■ DIPLOMACY
BTCO has new address
The British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) in Taipei is moving to a new location, which will open next Tuesday, the BTCO announced in a press release on Tuesday. The new office will be on the 26th floor of the President International Tower, No. 9-11, Songgao Road, Xinyi District, Taipei. The office will be closed tomorrow and Monday because of the move and no visa applications will be processed during this time, it said. The office also announced that a two to three-day delay in visa processing and return of passports should be expected. Applicants scheduled to travel this month are advised to apply for their visas early to avoid last minute delays.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Inspections save lives
The death rate for tour bus accidents dropped 20 percent because of intensive inspection efforts, the Directorate General of Highways (DGH) said yesterday. DGH Deputy Director General Chen Chun-hsiung (陳俊雄) said that since January last year, the directorate had dispatched officials to randomly inspect large-size tour buses at freeway service areas, dangerous road sections and tourist attractions. A total of 141,183 tour bus were inspected last year, with 3,345 violations, he said. In 28 cases, the tour buses had to be immediately impounded. In another case, a tour bus carrying 28 tourists from Singapore and Malaysia was held because its license plate had been revoked. Chen said the directorate would continue to enforce the measure this year and will require tour bus drivers to receive training.
■ EVENTS
Kaohsiung ready for festival
The Kaohsiung Lantern Festival will begin on Feb. 16, a Bureau of Development official said yesterday. The 16-day festival is organized by the bureau to mark the Feb. 21 Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Lunar New Year celebrations and this year falls on Feb. 7. The official said the theme for this year's festival was "love and happiness," for which the organizer has designed a large variety of "world class" activities. Kaohsiung Harbor will be the principal venue, in line with the efforts to boost the city's image as an international harbor city. The activities will include concerts, fireworks, water dance performances, foreign dance performances and a lantern exhibition, the official said. The main lantern will be placed at sea near the harbor, making it the country's first-ever lantern installed at sea for festival celebrations, the official said.
■ WEATHER
Cold front to persist
The entire country will see wet and cold weather until Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Bureau meteorologists said that in the next three days, low temperatures would range between 12oC in the north and 16oC in the south, with daytime highs ranging from 13oC in the northeast to 21oC in the southeast. The mercury is expected to rise on Saturday, as the cold air mass affecting the nation begins to disperse. After Saturday, rainfall is also expected to decrease, the bureau said. Daytime temperatures in the north could rise to more than 20oC starting on Saturday, while central and southern areas can expect sunlight with daytime temperatures reaching a high of 24oC.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,