ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix to increase fees
Netflix on Friday said that its subscription fees in Taiwan are to increase by 7 to 18 percent, effective immediately. Basic plans are to rise from NT$270 to NT$290 per month, standard plans from NT$330 to NT$380 and premium plans from NT$390 to NT$460, Netflix said. Netflix subscribers would be notified of the fee hike one month before they need to pay the new rate and new subscribers would be charged the new cost upon subscribing. Netflix said their “plans and prices may change” as they “add more TV shows and movies, and introduce new product features.” It said it would continue investing in new programs and movies to prove the new subscription cost is worth it. Price adjustments in Taiwan would not affect pricing in other places, Netflix said, adding that it has different pricing strategies for each country and region.
CRIME
Smuggling suspects indicted
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office has indicted 18 people suspected of smuggling 891.86kg of ketamine into Taiwan. They were charged with contravening the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) and the Smuggling Penalty Act (懲治走私條例), the prosecutors’ office said. The office said it had established a task force to investigate and monitor people and locations after receiving tip-offs about a plan to smuggle drugs through the northern coast. On July 8, the task force found a truck carrying 35 sacks of ketamine, a category 3 narcotic, in New Taipei City. The driver, people conducting the transport and porters were arrested at the scene, and ketamine of 83.9 percent purity was seized, it said, adding that the task force tracked down the suspected leader of the smuggling operation, a man surnamed Tsao (曹).
LEISURE
Silks Place Taroko to close temporarily
The Silks Place Taroko, the only five-star hotel at Taroko National Park in Hualien County, is temporarily closing its doors until Jan. 15 next year to sort out water and power supply issues caused by Typhoon Kong-rey, the hotel said on Friday. The damage made it difficult to maintain normal day-to-day operations, as the property is cut off from its main water supply, while its electricity supply remains unreliable given that work to fix the power grid in the mountainous area continues, it said. The typhoon was another blow to the hotel, which had been through several natural disasters this year, including an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale off the coast of Hualien on April 3, a series of aftershocks and typhoons in recent months. The hotel closed after the earthquake in April and reopened on Oct. 3. It said that due to the closure, those with vouchers from last year can use them until June 30 next year, while the expiry date for this year’s vouchers is Sept. 30 next year.
SEISMOLOGY
Chiayi hit by 4.4 quake
An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale struck Chiayi County in southern Taiwan at 7:42pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was 19.8km east-southeast of Chiayi County Hall, in Zhongpu Township (中埔鄉), at a depth of 5km, CWA data showed. The quake’s intensity was highest in Chiayi City, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in other parts of Chiayi County and in neighboring Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries following the quake.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
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