■Weather
Cold front to hit today
Another cold front is set to arrive in Taiwan today, bringing temperatures down once again, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB). Except for some small showers in the northeastern part of the country, Taiwan saw sunny weather yesterday with sunlight raising temperatures by two to three degrees. Daytime temperatures yesterday were above 20°C. Temperatures will begin to fall again this afternoon. The cold front will be at its strongest in the early hours of tomorrow, according to the CWB, with temperatures projected to be around 10°C for the northern half of Taiwan. Temperatures will rise again on Thursday, the CWB said.
■ Media
Sophie Wang starts reporting
After having been barred from entering the Legislative Yuan, headline-maker Sophie Wang (王筱嬋) started her new job as a TV reporter covering news in the lawmaking body yesterday. As a former soap-opera actress and former aide to then DPP lawmaker Cheng Yu-cheng (鄭余鎮), Wang landed a job at Global TV to cover legislative news. Some media outlets regarded her employment as a farcical tactic to rescue the news network's poor ratings and questioned Wang's professional credentials, local Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday. Responding to the mounting criticisms and doubts, program section chief at Global TV Chien Chih-hai (簡志海) reiterated that the company will "give suitable treatment" to the intern reporter if she fails to do a good job or tries to abuse her capacity as a reporter. Wang is notorious for a string of love affairs, first with KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) and later with Cheng Yu-cheng, who voluntarily left the DPP to become an independent lawmaker after the party decided to discipline him.
■ Train tickets
Holiday bookings open
People will be able to book tickets for east-bound train trips during the Lunar New Year holidays starting 6am today, according to the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA, 台灣鐵路管理局) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. West-bound tickets will be available from Thursday. The TRA said passengers should pick up their tickets at train stations or post offices within five days after booking them. If the departure date is less than five days after the booking date, they should pick up their tickets at least one day before the departure date.
■ Legislation
Labor-law changes passed
The Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Labor Insurance Law (勞保條例) yesterday. The amendments were proposed by the PFP and DPP legislative caucuses and will provide NT$10 billion for workers to apply for low-interest loans. According to the amendments, workers covered by the labor insurance scheme for more than 15 years are eligible to apply for a maximum loan of NT$200,000 at an interest rate of no more than 3.75 percent. PFP Legislator Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官), in charge of the negotiations, said it is estimated that 2.3 million workers can benefit from the bill. He also expressed his hope that the Council of Labor Affairs (勞委會) can implement the measure before the Lunar New Year, which starts Feb. 1 this year. Meanwhile, Lin appealed to the government to assist the 4 percent of people who are not covered by the National Health Insurance (全民健保) program.
Agencies
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