Trasportation: Train ticket fees cut
Starting Sept. 1, the service charge added to the train tickets purchased via telephone or the Internet will be reduced from NT$10 to NT$7 per ticket, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) announced yesterday. The TRA announced said that it was reducing the fees, after after negotiations with its telephone and Internet service provider Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), in order to encourage the public to book train tickets through telephone or the Internet. The TRA also said that starting Sept. 3, people will be able to book tickets from train stations' ticket counters seven days in advance (including the day of the journey). Previously, travelers could only book train tickets four days in advance.
Weather: Clouds cover Taiwan
Taiwan's western and northeastern parts experienced densely cloudy weather with sporadic rain or thunder showers yesterday under the influence of the outer rim of Typhoon Rusa, the Central Weather Bureau reported. Rusa has also whipped up strong winds on waters near northern Taiwan and the northern part of the Taiwan Strait, bureau meteorologists said. Rusa, the 15th typhoon reported in the Pacific area this year, was located about 800km east of Taiwan, moving slowly toward Japan as of yesterday morning. The bureau is also keeping watch over a newly-formed typhoon, "Sinlaku," which was located near Wake Island, or some 3,500km away from Taiwan, moving in a northwestern direction toward Taiwan at a speed of 15kph as of 8am yesterday.
Arms purchases: KMT won't boycott budgets
The KMT and the PFP will not deliberately boycott the passage of budget plans in the Legislative Yuan for the procurement of US weapons systems, a KMT lawmaker said yesterday. Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴), who is heading a delegation of KMT and PFP legislators on a US visit, told a pre-departure news conference yesterday that the two opposition parties will support budget bills for arms purchases based on Taiwan's security needs. "We'll not purposely obstruct the passage of budget proposals for arms procurement projects, but we hope that the Cabinet will exercise prudence in presenting those programs," Chang said. He also reminded the government not to take lightly arms procurement commitments that it has already made the US.
Folk Arts: Group goes to Latin America
A folk-arts delegation organized by the Government Information Office (GIO) left for a tour of several Central American countries yesterday. The eight-member delegation will give a series of performances of folk arts and traditional Chinese opera in El Salvador, Guatemala and Paraguay, officials said. It is scheduled to arrive in El Salvador today, will perform in Guatemala from Wednesday to the following Monday, and then proceed to Paraguay from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12 before returning to Taiwan on Sept. 14. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Premier Yu Shyi-kun, GIO Deputy Director-General Frederick Chang (張平男) and the Guatemalan and El Salvador ambassadors watched a preview of the show prior to the delegation's departure.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS