DIPLOMACY
Apostille agreement signed
An agreement to abolish the requirement to double-check public documents made with Nicaragua was signed on Wednesday last week to simplify document legalization procedures and promote bilateral exchanges, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. The agreement was signed by Ambassador to Nicaragua Wu Chin-mu (吳進木) and Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs Denis Moncada, the ministry said in a news release. However, it would not be implemented until both nations complete their internal procedures, it said. Once the agreement goes into effect, documents from Taiwan would only need to be verified at the Bureau of Consular Affairs or at ministry offices in Taiwan before they can be used in Nicaragua, it said, adding that documents from Nicaragua to be used in Taiwan would only need to be verified in Nicaragua.
CHARITY
Huge rummage sale at TAS
After 48 years, the Taipei American School (TAS) Orphanage Club is to host its final rummage sale tomorrow from 10am to 5pm. The school no longer has space for the club to store the items it collects for its twice-a-year rummage sale and annual book sale, so the club is transporting 10 truckloads of items from its temporary storage space for a combined rummage and book blowout. There are thousands of books for readers and learners of all ages, household items, clothes, shoes and art ranging from Japanese Washi dolls in glass cases to handicrafts from Russia, Mongolia and Central America. All of the proceeds are to go to the club’s funds for needy children and orphans in Taiwan and overseas, for whom it has raised more than US$2 million since 1970. The school is at No. 800 Zhongshan N Road Sec 6 in Tianmu (天母).
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
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
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