■ Society
Suicide rocks DPP family
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lan Mei-chin's (藍美津) youngest child, 29-year old Huang Hsin-yi (黃心儀), hung herself on Wednesday. Huang lived in a condominium next door to her parents with her older brother and his wife. Her suicide has raised specula-tion about whether Lan will continue to campaign for the December elections. Lan and her husband Huang Tien-fu (黃天福) have not commented on their daughter's death but their younger son, Taipei City Councilor Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰), held a press conference to express the family's grief. Huang had been on medication for depression but the family said her condition was stable and there was no hint that she was thinking of suicide.
■ Weather
CWB monitors Nock-Ten
The Central Weather Bureau is monitoring Typhoon
Nock-Ten, bureau sources reported yesterday. Nock-Ten was centered some 1,900km southeast of Taiwan at 10am yesterday, moving northwesterly toward the island at a speed of 21kph. With a radius of 200km, the typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 180km per hour, meteorologists said. The forecasters don't know yet whether Nock-Ten will directly hit the country, but they expect it to bring tremendous amounts of rainfall in the following days regardless.
■ Health
US beef ban to be lifted
Ten months after banning
US beef imports to prevent mad cow disease from entering the country, health officials yesterday said they intend to lift the ban, pos-sibly by year's-end. After a cow tested positive for the disease in Washington state last December, the govern-ment placed a seven-year ban on US beef imports. After reviewing reports from the US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health's 18-member committee confirmed that the
US has mad cow disease under control. Bureau of Food Safety Director Chen Lu-hung (陳陸宏) said the department will send officials to the US to verify their findings. If no further health risks are found, the department said it will lift the ban at the end of this year.
■ Society
New bike path to be built
The Taichung County Government announced yesterday that it will build a new route that will be the first in Asia to take advan-tage of an abandoned train tunnel. County Commissioner Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生) said work on the path will begin next month and is expected to be finished early next year. He said that the project will give his county its third bike-only trail built along abandoned railroad tracks. The new route will start from the horse stables in Houli Township, enter the 1,269m No. 9 tunnel on the old Western Railway Line, pass over the 382m Hualiang Steel Bridge on Tachia River and end where the Tungfeng Green Corridor bike route begins.
■ Cross-strait Ties
No reward for Chinese police
The Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday denied reports that Chinese police have received a share of NT$8 million in the NT$20 million bounty for the arrest of fugitives Hsueh Chiu (薜球) and Chen Yi-hua (陳益華). "The report was all wrong," a bureau official said, adding that no Chinese police applied for the bounty after Hsueh and Chen were repatriated on Sept. 23. He said it was a Taiwanese informant who gave the tip.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
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