POLLUTION
PM2.5 levels to rise
Yunlin County residents should prepare for poor air quality today and tomorrow, due to a lack of wind to disperse pollutants, the Environmental Protection Administration said yesterday. The administration said air quality in southern cities and counties was in the “unhealthy” range, with the key indicator for PM2.5 — fine particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — at level 8 on a 10-point scale. In other regions, PM2.5 measurements were at relatively safe levels from 3 to 6, the administration said. It said level-7 PM2.5 concentrations exceed 54 micrograms per cubic meter and are considered high, and that measurements above level 7 are deemed severe enough to cause health problems.
SOCIETY
Woman arrested over murder
A Vietnamese woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing her boyfriend and dismembering his body after a quarrel, police said. Nguyen Thi Soi, 33, was detained at her workplace in Kaohsiung as she was preparing to return to Vietnam on Friday, police said. She faces charges of killing Kieu Van Manh, 43, chopping up his body and disposing of the remains in a ditch. The two came to work in Taiwan separately earlier this year, police said, adding that Kieu was slain apparently for wanting to end their relationship. The case came to light on Nov. 18, when a dog was seen carrying a human skull in its mouth. The rest of Kieu’s remains were later found in a bag used for pig feed. Based on the lead, investigators located a pig farm in Kaohsiung’s Luzhu District (路竹), where Nguyen was employed as a caregiver. Police said that the victim met Nguyen at the farm on Oct. 15, shortly before he disappeared.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Traffic fatalities down
There were 1,380 traffic fatalities in the first 10 months of this year on the nation’s roads, a drop of 112 year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. In the 10-month period, Kaohsiung had the most A1 incidents — traffic accidents in which at least one life is lost within 24 hours. Kaohsiung recorded 149 deaths, followed by Tainan with 131 deaths and Changhua County with 108, according to the ministry. However, the figures showed a decrease of 45, 20 and 10 deaths in the three areas respectively from the same period of last year. Outlying Lienchiang County has the best traffic record in the nation, reporting zero traffic fatalities for six years in a row, the ministry said.
CRIME
Man arrested over drugs
Police on Friday said they recently arrested a man for allegedly smuggling more than 1,000kg of chloroephedrine — a substance that can be used to produce amphetamines — from China into Taiwan. The 1,003kg of chloroephedrine, packaged in 106 bags, could be used to produce 700kg of amphetamines, worth about NT$200 million (US$6.09 million), the Criminal Investigation Bureau said. The bags were found following a tip-off, hidden among 700 packages of construction materials in a cargo container during an operation at Keelung Customs, police said. The operation came after months of intelligence-gathering. Following a later search operation, the police arrested a 22-year-old suspect surnamed Lin (林). Lin said he had come to take delivery of the “construction materials” for someone else, but he was unable to provide details of the origin of the NT$10 million used to pay for the importation of the construction material shipment.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS