Typhoon Soudelor is forecast to make landfall in Taiwan on late August 7 or early August 8 with winds of 140 mph. Heavy rains and coastal flooding are expected, which may disrupt flights and close roads. Soudelor is predicted to make a second landfall in China’s Fujian Province late on August 8th.

Flights at Beijing’s airports will be banned or diverted from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on September 3rd to enable the victory parade marking the anniversary of victory over Japan in World War II to pass smoothly and ensure flight safety.

The Parapan Games will be held in Toronto Aug 7-15. Expect increased congestion near the venues.

• Roman law gives cats squatters’ rights — wherever five or more cats live together in the city, they can’t be chased away
• With more than 900, Rome has the highest number of churches of any city in the world
• Romans invented concrete more than 2100 years ago
• More than $3000 a day is collected from the coins thrown in Trevi Fountain and given to the poor as rechargeable grocery cards
• Spaghetti and meatballs is not an Italian dish and is very hard to find in Rome
• Rome’s first shopping mall was built in 107-110 AD
• Cincinnati, Ohio, is named after the Roman figure, Cincinnatus (519-438 B.C.) who ruled for 16 days, before and after which he plowed his fields
• On Capitoline Hill at noon on April 21 every year, a special bell called Patarina rings to celebrate the founding of Rome