CRIME
Makiyo driver leaves hospital
Lin Yu-chun (林余駿), the taxi driver at the center of the Makiyo case, was discharged from hospital and is resting in a rented house nearby, Lin’s lawyer Chou Wu-jung (周武榮) said yesterday. Lin was allegedly beaten by Takateru Tomoyori, a Japanese friend of the local singer and actress, and Makiyo herself on Feb. 2. Both have been charged with causing severe bodily harm, and the court hearing is due to begin on Thursday.
CRIME
Girl killed after KTV fight
A teenage girl died after allegedly being hit by a car in front of a KTV parlor early yesterday morning, following a dispute between two groups of young people, Miaoli County police said. Police said the 17-year-old girl, surnamed Chuang (莊), was allegedly killed by a car driven by a 30-year-old man, Wang Yi-chieh (王義傑), who was drunk at the time. Wang has been charged with murder and the case was sent to prosecutors for further investigation, police added. Police said that late on Saturday night, Chuang and her boyfriend, surnamed Wu (吳), attended a party at a KTV. Wang was drinking with his friends in another booth and he telephoned a female friend, surnamed Hsia (夏), who was in another booth with Chuang, and asked them both to come to his booth. After the two girls had been in Wang’s booth for some time, Wu came to ask the two girls to return. A fight ensued. When both parties left the KTV, they began arguing again, at which point the drunken Wang drove his car into the rival group, police said. Chuang was knocked down by the car and Wang then allegedly reversed his car over her and killed her. Police said Wang was pulled from the car by Chuang’s friends and beaten up before officers arrived and arrested him.
BUSINESS
Orchid fair gears up
Orchid growers are gearing up ahead of an annual trade fair held in Tainan that opens later this week, which has become an event foreign buyers do not want to miss, said Lee Tsang-yu (李蒼裕), an advisor to the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association. The Taiwan International Orchid Show has established itself as a key industry event, as important as the Japan Grand Prix International Orchid Festival and the World Orchid Conference, Lee said. More than 3,000 foreign visitors and buyers took part in the fair last year, which reported orders worth NT$7 billion (US$236.89 million) during the event, the association said. This year’s show will be held from Friday to March 12.
EDUCATION
HK school fair wraps up
A two-day higher education fair concluded in Taipei and Kaohsiung yesterday with top-ranked universities from Hong Kong offering handsome scholarship packages to attract Taiwanese students. The University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong were among about 37 universities and colleges from home and abroad that took part in the event, ahead of the university admission process that begins in March. The University of Hong Kong, ranked 22nd in the world and top in both Hong Kong and Asia in the QS World University Rankings last year, said it hoped to recruit 60 Taiwanese students this year, adding that students with a scholastic aptitude score of between 65 and 75 are eligible to apply for a partial or a full scholarship worth up to NT$2.4 million (US$81,000) over four years. Meanwhile, City University of Hong Kong, which ranks 110th in the world in QS World University Rankings last year, said it was offering students full scholarships worth NT$2.2 million.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
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