■ Community
Catch 2006 at Taipei 101
The world's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, is inviting the public to watch the first sunrise of next year at its observatory on the 89th floor, officials said yesterday. The activity will be held from 4:30am on Jan. 1, but only 1,010 admission tickets will be available, they said. The tickets must be purchased in advance and buyers will be offered a gift box containing a set of commemorative badges and cards on which they can write down their New Year's wishes. Visitors will be able to hang their cards on a "wishing tree," the officials said.
■ Politics
Man says he paid voters
A man surnamed Hong turned himself in at the Banciao (板橋) District Public Prosecutors Office yesterday after allegations that the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Taipei County commissioner candidate, Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), had paid out a "travel subsidy" to help voters attend his Nov. 27 campaign rally. Hong apparently told prosecutors he voluntarily gave a number of people NT$300 each so that they could attend the rally. DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), Luo's campaign manager, said that Hong is not one of the DPP's local organizers, and had handed out money on his own behalf. "While the travel allowance has nothing to do with Luo's campaign team, we have to say that it was very inappropriate behavior and we regret it," Lee said.
■ Society
MOI to form new group
A committee on the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse is to be established immediately, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The committee will offer rewards to those who report cases of domestic violence, Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said. According to ministry figures, there were 7,481 child-abuse cases reported this year as of September, surpassing the 5,927 cases as of September last year, and 30 deaths.
■ Fisheries
Tuna licenses at risk
The licenses of 42 tuna boats ordered to return home after the international community's cut in quotas for Taiwan's bigeye tuna catch will be revoked if the ships refuse to return to port, Fisheries Administration Deputy Director-General Sha Chih-i (沙志一) said yesterday. Sha said the agency is poised to revoke the licenses and will ask the international fishery community to treat them as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing vessels whose catches will be banned from export. Ship owners who fail to bring their boats home will face prison terms of three to seven years, he said.
■ Politics
Actresses sue Cho Po-yuan
The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) newly-elected Changhwa County commissioner, Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), is likely to face a lawsuit filed overseas against him for using the images of two Japanese actresses on one of his election flyers without authorization. The management companies for the two actresses, Norika Fujiwara and Inamori Izumi, are planning to sue Cho for violation of intellectual property laws, TVBS reported. According to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), the photos of the two actresses were from promotional photos used by Kanebo, a leading cosmetics company in Japan, in 2001. The DPP accused Cho of trying to pass the actresses off as his schoolmates, Hsu Hui-pao (許蕙寶) and Ku Hsiang-ling (谷湘玲). Cho yesterday said he didn't know that the women were Japanese actresses.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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
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
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