CRIME
Fatal DUI driver found guilty
The Taichung District Court yesterday found Yen Tzu-shen (顏子娠), 35, guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Yen ran a red light at about 1am on Nov. 14 and crashed into pastry chef Chen Yu-pang (陳育邦), 32, who was returning home on his scooter. A breath test showed that Yen’s blood alcohol level was 0.46 milligrams per liter (mg/L), well above the legal limit of 0.15mg/L. She later tested positive for ketamine. The case sparked a public furor, as Yen was found to have prior convictions for DUI and taking illegal drugs, had already been sentenced and had her driver’s license suspended. After the crash that killed Chen, Yen drove away in her Mercedes-Benz and tried to cover it up by changing places with a friend. “Yen had accidents before, with drunk driving and taking illegal drugs. This time she was at it again, but it led to a man being killed. Therefore, she had no remorse over her past actions and did not learn from her DUI convictions,” presiding judge Chuang Shen-yuan (莊深淵) said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Zhuzihu festival opens
The Calla Lily Festival at Yangmingshan National Park’s (陽明山國家公園) Zhuzihu area (竹子湖) officially started yesterday, offering visitors views of flower farms, as well as concerts and a farmers’ market. The Taipei Department of Economic Development has organized a number of events for the month-long festival that runs until April 29. The main attraction is touted as “the merging of music concerts with landscape beauty.” Concerts are to take place on Thursday next week, April 14 and April 15 at Taipei’s Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園), with calla lilies being handed out to attendees. The Taipei City Police Department Traffic Division is to impose traffic controls on weekends and holidays in April from 8am to 3pm for those going up the mountain, and from 2pm to 6pm for those going down.
WEATHER
Cold air mass on its way
Taiwan should prepare for changeable weather during the Tomb Sweeping holiday from Wednesday to Sunday next week, as a continental cold air mass could arrive toward the end of the break, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The weather is to be warm and pleasant from today through Thursday next week, with clear to cloudy skies forecast around the nation, the bureau said. However, on Friday next week, the probability of rain could increase and temperatures might fall due to a passing weather front, with strengthening northeasterly winds or a continental cold air mass, the bureau said.
CRIME
Man held for drug smuggling
A Vietnamese worker has been detained for allegedly helping to smuggle marijuana into Taiwan, but he has denied any involvement, aviation police said yesterday. The man was arrested by Taoyuan police officers on Thursday at his company’s dormitory after law enforcement intercepted a package the day before. The package, which arrived at a courier facility at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, was said to contain tea leaves, but police and customs officers found it suspicious, said Cheng Chien-tzu (鄭建資), an officer with the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Brigade. After checking it with an X-ray machine, 130g of marijuana was found concealed inside the tea bags. The police then turned the case over to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office, which is investigating the man for a possible breach of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
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