Free rapid COVID-19 tests are to be available at all contracted pharmacies nationwide from Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Monday.To make use of existing stock and protect vulnerable populations, all 4,500 pharmacies contracted with the National Health Insurance Administrati
Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) is to develop a new pricing scheme that would differ from ones reported by the media previously, to be announced in the second half of the year, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Allen Hu (胡湘麟) said on Monday.Train fares have remained the same for 29 year
SOVEREIGNTY: A military aviation law would provide air defense units with rules for handling unidentified aircraft outside Taiwan’s airspace, an expert said
Taiwan should create a military aviation law to give legal protection to its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in counteracting Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drones, National Defense University associate professor of law and military officer Lee Yen-chang (李彥璋) said on Saturday.The PLA
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday.US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted allegations of dishonest handling of donations, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said on Thursday last week that the ministry had been dishonest about its cooperation with Lithuania and the Czech Republic in offering assis
A judge in Hsinchu handed down prison sentences ranging from four to six months to three Taiwanese, which were commuted to fines, for their involvement in the poaching of engineers for China’s Xiaomi Corp (小米). Beijing Tianmi Technology Co’s Taiwan office technical director Pan Chi-kuei (潘積桂) was se
Taiwan moved up eight positions to 27th in the latest World Press Freedom Index released Friday by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international non-profit organization that focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information.The index’s top three spots went to Norway, Denmark and Sw
SUPPORT: Of the NT$1.231 billion provided by the government to boost tourism after last month’s earthquake struck, NT$851 million is to be spent in the county
The Tourism Administration on the weekend said it aims to implement next month a plan to boost tourism in Hualien County and shelter residents there after it was struck by a massive earthquake on April 3, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, and aftershocks.The plan, which was announced by the Execut
AUTONOMY OR GROOMING? Women’s rights groups have described the practice of ‘sugar daddies’ paying women for companionship or sex as glorified prostitution
A sugar dating Web site that was launched in Taiwan in October last year claims to have attracted more than 50,000 members in less than six months. Although the number might be exaggerated, it provides a glimpse into the size of the market, and demonstrates the risk of child and youth sex exploitati
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine last week warned the public not to touch wild animals after the Veterinary Research Institute found type-2 Lyssavirus in a Chinese noctule bat that flew into a residence in Jhonghe District (中和) last month. While Lyssavirus is not defin
Taiwanese film director Wu Fan (吳璠) won the Emerging International Filmmaker Award with her first documentary feature Xixi on Friday evening at this year’s Hot Docs Festival in Toronto, Canada. Xixi is about Wu’s friendship with Xixi, a Chinese performer whom she met in Berlin, and “is a heartfelt e
A record nine of Taiwan’s 20 major reservoirs produced eutrophic quality water last year, statistics from the Ministry of Environment showed. Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫), which services New Taipei City and Taoyuan, saw eutrophication reach a high in 2022, with quality improving last year. Elsewhere, Ta
CULTURE Taiwan festival to beginThe annual Taiwan Plus cultural festival in Japan is to be held in Kyoto for the first time on Saturday and Sunday, showcasing the Taiwanese religious icon Mazu and featuring live performances by popular music acts, an event promoter said yesterday. The festival, whic
Visitors walk among yellow daylilies in full bloom in Changhua County’s Huatan Township yesterday. The flowers usually bloom during this time of the year, near Mother’s Day.
Indigenous Puyuma singer and activist Panai, second left, her husband, artist Nabu, center, and indigenous filmmaker Mayaw Biho, second right, are pictured at a news conference on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. They announced they would stop camping at th
People enter the water with palanquins bearing Taoist deities as part of an annual religious event in Chiayi County’s Budai Township yesterday.
LACKING MAJORITY: It would be hard to gain enough votes to pass a bill, but as long as the DPP has the public’s support, it can push for policies, the president-elect said
President-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday urged his new Cabinet to listen to public opinion and work to garner public support.As long as the DPP maintains sufficient public support, it can push for policies it wants, even without a majority in the Legislat
Twenty opposition lawmakers are to visit the Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) on May 16, the largest group of legislators to have set foot on the island.The last time legislators visited the island was in 2016, and the delegation then consisted of five legislators, all from the Democratic Progressive P
CONTRADICTORY: The vice president-elect was not ‘allowed to transit by ground transport’ and did not leave Dresden airport, a think tank director said
Vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) visit to Europe in March proceeded smoothly and included transits through Frankfurt, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Friday, after the German government reportedly restricted her travel in the country.Hsiao’s request to travel through the sou