 athletes, 12 coaches and 6 delegates. As the Olympic Games start a new chapter, Taiwan is ready to shine and reach new heights on the competitive stage.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

巴奧開幕式明凌晨登場台灣隊第74船遊河進場

2024-07-26

巴黎奧運創下百年歷史上第一次的"遊河"開幕式，將在星期六凌晨1點30分登場，台灣隊在所有85船當中，安排在第74船出場，預計會在凌晨2點25分登船，與另外三個國家一起共乘進場。台灣隊將由奧運最後一舞的羽球天后戴資穎，跟史上第一次的霹靂舞國手孫振擔任掌旗官，象徵世代交替。

法國警力在塞納河，做最後巡邏，巴黎奧運史無前例的開幕式即將登場。

這是奧運超過百年歷史，首度開幕式不在體育場內，改到河上進行，運動員進場方式也從徒步，變成搭船。

奧運所有206隊代表團分成85船，台灣隊排在第74船，跟另外三國同船，包含塔吉克、坦尚尼亞跟查德。開幕式預計在台灣時間27日星期六，凌晨1點30分開始，台灣隊2點25分登船，下船3點55分，整個開幕式預計在凌晨5點15分結束。

[[巴黎奧運台灣隊掌旗官孫振]]
“當然就是滿榮幸，可以掌旗，希望把旗子揮好”

台灣隊掌旗官象徵世代交替，兩位人選分別是，奧運最後一舞的羽球天后戴資穎，以及史上第一次列入正式項目的霹靂舞項目，代表選手孫振，整個台灣隊有39人登船，21位選手、12位教練跟6位團本部代表。今年台灣隊將參與奧運史上歷史新頁，也期待賽場上能夠再創佳績。

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民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Hsinchu City Mayor Ann Kao has been suspended as mayor, after the Taipei District Court sentenced her to seven years and four months in prison for corruption on Friday. Taking her place as acting mayor will be Deputy Mayor Andy Chiu. The 40-year-old Kao has been involved in a host of controversies for more than two years, one of which is fraudulent use of public funds. Kao says she will submit an appeal.

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According to the panel’s review, the judges have determined that at the time of the misconduct Ann Kao was serving in the important capacity of a Legislative Yuan member, which is a position that requires honesty and law-abiding behavior. Despite this, in order to increase her discretionary funds, Kao fraudulently collected public funds from the Legislative Yuan to compensate contracted assistants. Through this illegal abuse of power, Kao embezzled overtime pay of assistants. That is the situation at hand.

The Taipei District court handed down a prison sentence of seven years and four months to Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao, who will also be barred from serving public office for four years.

Ann Kao
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Concerning the first trial’s ruling, I absolutely will submit an appeal. I will now take the opportunity to officially announce that I will leave the Taiwan People’s Party immediately.

After the first trial’s ruling was announced, the Ministry of the Interior suspended Kao from office in accordance with related legal provisions. Deputy Mayor Andy Chiu will take over as acting mayor. Kao will be able to receive half her salary until a higher court pronounces a final verdict.

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We’re glad to see her resign on her own accord in order to fully concentrate on the legal issues she’s facing. She’ll no longer waste public funds. She’ll be making a lot of trips to the court, so allowing her to continue to serve as mayor would only impede the city government’s ability to govern.

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During her time as mayor, Ann Kao’s falsified documents have caused constant controversy. I call on the prosecutors to examine all the evidence available to see if there are any other circumstances that will come to light.

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She left the Taiwan People’s Party. I think that she’s doing this for the benefit of the TPP. I feel really bad for her, because she actually has worked very hard during her time as mayor.

Opposition councilors have called on Kao to immediately resign as mayor, yet those close to Kao have expressed they don’t want to see her go. When these incidences happened, Kao wasn’t even 40 yet and yet she’d already become a powerful figure in the TPP. When she won the Hsinchu City mayoral election, she became the youngest city mayor or county commissioner in Taiwanese history.

Ann Kao
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Using political malice as a means to attack a person working for the city government, I won’t let you all get away with this.

With a court case in front of her and a looming recall campaign, it looks like the whirlwind around Kao only seems to be getting more intense.

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It’s been a very hot summer, and while that’s bad news for some species, certain flowers soak up the hot weather. In Changhua, private gardens are blooming in profusion. Special heat-loving species like the Queen’s crape myrtle and the Siam tulip are having a great year. They’re already attracting lots of tourists, but some gardens won’t be at their best until mid-August. So there’s still time to head down to the gardens of Changhua this summer.

Here in Tianwei, a field of luscious crape myrtles flowers. They’re in full bloom. Lots of tourists come here to admire this “Queen’s crape myrtle” species imported from the U.S. by a botanist and then transplanted onto another species. The “Queen” is free to admire, but only by prior booking.

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Wow! It smells wonderful. So beautiful! I’ve seen white ones but never ones as brightly colored as this.

The crape myrtles bloom in great profusion over more than four months, the branches laden with buds. The owner of the garden says that the double-petal Queen’s crape myrtles have larger flowers. His biggest fear is that the plum rains will hit the blooms.

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If they hit the plum rains, their branches are quite fragile and will break. They retain too much water, so the whole thing just snaps. So it’s perfect this year, because there’s been no rain so the flowers are just growing bigger and bigger.

Meanwhile, at this Siam tulip field in Beidou, gardeners have planted Siam tulips of seven different colors. They’re still in bloom right now, and also attract lots of pilgrims.

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The Siam tulip loves hot weather and is blooming vigorously in these scorching temperatures. It’s expected to reach its peak blooming period in August.

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Countless photos and videos have shown flooded homes and streets in Southern Taiwan. And with the typhoon moving on, President Lai Ching-te and Premier Cho Jung-tai headed south on Thursday to visit disaster-stricken areas. There they informed locals about the subsidies and tax breaks the government would be providing to help households and businesses recover.

President Lai Ching-te and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai braved the rain in order to see for themselves just how bad the damage was at this Kaohsiung banana orchard.

Lai Ching-te
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I wasn’t able to be here in these places that suffered severe damage when disaster struck. Not being able to stand with the city mayors, county commissioners, and my fellow compatriots at that moment is something that truly troubles me even now.

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There’s probably about 1,100 hectares growing sorghum, and about 60% to 70% of it has been harvested. This typhoon’s rain caused there to be standing water and some sorghum crops were blown over by the wind. So, we’re taking the opportunity while the premier is here to help farmers receive subsidies to cover sorghum production costs as well as shipping subsidies.

The central and local governments are giving their all to help disaster-stricken residents, farmers, and fishers overcome all the damage caused by Typhoon Gaemi.

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Huang says in light of the growing threats from China, Taiwan should make future military exercises even closer to real combat.

William Yang, VOA News, Taipei, Taiwan.

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