20120517 3pm

3PM Intro

Good afternoon. It's time for ICRT news at 3. I'm Mike Woodward.

Unstable Weather

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau has issued extreme weather advisories for all of Taiwan ... citing unstable conditions. The CWB says torrential or heavy rain is possible islandwide today ... and also warns of flash floods that could trigger landslides ... as well as lightning, and heavy winds. The CWB said there is a stationary front in the area that is affecting Taiwan's weather. The front has already sparked downpours in the southernmost tip of Hengchun this morning ... resulting in flooding in Hengchun Township after just three hours ... blocking the northbound lane of Provincial Highway 26. Since early this morning more than 200 milliliters of rain have already drenched Hengchun ... and weather officials say the area could see more extreme torrential rain. The CWB says it could be several days before the front moves on ... noting that Taiwan's weather could be affected into early next week. It said people should be alert to the danger of landslides, falling rocks and swollen rivers, as well as possible flooding in low-lying areas. (jm)

Taoyuan Airport to Start Electric Fence Construction in November

Taiwan's largest airport is to be equipped with electric fences to step up its security network following a series of perimeter intrusions. Authorities at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport said that some 15 kilometers of electric fencing around the airport's apron will be erected in stages from November in order to keep unauthorized people out of the airport's restricted areas more effectively. The latest intrusion saw three Thai workers caught fishing earlier this month near a drain inside a restricted zone in the southern wing of the airport. The three were detained by airport police for questioning and each was fined NT$5,000 for violating the Civil Aviation Law. The investigators said the three were originally fishing in a stream outside the airport's apron, but later crawled from the other side of the stream into the airport grounds, where they felt the fishing would be better. Prior to this incident, airport guards had already intercepted many foreign laborers who had tried to intrude into the airport property for various reasons. (jm)

strengthening economy

U.S. markets received a boost on the back of encouraging economic data on housing starts and industrial production. The figures topped estimates and signal a strengthening U.S. economy. Liling Tan reports from New York.

edwards

The trial for the fraudulent use of campaign funds by former U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards is set to go to the jury. Both the prosecution and defence have finished presenting evidence and questioning witnesses. As Priscilla Huff reports, there were a couple of surprises at the North Carolina trial.

weather

Taiwan weather forecast for tonight according to the Central Weather Bureau, possible thunder showers island-wide this evening with lows tonite north, center and south respectively: 27, 25 and 25. At the moment Taipei is cloudy with rain 22, Taichung partly cloudy with showers and 23, Gauhsiung cloudy with rain and 25.

3PM Outro

That's ICRT News at 3. Thank you for listening. I'm Mike Woodward.