■TRAVEL
TRA offers discount passes
The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) will start issuing “TR Passes” on Monday, allowing passengers unlimited travel to any point within a stated period. Passengers can choose a three-day pass for NT$1,800 or a five-day pass for NT$2,500. Passengers traveling in a group of four can also avail of special discounts, with the three-day pass selling for NT$4,200 and the five-day pass for NT$7,000. TRA transport service director Lu Jie-shen (鹿潔身) said the TR Passes would be available at 65 railway stations nationwide. Passengers holding a TR Pass can also use it to take the express train service and make reservations in advance. For passengers who bought a group pass, they must board the train at the same time from the same station, Lu said.
■WEATHER
Man freezes amid heat wave
A 38-year-old Taiwanese man froze to death as a heat wave swept the country after he walked into a refrigeration room to cool off and apparently was trapped inside, police said yesterday. Chen Sung-mou (陳松茂), a worker at a sugar factory in Penghu County, was found unconscious inside the room on Sunday and was pronounced dead in hospital, police said. He had apparently entered the room to seek refuge from the heat, police said, but was trapped inside because the lock was broken and couldn’t be opened from inside. A heat wave has hit Taiwan in recent days, with temperatures reaching 37°C in Taipei yesterday.
■DIPLOMACY
Long way to go in EU waiver
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) said yesterday there was still a long way to go for Taiwan to be granted visa-free exemption to the Schengen area. Shen made the remarks one day after the European Commission proposed giving the nation visa-waiver privileges. Refusing to predict whether Taiwanese passports holders would be able to travel to the 28 Schengen countries without a visa for short trips by the end of this year, Shen said: “We just keep our nose to the grindstone.” The proposal must be referred to the European Parliament for a vote, and the Council of the EU is the co-decision maker in this case, Shen said, adding that it normally takes half a year to complete the procedure. Taiwan will grant a full visa-free regime to all EU citizens by extending visa-free status to nationals of Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria reciprocally when the EU offers visa-free treatment to Taiwan, he said.
■HEALTH
Girl contracts A(H1N1) flu
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said a new case of severe influenza A(H1N1) infection had been confirmed in the south. The latest case brought to 938 the total number of severe swine flu cases recorded in the country since last summer. CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said a nine-year-old girl was hospitalized on June 26, two days after coming down with a fever and cough. She was later admitted to an intensive care unit and is recovering after treatment, Chou said. The patient had not been vaccinated against the new flu strain or received seasonal flu vaccine, the official said, adding that none of her family has been infected. The government has touted its success in fighting A(H1N1), with a national immunization program under which 25 percent of the total population has been immunized.
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
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
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