LEISURE
Taipei Zoo raises prices
From Monday next week, tickets to Taipei Zoo are to rise to NT$100 for regular admission, the first price increase in 27 years. General admission for non-Taipei residents is to increase to NT$100 from NT$60, while tickets for students, the military, police officers and firefighters are to rise to NT$50 from NT$30. Tickets for groups of 30 or more are to cost NT$70 apiece. Ticket prices for Taipei residents are unchanged at NT$60, as well as those for the Education Center and trams at NT$20 and NT$5 respectively. Children younger than six, people aged 65 or older, disabled people and their caregivers, and Taipei elementary-school students with an electronic ID can still enter for free. Visitors paying with an EasyCard or other types of electronic payments may use the yellow e-ticket entrance for faster entry. The price increases were approved by the Taipei City Council on Feb. 6.
HEALTH
FDA warns on miso product
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday evening warned the public not to eat a miso product from the Japanese food company Marukome, as cockroaches are likely to have been mixed into a batch of the product. In a statement, the FDA said that 10 325g boxes of a Marukome miso product (PLUS?生味噌?美人), which are to expire on Dec. 31, had been distributed in the local market. It warned people not to buy or eat the product. The agency made the announcement following reports by Japan Broadcasting Corp and Nagano Broadcasting Systems Inc that cockroaches are likely to have been mixed into the product. The food company has voluntarily removed 107,726 units of the product from store shelves, the reports said.
TRAVEL
Cuba visits discouraged
Travel agencies are advised to adjust or temporarily suspend group tours to Cuba following recent incidents in which Republic of China (Taiwan) passport holders have been denied entry, the Tourism Administration said on Tuesday. The advisory is only a recommendation and not a ban, and travel agencies are allowed to continue selling Cuba-related tours, it said. Based on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ four-tier travel advisory regarding safety and security risks, Cuba remains under an “orange” alert, meaning unnecessary travel should be avoided, the Tourism Administration said. The ministry in December last year urged the public to put off travel plans to Cuba after a Taiwanese expatriate family in Canada reported that they had been denied entry because they hold Taiwanese passports, which Cuban immigration officials said their country does not recognize as it upholds the “one China principle.” The Tourism Administration said it has received other complaints of similar incidents from local travel agencies.
MUSIC
Ensemble wins in Prague
Kaohsiung’s Chien-chin Primary School wind ensemble won a gold prize in the Brass Orchestras category at YoungBohemia Prague 2024, a four-day festival held from Wednesday to Saturday last week, the Kaohsiung Education Bureau said in a statement on Tuesday. The ensemble performed a Taiwanese folk song suite and the national anthem in Prague’s Old Town Square, and took part in an event-related parade with other troupes. The bureau cited the students as saying that they were happy to compete and interact with musicians from around the world as, well as promote Taiwan to Europeans.
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
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
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