■ CRIME
Three deaths lead to arrest
A woman has been detained for allegedly killing her mother, husband and mother-in-law in an insurance scam, police said yesterday. “She has confessed to pushing her mother down the stairs and poisoning her husband and mother-in-law to get insurance money and pay off gambling debts,” an officer in Nantou County said. The woman, surnamed Lin (林), 29, came under suspicion after her three relatives died under mysterious circumstances within nine months of each other, Nantou County police said. The deaths made her the sole beneficiary of about NT$20 million (US$625,000) in insurance payments, police said. Local media reports said the woman had a gambling problem and had accumulated huge debts. She had also bought hefty insurance policies for her four-year-old son and her sister-in-law, the reports said.
■ HEALTH
Junk food ads face ban
The Department of Health (DOH) wants to ban junk food advertisements from children’s TV programs in a bid to cut obesity rates, an official said yesterday. The authorities are drafting a bill to ban such ads as well as images of smoking, following the lead of the UK and South Korea, Bureau of Health Promotion Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said. The bill would also introduce a tax on food deemed unhealthy, such as sugary drinks, candy, cakes, fast food and alcohol, Chiou said. The bill was expected to be submitted to the legislature later this year and, if passed, could take effect next year. Taiwan would be the first country in the world to impose a junk food tax if the bill passes, the John Tung Foundation said. Obesity is worsening in Taiwan, with 25 percent to 30 percent of children obese or overweight, foundation data shows.
AFP
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