SOCIETY
Birth rate expected to rise
The number of births registered in the nation dropped to 199,113 last year, a decrease of 13.23 percent from 2012, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Last year, the total fertility rate was 1.07 births per woman, down from 1.27 in 2012, the ministry said. The number of babies born reached a high of 229,481 in 2012, mainly due to a preference for having children during the Year of the Dragon, as the dragon is considered the luckiest of the Chinese zodiac signs, the ministry said. The Year of the Dragon began on Jan. 23, 2012, and lasted until Feb. 9 last year. It was followed by the Year of the Snake, which ends on Jan. 30. The interior ministry said the nation’s birth rate is likely to increase this year based on an increase in the number of marriages last year.
LABOR
Council finds violations
Unpaid overtime was the most common violation among employers in Taiwan last year, according to a nation-wide inspection conducted by the Council of Labor Affairs. Making employees work overtime without proper compensation was the most common violation, council official said yesterday. Out of 14,000 inspections across different sectors, the council found violations of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) in 3,671 cases (26.2 percent), according to its latest report. Extra work without extra pay was the most common at 1,234 instances, with hospitality businesses accounting for 15.2 percent of them. The healthcare service ranked second for exploiting unpaid overtime, followed by the social services industry, the council said. The second most common violation was having employees work in excess of the maximum legal hours, council officials said. Under the Labor Standards Act, an employer is liable for up to NT$300,000 in fines for either of the two offenses.
EARTHQUAKE
Eastern Taiwan shaken
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake jolted eastern Taiwan at 2:15am yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said. The quake’s epicenter was at sea, about 166.5km east of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 25.5km, bureau officials said. The strongest tremor, with an intensity of 2, was felt in several areas of Yilan, Hualien, Taitung, Changhua and Yunlin counties.
POLITICS
Tsai denies wrongdoing
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday denied any wrongdoing in a controversy linked to Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co when she was vice premier between 2006 and 2007. She said media reports that she supported the company when the government was trying to terminate a contract with it because of poor performance could be part of a politically motivated smear campaign against her. Tsai said she presided over a negotiation session with the company in June 2006, which failed to reach an agreement, but she had no role in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ decision to keep the contract. Tsai office spokesperson Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) issued a press release yesterday saying the resurrection of the allegations, which had been refuted by the Executive Yuan in 2006, could be an effort on the part of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to shift the focus away from its poor performance.
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
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
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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