■ CRIME
He Yi-hang posts bail
TV entertainer He Yi-hang (賀一航) was released on NT$60,000 bail yesterday, after he admitted using and possessing drugs and selling them to prostitutes. He was arrested by Taoyuan police at his Taipei residence on Wednesday. Police discovered amphetamines and ketamine in his house. He told prosecutors he bought the drugs from a “heavyweight in the entertainment business.” Prosecutors and police are trying to determine whether more entertainers are involved in the case, either as dealers or clients, Taoyuan Prosecutor Yeh Yi-fa (葉益發) said. He’s involvement in the drug business was discovered when Taoyuan prosecutors and police were investigating the “Tsai-shen,” a major brothel in northern Taiwan. Police established that He was close to Yeh Ching-feng (葉青峰) and Hsu Lung-hsien (許龍仙), managers at the brothel. Yeh and Hsu were detained after prosecutors discovered they were engaged in loan sharking and allegedly “controlled” their prostitutes by feeding them drugs. Kuo was also released on NT$60,000 bail.
■ SOCIETY
Improve childcare: NGOs
Several non-governmental organizations said at a press conference yesterday that the nation’s low birth rate has much to do with its lack of a childcare system. In comparison to some Northern European countries where birth rates have been on the rise because of well-established childcare systems, Taiwan’s birth rate has dropped 37 percent in the last 10 years, said Liu Yu Hsiu (劉毓秀), head of the Coalition for Childcare Policy. Young couples have stopped wanting children, she said, linking the issue to the cost of daycare centers, which she described as profitable businesses that charge fees unaffordable for most parents. The government should draw up an affordable childcare plan to meet the needs of working class families and set up an autonomous committee to monitor childcare, she said.
■ HUMAN RIGHTS
Anti-trafficking event held
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Kaohsiung branch office and the Kaohsiung City Government hosted a press event yesterday to highlight the role that local governments and organizations play in fighting human trafficking. AIT Kaohsiung branch chief Chris Castro said he hoped that people around the world could work together to stop human trafficking wherever it occurs and to punish perpetrators. He said the AIT held the event in Kaohsiung because it was a city that has played a key role in defending democracy in Taiwan’s history. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said the city government respects the human rights of the more than 20,000 foreign workers in the city, adding that there was a 24-hour hotline service available if any problems arise.
■ ATHLETICS
Summer marathon to be held
For the first time ever, a marathon will be held at Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山) in suburban Taipei, tomorrow. About 5,000 runners, including 32 foreign participants, will compete in the Yangmingshan Summer Marathon on a scenic 42km route up and down hills, secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association Sunny Chen (陳華恒) said. The Yangmingshan marathon is the second in a series of four Ministry of the Interior-sponsored seasonal international marathons held in the country’s major national parks this year in a bid to attract more people to the country to experience its natural beauty.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
WATCH FOR HITCHHIKERS: The CDC warned those returning home from Japan to be alert for any contagious diseases that might have come back with them People who have returned from Japan following the World Baseball Classic (WBC) games during the weekend are recommended to watch for symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis, flu and measles for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Flu viruses remain the most common respiratory pathogen in Taiwan in the past four weeks and the influenza B virus accounted for 55.7 percent of the tested cases, exceeding the percentage of influenza A (H3N2) infections and becoming the local dominant strain, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said at a news conference on Tuesday. There were 82,187 hospital visits for
Alumni from Japan’s Kyoto Tachibana Senior High School marching band, widely known as the “Orange Devils,” staged a flash mob performance at the Grand Hotel in Taipei yesterday to thank Taiwan for its support after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The show, performed on the earthquake’s 15th anniversary, drew more than 100 spectators, some of whom arrived two hours before the show to secure a good viewing spot. The 26-member group played selections from “High School Musical,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and their signature piece “Sing Sing Sing” and shouted “I love
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
RSS