Sun, Nov 10, 2024 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with agencies
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  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.
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