■ Crime
Macau man detained
Police have arrested a Macau man for bringing 1.3kg of heroin into Taiwan, an official said yesterday. Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents nabbed the suspect, surnamed Kang, when he flew into Kaohsiung on an EVA Airways flight from Macau on Monday, a bureau official told reporters. Kang, a 30-year-old factory worker, had taped the packets of heroin to the inside of his thighs. He said he was paid NT$200,000 (US$6,600) to deliver the heroin to a man in Taiwan. The maximum penalty for drug trafficking is the death sentence.
■ Diplomacy
Legislators go to Ottawa
A legislative delegation arrived in Ottawa on Monday for a visit to strengthen exchanges between the two countries. Cheng Kuo-chung (鄭國忠), chairman of Taiwan-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group in the legislature, who led the delegation, said that their visit was conducted at the invitation of the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group and is aimed at boosting bilateral parliamentary exchanges. Cheng said friendships and exchanges between the people of Taiwan and Canada have been increasing substantially during the last few years, and during their stay in Canada the lawmakers will also thank Canadian congressman Jim Abbot, a member of the opposition Conservative Party, for putting forward the Taiwan Affairs Act for approval in the Canadian parliament.
■ Society
DPP politician apologizes
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) yesterday apologized to Yang Yun-tai (楊雲黛), secretary to People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), for having made false allegations in November 2003 about the relationship between the two. Several months before last year's presidential election, in which Soong was the running mate of then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Chang alleged that Yang was Soong's mistress. Chang based his allegation on a statement by former Taiwan Provincial Assembly member Wang Chao-chuan (王兆釧). Yang went to court to demand justice, seeking NT$10 million in compensation for damage to her reputation. The court ruled that Chang must pay NT$800,000 in damages and publish an apology to Yang in three major newspapers.
■ Immigration
Illegals find hospital work
An illegal Chinese immigrant has been caught serving as a caregiver at major hospitals in Taipei, police authorities said yesterday. The Chinese man told police that he smuggled himself into Taiwan a year ago. He first took odd jobs around Taiwan. In April, he began working as a caregiver at major Taipei hospitals, including Veterans General Hospital and Yangming Hospital, on a wage of NT$1,900 per day. He pays a 10 percent commission to his manpower broker. According to police, the 30-something man has been caring for several seriously ill patients for three months through the arrangement of a local manpower agency. Taipei police authorities informed a special task force under the National Police Administration (NPA) of the case. The "homeland security" task force was founded by the NPA earlier this year to track down illegal Chinese immigrants. The task force checked a list of temporary caregivers and said they discovered that the list included 10 illegal male Chinese immigrants, all around 30 years of age.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
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