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.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
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