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.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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