WEATHER
Cold front approaches
A continental cold air mass is forecast to envelop Taiwan next week, sending temperatures to below 10°C in some areas on New Year’s Eve, National Central University adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said yesterday. With the arrival on Wednesday of the first cold front this winter, the mercury is expected to plunge to as low as 8°C to 10°C in some parts of the country at night as the system intensifies, Wu said. Temperatures would fall across Taiwan, with the coldest weather forecast for New Year’s Eve on Thursday, he said. Citing data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Wu said that the temperature in the Taipei metropolitan area on Thursday would be about 7°C, while in some low-lying parts of the city the mercury is likely to plunge to 5°C. Residents in northern Taiwan would see a temporary break in the wet weather on Saturday next week, Wu said, adding that the following day, a cloud system from the south would bring rain to many parts of the country.
SOCIETY
Age amendment passed
The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Civil Code, officially lowering the age of majority from 20 to 18. The new regulations would be effective from Jan. 1, 2023. Modern technology allows young people to develop self-awareness, and mental and physical maturity faster than before, the Ministry of Justice said, adding that it has answered public expectations and proposed the amendment to make 18 the new age of majority. With the rule change, people aged 18 would be allowed to freely marry or divorce, while they can get engaged at age 17. The amendments removed Article 981 of the Civil Code, which states that minors must obtain the permission of their legal guardians to marry.
SOCIETY
Nitori announces recall
Nitori Taiwan, a retailer of Japanese furniture and home accessories, on Thursday announced a voluntary recall of nine types of diatomaceous bath mats and coasters due to possibly excessive levels of asbestos. In a notice on its Web site, Nitori said that people who purchased the products can take them to a Nitori store for a full refund, with or without a receipt. The nine affected products were made in China, and 2.41 million of them have been sold globally, the company said. It has removed an additional 54 items from its shelves, pending testing for asbestos — a carcinogen, Nitori said. People who have items confirmed as containing asbestos or that are being tested for the substance should double-wrap them in plastic until they can be returned or are deemed safe, the company said. Products that are worn or broken pose the greatest danger, as this can allow asbestos particles to be released into the air, the company said.
SOCIETY
Volcano drill scheduled
Residents of Hutian Borough (湖田) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) on Tuesday are to receive a test warning on their mobile phones as authorities run a drill for a volcanic eruption to upgrade the national disaster warning network, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. Residents of Hutian are to receive a text messages reading: “Drill, Volcanic Info, CWB 02_2349 1181,” between 10am and 10:30am, depending on their telecommunications provider, the bureau said. If the messages are delivered smoothly, the bureau would apply to have the volcano warning system included in the Public Warning System, it said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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