Gasoline prices to increase by NT$0.2By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterCPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday announced that they would raise gasoline prices by NT$0.2 per liter, but lower diesel prices by NT$0.1 per liter, effective today. Both firms last week raised gasoline prices by NT$0.4 per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.1 per liter. After this week’s adjustment, gasoline prices at CPC stations would be NT$28.2, NT$29.7 and NT$31.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while the price of premium diesel would fall to NT$25.5 per liter, the company said. Prices at Formosa’s stations would climb to NT$28.2, NT$29.6 and NT$31.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while the price of premium diesel would drop to NT$25.3 per liter. CPC said in a statement that based on its floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil last week increased 1.49 percent from a week earlier.

Pandemic, climate cast a shadow over IAA openingSEARCH FOR MOMENTUM: The auto show, relocated to Munich, comes amid a looming legal battle over when German automakers should phase out gasoline enginesAFP, MUNICH, GermanyGermany’s revamped IAA auto show, one of the world’s largest, is to open in Munich tomorrow for a celebration of all things vehicle-related, but climate concerns and COVID-19 pandemic woes threaten to spoil the party. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, talks to then-Volkswagen AG chairman Matthias Mueller, right, and other Volkswagen officials at the IAA auto show in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on Sept. 14, 2017. Climate campaigners have vowed to disrupt the IAA by staging protests on Friday and Saturday, when the general public is invited. The plaintiffs want the German vehicle giants to stop producing diesel or gasoline engines by 2030, saying that their current pledges for electrification are vague and nonbinding. BMW plans to present a hydrogen-powered SUV, as well as its vision for a fully recyclable electric vehicle made entirely from recycled material and renewable resources.

The delivery of 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Taiwan yesterday morning, making Poland Taiwan’s third-largest vaccine donor, after Japan and the US. “Thank you” and Poland’s national flag light up the Taipei 101 building last night to express Taiwan’s appreciation to Poland for its donation of 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. “Thank you to Poland for providing Taiwan with 400,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses. Poland’s expression of warmth to Taiwan, which is in need of vaccines, demonstrates a “virtuous cycle,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said, as he voiced his thanks to Poland. The arrest and prosecution of a senior Huawei employee allegedly involved in spying in Poland has also triggered controversy, he said.

Green bond record month expectedBloombergThe green bond market is heating up again with investors bracing for a potential record month of sovereign sales. That is in addition to established issuer Germany, which is to auction a new 10-year green bond next week. “Based on the way the pipeline is building, we could see a month for record issuance,” Deutsche Bank AG environmental, social, and governance advisory head Trisha Taneja said. Since the first sovereign green bond was issued by Poland in 2016, momentum has grown with more issuers coming on board. The biggest deal this month is a British green gilt bond maturing in 2033.

COVID-19: Shower restrictions to easeBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterShower facilities at indoor sports venues can reopen to the public under certain conditions, the Sports Administration said last week. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) approved the administration’s proposal to ease disease prevention measures at sports venues, as there have been few COVID-19 cases since a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert was lowered to level 2 in July. To reopen shower facilities, sports venue management must ensure that users can use a single entrance and exit, the agency said. Schools can teach individual sports that do not require physical contact, such as billiards, badminton, tennis and gymnastics, the agency said. If lessons include students playing basketball, soccer, volleyball or other sports, they should avoid contact, it added.

COVID-19: No new cases from pilots’ families, contacts: CECCTHOUSANDS TESTED; A pilot’s son is the only comfirmed case from the airline cluster, as the student body at the boy’s school has tested negative, the CECC saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported two locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, four imported cases and no deaths, adding that no new cases linked to an aircrew cluster have been found. The man began experiencing a fever, headache, fatigue and coughing on Wednesday last week, sought treatment on Saturday and tested positive for COVID-19, he said. Meanwhile, Chen said that testing on 315 close contacts of two previously confirmed vaccine breakthrough infections — Taiwan-based airline pilots who tested positive on Friday — has been completed. One of the pilot’s sons tested positive last week, while 269 others tested negative and 45 are waiting for results, Chen said. All 224 close contacts of the son and 2,656 students at his school also tested negative, he said.

COVID-19: AstraZeneca shipments land in TaiwanRELIABLE PARTNER: Poland’s donation of 400,000 doses makes it the nation’s third-largest vaccine donor, while 410,400 doses were received from the COVAX programBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterTwo shipments of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, each containing about 400,000 doses, arrived in Taiwan yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, adding that one was donated by Poland and the other was from the COVAX global vaccine distribution program. Earlier this year, Japan donated 3.34 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan and the US donated 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Workers offload a batch of 400,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by Poland from a plane at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesThe third shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX — a batch of 410,400 AstraZeneca vaccine doses — arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon. Chen said the AstraZeneca vaccine doses that arrived yesterday would be offered mainly to people who have received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

UMC, Chipbond tout share swapSEEKING EXPANSION: Making inroads into the IC testing market, UMC is following a similar move by TSMC, but under a different strategy than its bigger chipmaking rivalStaff writer, with CNAUnited Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), Taiwan’s second-largest contract chipmaker, is to set up a strategic partnership with IC packaging and testing services provider Chipbond Technology Corp (頎邦科技) through a share swap, the company said on Friday. Aiming to acquire a 9.09 percent stake in Chipbond, the chipmaker said that shares would be swapped at a rate of one common UMC share for 0.87 common shares of Chipbond. The deal would result in the IC packaging and testing firm holding a 0.62 percent stake in UMC, it said. The agreement includes the issuance of 61.11 million new UMC shares, it said. Those shares, as well as 16.08 million UMC shares held by its subsidiary Fortune Venture Capital Corp (宏誠創投), would be exchanged for 67.15 million newly issued Chipbond shares, it added.

Shipping rates send Wisdom profit up 880%By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterWisdom Marine Lines Co (慧洋海運), the nation’s largest dry bulk shipper, on Friday reported a pretax profit of NT$688 million (US$24.83 million) for last month, up 880 percent from a year earlier on the back of rising freight rates, the company said. Although July and August are usually a low season for bulk shipping, freight rates continued rising throughout this summer, the shipper said in a statement. The average rates have risen 37 percent and 48 percent in the respective quarters, Wisdom added. In June, Wisdom had said that it expects increases of 22 percent and 32 percent in the respective quarters. For the whole of this year, Wisdom forecast that the average rates for its 69 vessels with new contracts would improve by 71 percent, boosting its revenue by 20 percent.

COVID-19: Military conscripts to be tested for COVID-19Staff writer, with CNAMilitary conscripts are to be tested for COVID-19 before reporting for duty, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said on Thursday. Men in Taiwan over the age of 18 must undergo four months of mandatory military training. No new conscripts have reported for duty since June, after Taiwan experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 in May. To prevent COVID-19 transmission, new conscripts are to take an antibody test within three days before reporting fof duty, Chen said. Substitute service conscripts would be given COVID-19 tests after arriving at Taichung’s Chenggong Ling (成功嶺) military training camp, he said.

The center placed hundreds of people under quarantine following breakthrough COVID-19 infections involving three EVA Airways pilots. They were all asked to take disease prevention buses to quarantine facilities arranged by the government. Quarantine facilities were also not thoroughly cleaned when they checked in, they said. Rather than N95 masks, passengers should be required to wear surgical masks, the groups said. All passengers should have their blood oxygen levels and temperatures measured before embarking on bus trips to quarantine facilities, the groups said, adding that ambulances should stand by in case of emergencies.

Cabinet approves removal of ‘whorehouse’ from actBy Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Executive Yuan on Thursday approved a Ministry of Justice proposal to change the word “whorehouse” to “locations for sexual services” in Article 9 of the Enforcement Act of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China (中華民國刑法施行法). The proposed amendment assists in reducing discrimination against women and upholds the spirit of CEDAW, the Executive Yuan said. The word “whorehouse” has mostly faded from legal documentation in Taiwan. For example, Nantou County’s last legal location for sexual services received its permit to operate in March 1960. The term “whorehouse” officially vanished from legal documentation in Nantou after the county government on Jan. 8, 2014, abolished the Nantou County Regulations on Prostitute Management and Autonomy (南投縣娼妓管理自治條例).

The San Francisco Giants’ Darin Ruf, right, is forced out at home by Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith during their MLB game in San Francisco on Friday. Photo: AFPWith fans chanting “Safe, safe” and players on both sides watching and waiting, the safe call was confirmed. Chris Taylor of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits an RBI single scoring Justin Turner against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Friday. Anthony DeSclafani of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the top of the first inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Friday. Corey Knebel was called into action to replace Price as Los Angeles made it a bullpen game — and was it ever.

EVA Airways fires pilot, citing breached curbsBy Cheng Wei-chi / Staff reporterEVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday fired a pilot after he was found to have contravened COVID-19 quarantine rules before testing positive for the virus. The pilot and his teenage son, as well as two other EVA Airways pilots, were on Thursday listed as cluster infections by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). EVA Airways pilots pass through a disinfection booth at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Preliminary contact tracing results showed that one of the pilots apparently contravened several quarantine rules after he returned from Chicago, the airline said. EVA Airways said it would ask all of its about 1,500 pilots to undergo polymerase chain reaction tests for COVID-19.

Jim Downing, hero to remember for motorsportsAP, ATLANTA, GeorgiaThere are sports heroes in the US whose names roll off the tongue, such as Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods and Tom Brady, then there are those who are not quite as obvious, despite their enormous impact. That is where to find Jim Downing, the man who helped save auto racing. A Head And Neck Support device is displayed at the race shop of inventor Jim Downing in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday. HANS creator Jim Downing poses with the support device at his race shop in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday. Before Downing and Hubbard figured out a way to reduce the body count, auto racing’s very existence was being questioned.