Mon, Jan 04, 2016 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  WEATHER

  First snow falls on Yushan

  Snow fell for the first time this winter, marking the latest arrival of the season’s first snow in 15 years, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The snow was discovered by weather station personnel at about 5am on Yushan (玉山), the highest peak in Taiwan at 3,952m. The personnel said they were surprised, because overnight temperatures had not fallen below 0?C. Central Weather Bureau forecaster Lin Ping-yu (林秉昱) said that while the lowest recorded temperature on the ground was 0.8°C, there was sufficient moisture and low enough temperatures in the upper atmosphere to generate snowflakes. Taiwan usually sees its first snowfall on its highest mountains in December, Lin said, adding that the last time snow came this late was in the winter of 2000-2001, when first snow fell on Jan. 10, 2001.

  ELECTIONS

  Ballot reaches record length

  The high number of political parties running in the legislative elections caused the ballot paper to reach a length of 73cm and a width of 15cm, the Central Election Commission said. Eighteen parties are vying for 34 at-large seats in the elections, the commission said, adding that it is the highest number of parties running in an election since the “single constituency, two vote” system was introduced in 2008. There were 12 political parties vying for at-large seats in 2008 and 11 in 2012, the commission said. Each voter is to cast three ballots in the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, one for a presidential candidate, one for a legislative candidate and one for a political party, which would determine how the at-large seats are distributed, the commission said.

  SOCIETY

  Taiwanese less happy

  Taiwanese are feeling less happy, with the happiness index in the fourth quarter of last year dropping to a two-year low of 6.36, according to the results of a poll released last week. Since March 2012, Global Views Monthly magazine’s survey research center has been tracking the perceived happiness level of Taiwanese across different aspects of life on a quarterly basis. The latest poll questioned the respondents on overall well-being, health, satisfaction with living standards, social connectivity and income to gauge levels of self-satisfaction. The poll results showed Taiwanese’s self-satisfaction score stood at 6.36 points, down 0.1 points from the third quarter and a record low since 2013.

  SOCIETY

  Body found in valley

  A 65-year-old man was found dead in a pool of water surrounded by rocks in a mountain valley in Pingtung County yesterday, local police said. The man, a resident of Laiyi Township’s (來義) Danlin Village (丹林), was reported missing on Saturday, police said, adding that an investigation has been launched. The man showed no vital signs when he was found at the bottom of a 15m deep valley. The man was last seen walking toward the entrance of an old hiking path in the mountains in search of a water source, police said, adding that he was found about 20 minutes’ walk away from where the path began. Separately, a car overturned in Pingtung County yesterday after skidding off the road while traveling northbound on the Provincial Highway No. 1. All five passengers in the car were rescued and sent to a nearby hospital where they were treated for minor injuries, police said.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Bologna advance to face AC Milan in Coppa final

  • 2

    Bukele proposes prisoner swap with Maduro

  • 3

    Wild’s top line too much for Vegas Golden Knights

  • 4

    HK, Macau residency rules tightened

  • 5

    Eric Chu, 2 others to be questioned for leading illegal assembly last week