TRANSPORT
MRT tickets go multilingual
Commuters taking the Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT line are to have the option of choosing from eight languages, in addition to traditional and simplified Chinese, when purchasing a ticket, Taoyuan Metro Corp said. The ticketing system on the line linking Taipei Main Station to the Taoyuan airport is also to provide ticketing options in English, Japanese, Korean, German, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai and Spanish, it said. Passengers will be able to select their preferred language to access the information they want, the company said. The opening of the airport MRT line, mainly invested by the Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan city governments, has been postponed several times for various reasons, but has now been rescheduled to start operations at the end of this year.
CRIME
US official targets trafficking
US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Susan Coppedge is to arrive in Taiwan today to boost cooperation against human trafficking with Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday. Coppedge, who is also a senior adviser to the US secretary of state, is to meet with Taiwanese officials and local nongovernmental organizations to discuss measures against trafficking in persons and how Taiwan can increase its anti-trafficking efforts, the AIT said. During her four-day stay, Coppedge is also to deliver keynote remarks at this year’s International Workshop on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking, the AIT said.
DIPLOMACY
Tsai thanks Solomons PM
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday expressed appreciation to Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare for his country’s solid and long-term support of Taiwan in the international community. Sogavare, who is on his fifth visit to Taiwan, met with Tsai at the Presidential Office Building. He said his country would continue to speak up for Taiwan at the UN and elsewhere in the international community, adding that Taiwan could play a bigger role on the international stage. The prime minister, who is on an official visit until Sunday, is the first foreign head of government to visit Taiwan since Tsai’s inauguration on May 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Taiwan and the Solomon Islands have had diplomatic relations for 33 years and maintain close cooperation in areas such as medical care, educational training, clean energy and agricultural technology, the ministry said.
SPORT
Runner banned from Rio
Long-distance runner Hsu Yu-fang (許玉芳) was banned from participating in the Rio Olympics after failing a doping test, Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee officials said yesterday. The 42-year-old marathon runner, Taiwan’s national record holder, was notified that a diuretic was found in her sample on Friday last week. Hsu said she was “sorry for disappointing friends who supported her now that she will not be able to take part in the Rio Olympics.” Hsu said in a statement that she has been taking medication over the past few months for injuries sustained during a marathon in North Korea in early April, and three substances in the traditional Chinese medicine she had been prescribed had a diuretic effect. Hsu had been banned for two years for failing a drug test in 2011 and this time could be banned for up to four years in accordance with the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
RSS