SOCIETY
Noodles mark Tsai victory
A restaurant in Kaohsiung is offering a discount on its trademark dish to celebrate the election of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as the nation’s first female president. The restaurant is to sell a bowl of big-bone noodles for NT$60 instead of its usual price of NT$90 until the end of this month. The owner, surnamed Huang (黃), said he initially planned to sell the noodles for NT$30, but changed his mind for fear of harming business for other restaurants. Huang said he set the price at NT$60 because Tsai is to turn 60 this year. He said Tsai’s victory represents women’s success and hopes that she can revitalize the sluggish economy after she assumes office. If well-received, the discount could be extended until the president-elect’s May 20 inauguration, Huang said.
POLITICS
Runner-up demands recount
DPP legislative candidate Hsu Ching-wen (徐景文) has filed for a vote recount with the Taoyuan District Court after losing an electoral race in the city with a margin of less than 0.25 percent. A judge yesterday seized the ballots and poll books at 173 voting stations in the city’s third electoral district and ordered police to guard them around the clock. Hsu made the request on Monday after losing to Apollo Chen (陳學聖) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Hsu received 77,120 votes, or 44.4896 percent, compared with Chen’s 77,510 votes, or 44.7146 percent. According to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), a recount can be requested if the difference between two candidates is less than 0.3 percent. The law stipulates that once an appeal for a vote recount is made, the results should be announced within 20 days.
CULTURE
Museum raises visitor quota
The National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Chiayi County has increased its daily visitor quota for next month from 1,750 to 5,000 to meet growing demand. The museum opened late last year on a trial basis. Under the original plan, it was intended to accept 1,000 free visits per day until the end of its trial run on March 31. The quota was then increased to 1,750 per day due to rising demand to tour the new museum, which was designed by architect Kris Yao (姚仁喜), the museum said. As the winter break for students and the Lunar New Year holiday are approaching, the museum decided to further raise the daily quota to 5,000 for next month, it said. Individuals or tour groups planning to visit the southern branch must book permits online in advance at the museum’s official Web site, with registration for visits next month to start today.
CRIME
Police search for slasher
Police are still trying to track down a Vietnamese migrant worker who allegedly slashed four of his compatriots with a knife in Nantou County over the weekend. The Nantou Precinct on Monday said that the four foreign workers were gathering at a Vietnamese eatery at about 5pm on Sunday when about seven or eight foreign workers rushed in and one of them slashed the four with a knife. The suspect and his friends fled the scene in two vehicles. The four injured Vietnamese were rushed to a hospital and their situation was stable. The most seriously injured was a worker who had two fingers cut off. Two of the injured people checked out of the hospital on Monday, while the other two remained hospitalized.They said that they did not know the suspect or why they were targeted.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS