TRANSPORTATION
Cashback rates reduced
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) yesterday announced that cash rebates for frequent metro riders would be cut from the current 10 to 30 percent to 5 to 15 percent starting on March 1, citing rising costs. Those who take MRT trains between 11 and 20 times would receive a 5 percent rebate at the end of the month. Rebates of 10 percent would be given to those taking between 21 and 40 trips, and 15 percent to those taking more than 40 journeys, TRTC said in a statement. The decision was made due to rising electricity and labor costs, it said. The cost of the one-month TPASS that covers unlimited rides on MRT trains, buses, Taiwan Railway trains, light rail and YouBike rentals in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Keelung would remain at NT$1,200, it said.
Photo: CNA
BEREAVEMENT
Ko Wen-je’s father passes
The ailing father of former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) died yesterday, his family has confirmed. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), who was in his 90s, had been critically ill over the past month and was hospitalized at National Taiwan University Hospital’s Hsinchu branch. Ko Wen-je, who is in detention on corruption charges, was allowed to visit his father at 3:22am on Sunday after the latter’s condition worsened. His father had been in a critical condition in the days before he died and was no longer able to eat, local media reported. The Taipei Detention Center yesterday said that Ko Wen-je is legally allowed to apply for a home visit, but declined to disclose whether he had submitted such an application.
MARINE LIFE
Nesting turtles observed
A record 141 nesting green sea turtles were observed coming ashore to lay eggs on Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) last year, which could yield up to 35,000 hatchlings, the Ocean Affairs Council said yesterday. From June to September last year, the council joined with the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium to carry out the first systematic study into the sea turtle ecology of Itu Aba, it said. Located 1,600km from Taiwan proper in the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), Itu Aba sees the most hatchlings of any site in Taiwan, it said. Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) in Pingtung County and Wangan Township (望安) in Penghu County are also important breeding sites for green sea turtles, usually observing 10 brooding turtles per year, it said. Green sea turtle eggs have a 70 percent hatch rate, so this year could see up to 35,000 hatchlings, although the survival rate is low with just one to two turtles per 1,000 eggs surviving to adulthood, it added.
ENTERTAINMENT
Films to premier in Osaka
Seven Taiwanese films are to have their Japanese premiere at the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) next month, including Yen and Ai-Lee (小雁與吳愛麗) by director Lin Shu-yu (林書宇) and Family Matters (我家的事) by director Pan Ke-yin (潘客印), which are in the running for awards. The OAFF on Friday announced shortlisted films in the competition section, which included Yen and Ai-Lee and Family Matters, the Ministry of Culture said. The competition section presents films completed after Sept. 30, 2023, which have not yet been released in Japan. The OAFF jurors would choose the winners of the Grand Prix and Most Promising Talent Award from these films, the event’s Web site said. Screenings are to take place at the Theatre Umeda Cinema and ABC Hall during the festival, which runs from March 14 to 23.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
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