Taiwan's dragon boat races among few to be held this year

Taiwan on Thursday became one of the few places to hold a boat race, thanks to no local transmissions of the coronavirus being reported on the island in over two months.

The pandemic has led to the cancellation of traditional dragon boat races in Hong Kong and mainland China.

In Taipei, around 80 teams gathered at the Dajia Riverside Park to compete under the scorching sun in the two-day race, which features boats festooned with decorative dragon imagery.

Boat crew members participate in a traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

“You’re not worrying about somebody on the side (giving) you COVID-19 because everywhere you go, they check your temperature,” said Farrouck Ruiz, a 20 year-old Nicaraguan student who studies at Mingchuan University in Taipei and took part in the race.

He said that organizers invested a lot of time in the protocols to keep the coronavirus in check, including giving out hand sanitizers and ensuring that people wear masks.

Although the race went ahead in Taipei, supporters were not allowed to attend.

Crew leaders prepare to grab finish line flags during the traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

"Our team has been training for a whole year just for this race,” said Lydia Lee, who works in digital marketing. “But they do not allow supporters in, and we thought that takes out part of the fun.”

In China, Wang Jiequn, deputy head of the Personnel Department of the Beijing Committee of the ruling Communist Party, said all activities relating to the Dragon Boat Festival will be held online this year.

The Chinese capital has locked down parts of the city and imposed strict restrictions on travel as it grapples with a new outbreak of over 250 coronavirus infections.

Dragon boat crew members cheer during the traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

Several parks in Beijing have launched activities such as online games, quizzes and websites to allow visitors to learn more about the festival tradition. Other activities include online poetry recitals and courses on plants.

Apart from dragon boat races, Taipei is also holding a Gay Pride parade on Sunday.

Over 450 Pride events celebrating LGBT people across the world have been canceled due to the pandemic. Organizers say Sunday’s parade will be the world’s only during Pride month in June.

Boat crew members cheer during the traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

AP Business Writer Zen Soo in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

A boat crew member holds a team flag during the traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

Crew members participate in a traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

A member of the boat crews coos down during the traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

A member of the dragon boat crew cools down during the traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

Dragon boat crew members cheer after a traditional Chinese dragon boat race in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Dragon boat races are in remembrance of Chu Yuan, an ancient Chinese scholar-statesman, who drowned in 277 B.C. while denouncing government corruption. (AP PhotoChiang Ying-ying)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow's invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.

Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said.

The daytime temperature in Kyiv, which has endured freezing temperatures for more than two weeks, was minus 12 degrees C (about 10 degrees F), with streets covered in ice and the rumble of generators heard throughout the capital.

Kyiv has grappled with severe power shortages for days, although Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday night's strikes caused the biggest electrical outage the city has faced so far.

More than 500 residential buildings remained without central heating Tuesday. Throughout the city, bare trees were weighed down with icicles and snow was piled up next to sidewalks.

To cope, friends and relatives gathered in those apartments that have power or hot water, at least temporarily. They charge their phones, take hot showers, or share a warm drink.

Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal per day to needy residents. He also announced that workers in the city’s water, heating and road maintenance services would receive bonuses for working “day and night” to restore critical infrastructure.

Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.

On Monday, the U.S. accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting at a time when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.

Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.

Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in winter over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”

The attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.

In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defese Ministry said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.

Ukraine’s military said its drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant designs, manufactures and tests Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.

It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.

Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)