■ CRIME
Man fined for eating dog
A man in Tainan was fined NT$50,000 on Tuesday for killing and eating his pet dog. The man in his seventies was identified by the surname Su. Neighbors reported to police last week that he had slaughtered his own dog and shared the cooked meat with his family. Investigators from the Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Quarantine Institute questioned Su, who admitted that he killed the dog on the grounds that the pet was in heat and "too noisy." The man, who was described as "remorseful," received the minimum fine of NT$50,000 and was warned not to commit the same offense again. According to the Animal Protection Law (動物保護法), anyone who kills a dog can be fined betweeen NT$50,000 and NT$250,000.
■ SOCIETY
Taiwan Pride set for Oct. 13
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities announced yesterday they will stage the fifth annual Taiwan Pride parade in October. The parade is organized by the Taiwan Pride Community, with collaboration from several LGBT and gender-sexuality rights groups, a Taiwan Pride Community news release said. According to the estimate by Taiwan Pride Community, around 10 percent of the population belongs to LGBT communities, "however, these communities are still treated unfairly and are constantly discriminated against in society," the news release said. LGBT citizens hope to "extend friendly hands to interact and have dialogue with non-LGBT people ... to overturn the negative stereotypes ," it said. The parade is scheduled to begin at 1:30pm in front of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it