EARTHQUAKE
Quake centered in Yilan
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake yesterday struck Yilan County at 2:11am and was felt in northern, northeastern and central Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said. The quake’s epicenter was in Jiaosi Township (礁溪), about 8.5km northwest of the Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.2km. An intensity reading of 3 was recorded in Yilan County and in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義). An intensity of 2 was recorded in Yilan City and in the county’s Luodong (羅東) and Nanao (南澳) townships, as well as in some parts of New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hualien County and Taichung, the bureau said.
WEATHER
Cold front approaching
Warm weather is forecast to last until Wednesday, when the mercury is expected to fall to below 20oC across Taiwan as an approaching cold front blankets the nation, the weather bureau said yesterday. Daytime highs in Taipei are forecast to drop from 24oC to about 12oC to 13oC from Thursday to Sunday, the bureau said. Increased moisture and precipitation is expected on Thursday, when temperatures are to drop. Nighttime temperatures in central and southern regions are forecast to dip to 15oC to 19oC, from daytime highs of 25oC to 28oC. The bureau also forecast dense fog in western parts of Taiwan proper and on the outlaying islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. The bureau said drivers should exercise caution on freeways.
DIPLOMACY
Vatican envoy hails ties
Shared convictions about human rights, the rule of law, democratic values and world peace provide a solid and enduring basis for the diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of China (ROC), charge d’affaires ad interim of the Holy See Monsignor Paul Russell said at a Mass at the Taipei Immaculate Conception Cathedral to mark the third anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. Russell said that the diplomatic relationship that started in 1942 is based on shared convictions about the dignity of the human person, promotion of human rights and respect for the rule of law among nations and within nations; respect for basic democratic principles and the promotion of democratic values, including freedom of thought and expression; a common commitment to the promotion of world peace and a reduction of tensions among peoples and nations, especially in this area of the world; and the desire to have friendly relationships with all peoples and nations.
SOCIETY
Female status on the rise
The socioeconomic status of females in Taiwan has been increasing as their levels of education increase, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a report released on Saturday. The percentage of tertiary-educated women has exceeded that of men since 2012. It said that last year, 45 percent of women aged 15 and older had a college education or higher, compared with 39.3 percent for men. Women’s overall labor force participation rate continued to rise, reaching 50.7 percent, which reflects women’s growing desire to maintain economic independence, the agency said. However, the labor force participation rates of women between the ages of 30 and 64 remained significantly lower than those of men, with the gaps ranging from 14.5 percentage points to 30.4 percentage points, it said. The average monthly salary of women hired in the industrial and services sectors was NT$43,709 last year, equal to 83 percent of that received by men, but up 2.9 percent from 2014, the agency said.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai