Train passengers can now pre-order vegetarian meals for their rides, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said Thursday.

Taiwan's HTC Corp. remained one of the world's top 10 smartphone makers in the first quarter despite sliding sales figures, according to local market research firm Digitimes Research.

A Taiwanese fishing boat that was intercepted on May 14 by Vietnamese government vessels on open seas arrived home in Southern Taiwan yesterday, with the skipper saying he was surprised that the boat was not seized by the Vietnamese government.

In order to make more people familiar with national parks, the Construction & Planning Agency under the Ministry of the Interior (CPAMI) has kicked off the “2013 National Park Week: It's Time for Taiwan National Parks,” which will last through the end of August for a duration of three months, according to a press release issued by the CPAMI.

Construction of a bridge that links the main island of Taiwan's Kinmen County and an isle to its west will restart on May 21 and is expected to improve life for residents of the outlying islands once it is completed in four years.

A delegation currently in Manila to investigate the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by a Philippine state vessel is expected to return to Taiwan soon, a diplomatic source said yesterday.

President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that a Philippine government vessel's use of automatic weapons to strafe an unarmed and unprovocative fishing boat was “cold-blooded murder.”

The Philippine envoy to Taiwan on Friday advised thousands of Filipino workers in Taiwan to eat at home and avoid the streets while emotions run high on the island over the shooting death of a fisherman by the Philippine coast guard.

Vendors warned yesterday that the price of poultry might increase in June due to an increase in electricity prices that have resulted from the ban on the slaughter of fowl in traditional markets.

Although Hon Hai Precision (鴻海精密) has made a lot of progress in working conditions at its Chinese factories, the company still faces a challenge in trying to meet a July 1 deadline for cutting working hours.