WEATHER
Colder weather expected
Cooler weather is expected across the nation next week with the arrival of cold fronts and seasonal winds, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Temperatures in the north could drop to about 14oC on Tuesday and Wednesday, while in the south and east, morning and nighttime temperatures could fall to between 16oC and 18oC, the bureau said. A cold front and seasonal winds will arrive tomorrow and another front on Tuesday, the bureau said. The mercury is expected to rise slightly from Thursday as the cold air mass weakens, the bureau forecast. From this afternoon until tomorrow, northern and eastern areas could see brief showers as the front approaches, the bureau said, adding that rain could also be expected in northern and eastern areas between Tuesday and Wednesday.
SOCIETY
One in five spouses foreign
About 20 percent of marriages in Taiwan over the past decade involved a foreign spouse, the latest government statistics showed yesterday. In the period from 1998 to June this year, an average of 20.59 in every 100 marriages in Taiwan involved a spouse from China (including Hong Kong and Macau) or another country, Ministry of the Interior data showed. In that period, 9.64 of every 100 babies born in Taiwan were to non-Taiwanese mothers, data showed. The number of Taiwanese marrying non-nationals peaked in 2003 to account for 31.86 percent of all marriages in the nation, according to the statistics. As of October, there are 470,922 non-national spouses, 304,717 of whom are from China, statistics showed.
WORK
Boss-worker romance divides
More than one-quarter of office workers are opposed to office romances between bosses and subordinates, according to an online survey published yesterday. Among the 26.13 percent of office workers who expressed opposition to such relationships, 18.09 percent said such relationships tend to cause disputes, affect work performance and impact the corporate image, the 1111 Job Bank poll showed. However, 22.61 percent of office workers have no problem with boss-subordinate romances, the survey showed. The other 51.26 percent of office workers in the poll did not express a firm opinion on the matter, saying “it depends on the situation.” The survey was conducted via e-mail between Nov. 23 and Dec. 7. The poll collected 1,194 effective samples and had a margin of error 2.83 percentage points.
WEATHER
Levi’s commits to ‘detox’
Levi’s, one of the world’s largest jeans brands, has committed to toxin-free production, according to Greenpeace Taiwan. Levi’s is the 11th international clothing brand to have made “credible commitments” to the “Detox” campaign launched by Greenpeace last year, which calls for industries to refrain from releasing toxic chemicals into waterways, the environmental protection organization said. Greenpeace said that after examining the waste water released from Levi’s contract manufacturing factories in China and Mexico earlier this year, it found many different kinds of toxic chemicals, including nonyl phenol polyoxythylene ether (NPE), a hormone-disrupting substance. After hundreds of thousands of people around the world supported the campaign and voiced their demands for Levi’s to employ toxin-free production methods, the company joined other brands, such as Nike, and Puma, H&M and Esprit, that have already committed themselves to Detox, Greenpeace said.
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