WEATHER
WMO retires ‘Morakot’
The name “Morakot” has been retired by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a Pacific typhoon name because of the extensive damage and casualties it caused in 2009, particularly when it struck Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The name has been replaced on the list of acceptable names by “Atsani,” which means “lightning” in Thai, the bureau said. Typhoon names are generally retired for one of two reasons — either because they were particularly damaging or particular deadly. The bureau said the decision was made in January by the WMO’s committees for the Western North Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The Regional Specialized Meteorological Center, located in Japan, did not make an official announcement of the change until recently. The deadliest typhoon to affect Taiwan in a century, Morakot killed more than 600 people and caused more than NT$19.5 billion (US$682.13 million) in damage.
EDUCATION
Tuition to remain the same
The Ministry of Education said on Tuesday that 72 universities would not raise tuition or miscellaneous fees during the next academic year, silencing skepticism that the fees would increase. Thirty-five public universities, including National Taiwan University, as well as 37 private universities will have a “zero percent” tuition increase, the ministry said. According to 2003 to 2004 statistics released by the ministry, tuition and fees at local universities are not only far lower than those of the US and Japan, but are also the lowest among the four Asian tigers — Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
SOCIETY
Photographer wins in UAE
Fan Hui-ling (范慧玲), a Taiwanese photographer, has emerged as the top winner of an international photography contest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), capturing the award for best photographer, as well as two silver medals. Fan, who has pursued a career in photography for more than five years, won 30,000 dirham (US$8,165) in prize money in this year’s International Emirates Photography Competition, the Government Information Office (GIO) said. Two of her works also won nominations in a competition sponsored by the International Federation of Photographic Art and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, GIO officials said. The competition drew entries from 139 countries on a theme of “Black and White through creative eyes,” the officials said.
POLITICS
Vote buyer gets jail time
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Wu Kuang-hsun (吳光訓) was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison by the Taiwan High Court’s Greater Kaohsiung branch yesterday for vote-buying, a violation of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法). Wu may appeal the case to the Supreme Court. In 2004, Wu represented the KMT in an election bid for a legislative seat in then-Kaohsiung County. The ruling said Wu handed more than NT$2 million (US$70,000) to two members of his campaign staff and directed them to buy votes in then-Cishan (旗山) and Neimen (內門) townships. The duo gave NT$500 bribes to 4,000 people to vote for Wu, the ruling said. The ruling said investigators learned of Wu’s vote-buying by monitoring his telephone calls after they received a tip that Wu was buying votes in his campaign. The ruling said the two campaign staffers had also been found guilty.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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