■ CRIME
Police looking for rapists
Taipei police yesterday said they were investigating a case in which a female college student was raped by two men in a riverside park in Songshan District (松山) last month. Police said the victim was walking in a riverside park on Tayou Road (塔悠路) late at night when two men dragged her into a field and raped her. Police said the victim had gone home and cleaned herself up after the attack -- in the process perhaps removing some of the evidence -- before contacting police and going to a hospital. Police said they were searching surveillance footage for clues to the perpetrators' identities, but had no suspects yet. Police have increased patrols in the park at night, warning the public that rapists are often repeat offenders.
■ SOCIETY
Township debates name
A plan to change the name of Sanmin Township (三民) in Kaohsiung County has hit an obstacle as residents remain divided over what to name it. A Bunun-majority township, Sanmin was called Mayatsun during Japanese colonial rule and then Maya Township (瑪雅) after World War II. It was later renamed Sanmin after Sun Yat-sen's (孫逸仙) "Three principles of the people." Officials and some locals want to change the township's name back to Maya. Although the name change is welcomed by many residents, some local elders suggest using another name, arguing that the name "Maya" was an incorrect name given by the Japanese. Officials will visit Japan to research the name before making a final decision.
■ CRIME
Forensics experts show off
The Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday that 22 teams of forensics specialists from police departments nationwide would compete in a forensics contest on Saturday to determine the country's top forensic experts. The contest will take place at Taiwan Police College in Taipei. Competitors will be required to prove their prowess at extracting and matching fingerprints, photographing criminal evidence and analyzing blood stains, the bureau said. Criminal Investigation Bureau Director Huang Mao-sui (黃茂穗) said the country's forensics experts had made significant progress over the past decade in criminal scene investigation and laboratory forensics, adding that Saturday's first ever forensics contest would promote continued advances.
■ HEALTH
Bureau warns of dengue
A health official yesterday urged people traveling to the south during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday to take precautions against contracting dengue fever to avoid the spread of the mosquito-born disease. Chou Chih-hao (周志浩), deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control, said that as of last Wednesday the number of indigenous dengue fever cases had reached 451 since the beginning of summer, of which 349 case were reported in Tainan City, 61 in Kaohsiung City and 35 in Tainan County. Cases of dengue fever have also been reported in Kaohsiung, Changhua, Miaoli, Taoyuan and Ilan counties, Chou said, adding that those cases could all be traced back to Tainan or Kaohsiung cities. For this reason, he advised those traveling to the south to avoid leaving water standing around the house, as this provides mosquitos with a breeding ground. Travelers should avoid mosquitos as much as possible, Chou said.
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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