WEATHER
Warmer weather ahead
The current wet weather across the nation might continue today before warm, sunny conditions return over the two following days, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Under the influence of a cold front, the lowest temperature recorded in the nation’s low-lying areas yesterday morning was 12.5oC in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the bureau said. The cold air mass is forecast to weaken today, allowing temperatures to rise gradually and climb above 20oC tomorrow and on Friday, up about 10oC from yesterday, the bureau said. Due to moisture brought by the cold front, heavy fog is forecast in some areas as the weather warms, it added. However, a northeast monsoon would bring rain to parts of northern and eastern Taiwan from Saturday through Monday next week, the bureau said.
AVIATION
Bird strikes jump to 226
The number of incidents involving birds colliding with airplanes in the nation jumped to 226 last year, the highest in three years, the Flight Safety Foundation said. The figure was a significant increase from 145 in 2014 and 110 in 2013, the foundation said on Sunday. The number of bird strikes that resulted in damage to aircraft also rose last year to 14, compared with seven in 2014 and one in 2013, it said. About 90 percent of the bird strikes took place at airports, with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport reporting 113 incidents last year. Bird strikes are more frequent between April and October, when migratory birds are on the move and non-migratory birds are breeding, the foundation said, adding that the number of incidents usually peaks between July and September. There were no known fatalities related to bird strikes in recent years.
CIVIL AFFAIRS
Taoyuan allows gay partners
The Taoyuan City Government on Monday said that it has decided to allow same-sex couples to register their relationships at household registration offices. The Department of Civil Affairs said that Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) has said on several occasions that, out of respect and understanding, “any true love should be blessed.” The department has been taking stock of other cities’ practices in adopting the measure. Anyone who is older than 20 and single, with one or both parties having a household registration in Taoyuan, can go to household registration offices to be registered as “same-sex partners,” the department said, adding that those who have completed the process at offices would be issued same-sex partner papers for both parties.
CHARITY
TAS club to hold book sale
The Taipei American School’s (TAS) Orphanage Club is to hold its annual book sale on Saturday from 10am to 5pm in the school’s forecourt and lobby. The club has collected thousands of books, magazines and comic books, as well as games and DVDs. The books include classics, best-sellers, biographies, English-language teaching books and young adult titles. The club said the selection of children’s books is the largest in the sale’s 35-year history, and that there are also a significant amount of Chinese-language books and magazines available. Money raised from the event is to be used to assist orphans and needy children in Taiwan, including outlying islands. Admission to the book fair is free, and the fair is to be held rain or shine. The school is at 800 Zhongshan N Rd Sec 6 in Taipei’s Tianmu neighborhood.
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