■ Defense
F-16 makes forced landing
An F-16 fighter on a routine training mission landed at an airport in Taichung yesterday after developing a minor electrical problem. The Air Force Command Headquarters said a generator signal flashed in the fighter, which departed from Hualien air base in eastern Taiwan, on a flight over western Taiwan. It landed safely 20 minutes later at Chingchuankang air base for a checkup. It denied reports that the F-16 had a fuel leak problem before being forced to land. "The pilot followed standard operation procedures and landed at the nearest airfield for a safety check," air force officials said.
■ Weather
Cold snap ends tomorrow
The nation's weather will remain under the influence of a cold front today, the Central Weather Bureau said. The bureau predicted that temperatures will drop to 13?C in the north and 15?C in the south. Bureau officials said that there might be showers in the north and east of the country today and that residents in coastal areas and Hengchun Peninsula should expect unusually strong gusts. Temperatures will begin to rise again tomorrow, though bureau officials said that residents in the north will have a wet weekend. Another cold front is expected to arrive in the middle of next week.
■ Transportation
Kaohsiung MRT free at first
An 8.6km section of the Red Line of Kaohsiung's rapid transit system will begin service in October free of charge, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) officials said yesterday. The KRTC, which has been rocked by a corruption scandal, said the 12-minute run from R3 station at Hsiaokang's Hanmin Road to R8 station at FE21Mega shopping mall will open to the public at the end of October. The 8.6km ride will eventually cost NT$25. The KRTC said the offer of free rides would not affect its 36-year contract with the city government, which includes six years of construction and 30 years of operating the system. Construction of the network began in 2001. Underground digging is complete except for five tunnels that are scheduled to be completed in April, followed by the laying of track. The KRTC recently suffered a scandal in which former KRTC vice chairman Chen Min-hsien (陳敏賢) and several city officials were indicted on charges of corruption, malfeasance and conflict of interest.
■ Society
Hearing impaired get a hand
The Taipei City Government has since the start of this year offered sign language interpretation services free of charge to residents with hearing disabilities, officials said yesterday. The 24-hour service was launched in cooperation with the Agape Social Welfare Association, according to officials at the city's Department of Social Welfare. The officials said all registered Taipei residents with hearing disabilities can apply for the service with the association provided they do so at least five days before the service is needed. The number to call is 0800-365-224. Officials said that the service is mainly for those living in Taipei City and that if the applicants need to handle business outside of the city, Taipei County is as far as the service reaches. For the out-of-city service, only cases for communication or contact purposes with regard to business, medical visits, schooling or attendance at seminars will be accepted, they said. Official statistics show that there were more than 14,700 hearing-impaired residents in Taipei City as of the end of last year.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost