Shownotes Transcript
Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Eric Gau.
In today's news:
Taipei 101 celebrates the New Year, a Hong Kong restaurant sends workers home, and a red-haired singer keeps tradition alive.
All that and more, coming up next.
2022台北101煙火可望突破300秒 Taipei 101 Fireworks Show Over 300 Seconds Long
Are you ready for the New Year?
One thing many people do on New Year's Eve, is watch the Taipei 101 fireworks show.
And the show this year will be more than 300 seconds long.
The show will also use the T-Pad.
It's a big screen (螢幕) of LED lights that can show pictures and words.
The fireworks will explode all around the Taipei 101 building.
Officials say the show will use 16,000 fireworks.
And it will cost $30,000,000 NT.
台北101說總共會發射1萬6,000發煙火，還有全球首創「360度輪狀煙火」。
Taipei 101 says they will celebrate through Christmas, New Year's Eve, Lunar New Year, and the Lantern Festival, all the way through February 2022.
They say there will be lots of concerts, lights, art, and fun events.
台北101宣布今年跨年確定會施放煙火，煙火秀會至少300秒長，去年沒有用的T-Pad螢幕，今年也確定回歸。
香港餐廳集團 扛費用讓員工回家見家人 Hong Kong Restaurant Company Flies Staff Home
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it hard for many people to go home and see their families.
Many people work in another country, and fly home to visit their loved ones over holidays.
But COVID-19 is still going around.
So people flying home have to get tested, and sometimes pay to stay in a quarantine hotel (防疫旅館).
For many people, all this costs too much money, and they just can't go home.
But one company in Hong Kong is helping their workers see their families.
Black Sheep Restaurants is buying plane tickets for its workers to fly home.
They'll also pay for any COVID-19 tests their workers need to get.
When the workers come back to Hong Kong, they need to quarantine (隔離) at a hotel for two or three weeks.
The company will pay for that too.
What's more, the company will give its workers extra time off, so they can finish quarantine.
But the company asks that when the worker comes back, they have to work for the restaurant for at least one year.
香港黑羊餐廳集團準備讓員工乘飛機去看望家人，還會支付所有的費用，包括飛機票和新冠肺炎病毒檢測，還會給員工額外的無薪假期。
Black Sheep Restaurants says around 250 employees will fly from Hong Kong to their homes in Argentina, Nigeria, France, South Africa, Australia, and many other countries.
One employee from India says he hasn't seen his wife, son and parents since March 2020.
Another worker says she hopes to go home to Nepal, to see her mom, dad, and dog for the first time in two years.
One worker says her mom cried when she heard the amazing news.
The company says it will spend more than $18,000,000 NT to do this.
The owners of the company say they know the plan is "slightly crazy" (有點瘋狂).
But they say "it felt like the right thing to do".
集團的創始人說餐飲業一直是一個利潤微薄的行業，尤其是現在，但他們覺得這樣做是對的。
紅髮艾德繼續用符號取專輯名字 Ed Sheeran To Continue Symbol Titles
A musician is planning to continue his trend in naming albums.
Ed Sheeran has named his first four albums with math symbols (符號).
They are plus, multiply, divide, and equals.
He now says he will continue naming the next five albums with other symbols.
紅髮艾德已經出了四張數學符號命名的專輯，他說未來會繼續這樣做，但不會用數學符號。
However, he says they will not be symbols from mathematics (數學).
Ed plans to do a total of 10 albums with symbols as titles.
Before he does a new studio album, he will release a collaborations album.
That one will be his seventh collaboration project.
艾德說他打算用符號命名十張專輯。
So, in today's News Bites:
The Taipei 101 fireworks show this year will be more than 300 seconds long.
The show will also use the T-Pad.
Officials say the show will use 16,000 fireworks.
And it will cost $30 million NT.
A Hong Kong company is buying plane tickets for its workers to fly home and see their families.
They'll also pay for any COVID-19 tests their workers need to get and give workers extra time off to quarantine.
The owners of the company say "it felt like the right thing to do".
And,
Ed Sheeran says he will continue naming his next five albums with symbols.
However, he says they will not be symbols from mathematics.
Ed plans to do a total of 10 albums with symbols as titles.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!