■Crime
Prosecutors call for execution
The Nantou District Prosecutors' Office indicted serial killer Chen Jui-chin (陳瑞欽) and suggested the death penalty late on Thursday night. According to Nantou Prosecutor Hsieh Wei-cheng's (謝謂城) indictment, Chen was charged of raping and murdering his girlfriend Chen Yi-ling (陳怡伶), whose body had been found on May 12 in the Shanlinshi resort area, on May 11. The indictment said that Chen Jui-chin discovered that Chen Yi-ling was wealthy so he decided to murder her and steal her assets to solve his own financial problems. Chen Jui-chin tried to choke Chen Yi-ling to death. When Chen Yi-ling was unconscious, he then raped her. Afterwards, Chen Jui-chin hit Chen Yi-ling to death with a rock. He then dumped her body after he made sure that she had stopped breathing. In addition to the rape and murder, Chen Jui-chin also confessed that he had murdered his first, second and thrird sons to benefit from their life insurance policies. Currently, this part of the crimes was still being investigated by the Chiayi District Prosecutors' Office.
■ Travel
Cycling family nears finish
The four-member Taiwanese family is nearing the finish line of their round-the-world adventure. Huang Chin-pao (黃進寶), a welder, along with his wife and two teenaged sons, plan to take several days of rest in Spokane, Washington, before heading on to Seattle on Tuesday on the last leg of their 25,000km global trek that began in July last year. The family is scheduled to fly from Seattle to San Francisco on July 30 for a stay of several days before returning to Taiwan on Aug. 3. If everything goes smoothly, the family is expected to complete the 7,000km cross-America ride -- that so far has taken them from New York State, through Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Minot, Shelby, and on to Spokane -- and the 13-month globe-trotting journey about a month earlier than scheduled.
■ Environment
Quake jolts eastern Taiwan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 on the open-ended Richter scale jolted eastern Taiwan at 10:41am yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau reported. The epicenter of the quake was located about 2km southwest of a seismograph station in Suao, Ilan County, at a depth of 72.6km, seismologists reported. The quake was felt almost everywhere in eastern, northern and central Taiwan. It had an intensity of 3.0 in Taipei County and in Ilan City and Ilan County. The quake registered an intensity of 2 in Taipei City, Keelung City, Taoyuan County and Miaoli County, Hualien County and Taichung, Nantou, Changhua and Yunlin counties.
■ Politics
Hualien poll numbers drawn
Polling numbers were drawn yesterday for the Hualien Country commissioner by-election where five candidates are in the race for the post left vacant by the death of the KMT's Chang Fu-hsiung (張福興) in May. The result of draw determines a candidate's placement on the ballot. Independent candidate Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟) -- a KMT renegade -- drew the No. 1 spot while KMT-PFP alliance candidate Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山) drew the No. 4 spot. DPP candidate You Ying-lung (游盈隆) will be listed third and Green Party candidate Chi Shu-ing (齊淑英) will be second. Independent Hsu Chia-chen (許家琛), who had abstained his right to draw, got No. 5 after an official from the election committee drew on his behalf. The election will be held Aug. 2.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
The New Taipei City Government today warned about the often-overlooked dangers of playing in water, and recommended safe swimming destinations to cool off from the summer heat. The following locations in the city as safe and fun for those looking to enjoy the water: Chienshuiwan (淺水灣), Baishawan (白沙灣), Jhongjiao Bay (中角灣), Fulong Beach Resort (福隆海水浴場) and Sansia District’s (三峽) Dabao River (大豹溪), New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Department Director-General Yang Tsung-min (楊宗珉) said. Outdoor bodies of water have variables outside of human control, such as changing currents, differing elevations and environmental hazards, all of which can lead to accidents, Yang said. Sudden
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