■ 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.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
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