TRANSPORT
THSRC to cut discount
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) is to cut the discount for business-class seats by half to 10 percent starting on Aug. 1, the company said yesterday. The one-way business-class fare between Taipei and Kaohsiung is to rise to NT$2,195, an increase of NT$245, the company said. Each high-speed train has one business-class carriage with 66 seats and 11 standard-class carriages. The original price of the business-class fare between Taipei and Kaohsiung was NT$2,440, but it has been discounted to NT$1,950 since March 1, 2008. Passenger loads in business class have risen to an average of 60 percent and nearly 80 percent during peak hours, leading to the decision to reduce the long-standing discount, the company said. The company on Wednesday next week is to start accepting orders for business-class tickets for travel after Aug. 1.
CRIME
Drugs seized, two arrested
Yunlin County police arrested two suspected drug dealers, and seized heroin and amphetamines worth up to NT$10 million (US$329,587), police announced on Monday. Douliou City (斗六) police said two men were arrested early on Monday on suspicion of drug dealing and 49.6g of heroin and 6.55kg of amphetamines were seized, as well as a number of inhalers. Police said they were acting on a tip-off that Taoyuan-based drug dealers were carrying a large quantity of drugs to Yunlin County. After investigating the tip-off for several days before obtaining a search warrant, a special team raided the residence of the two suspects in the early hours of Monday, arrested them and seized the drugs found at the site. The two suspects said they intended to sell the drugs over the summer break, police said. The case has been referred to the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
INTEL: China’s ships are mapping strategic ocean floors, including near Guam, which could aid undersea cable targeting and have military applications, a report said China’s oceanographic survey and research ships are collecting data in the Indo-Pacific region — possibly to aid submarine navigation, detect or map undersea cables, and lay naval mines — activities that could have military applications in a conflict with Taiwan or the US, a New York Times report said. The article, titled “China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash,” was written by Chris Buckley and published on Thursday. Starboard Maritime Intelligence data revealed that Chinese research ships last year repeatedly scanned the ocean floor east of Taiwan’s maritime border, and about 400km east and west of Guam; “waters that
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