PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Xinyi MRT work begins
Construction of an extension of the Taipei MRT system’s Xinyi Line started yesterday and is expected to take until 2022 to complete, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said. The extension is to run underground from the current terminus, Xiangshan Station, east along Xinyi Road Sec 6, Fude Street and Zhongpo S Road, before terminating at Yucheng Park, the company said. The 1.42km track is to terminate at a third-level underground station with an island platform, which is to have three entrances and exits to a planned Xinyi District (信義) administration office and two entrances and exits in Guang-Ci Care Park, the company said. The project is expected to increase the Xinyi Line capacity. The Xinyi Line, which runs underground from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station along Xinyi Road to the Xinyi Planning District, is 6.4km long and has seven underground stations. It started operations in November 2013.
WEATHER
Cold change expected
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said that while partly cloudy skies and warmer temperatures were felt in most parts of the nation, cooler weather is predicted from Tuesday due to northeast seasonal winds. Maximum temperatures hovered between 27?C and 29?C in the north and northeast yesterday, and temperatures between 30?C and 32?C were recorded in central and southern Taiwan, with lows in all areas between 20?C and 22?C, the bureau said. The relatively stable weather could give way to rain on Tuesday, bringing lows of 19?C in the north, the bureau said. The cold change could be more pronounced on Wednesday, with daytime highs down another 4?C to 5?C to about 22?C in the region.
ASTRONOMY
Supermoon to shine
The closest and biggest supermoon since 1948 will be on Monday next week, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The full moon is called a supermoon when it is full on the same day as its perigee — the point of its orbit at which it is closest to Earth. The museum said that the supermoon would be 14 percent larger than this year’s smallest full moon, recorded in April. It would be visible in clear skies from Monday evening until early Tuesday morning next week, the museum said. The moon is not due to appear this large again until Nov. 25, 2034, the museum added.
AGRICULTURE
Migrants not to ease shortage
The nation does not plan to use migrant workers in the agricultural sector to ease labor shortages, Council of Agriculture Minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said. However, the council and the Ministry of Labor would examine issues related to attracting foreign farm workers, with an initial focus on the dairy industry, he said. Tsao made the remarks during a recent meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economic Committee to review the councils 2017 budget, during which several Democratic Progressive Party legislators expressed concerns that the agriculture sector is being held back by severe labor shortages and aging farmers. Meanwhile, Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛), director of the council’s Department of Farmers’ Services, said that the council has adopted two measures to cope with the increasing shortage of farm workers, including establishing agriculture work teams made up of 320 workers from six cities and counties, and a program to encourage female workers in rural areas.
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