SOCIETY
Squirrel bites woman in MRT
A person’s pet squirrel escaped from its carrier in a crowded Taipei MRT station earlier this month and bit a woman on the leg, the Taipei City Police Department’s Rapid Transit Division said in a news release yesterday. A woman was standing on a platform at Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT Station on Aug. 16, when a squirrel climbed up her right leg and bit her on the back of her knee, the division said. The squirrel escaped through a gap in the carrier caused by other passengers pressing up against it. The owner only noticed the carrier was empty after their train had departed, and had to take the next train back to the station, where they found the squirrel, police said. Under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), pet owners whose animals escape and injure others can face a maximum fine of NT$12,000 and up to three days in detention.
CRIME
Kidnap victims rescued
Seven jobseekers, lured by offers of high-paying jobs only to be forcibly confined by a suspected criminal ring in an abandoned bunkhouse in Kaohsiung and have their bank accounts used for criminal purposes, were rescued, and five suspects were arrested last week, Kaohsiung police said yesterday. A woman in her 40s was reportedly shot with a stun gun and beaten with a water pipe when she was caught trying to flee after having written down the license plate number of a vehicle belonging to her captors, police said, adding that others were allegedly burned with cigarettes. A person who escaped on Thursday called the police from a nearby private home. Police immediately headed to the bunkhouse and arrested five suspects on site. Stun guns, chilli and pepper sprays, handcuffs, metal rods, wire nails, account books and bank cards were seized.
WEATHER
Agency to seed clouds
The Water Resources Agency on Sunday said that it is preparing to seed clouds to boost rainfall amid concerns over a water shortage in parts of northern Taiwan. The agency on Saturday set up a disaster response team, which immediately initiated cloud seeding operations. On Sunday, it notified the management offices of several reservoirs in northern Taiwan and Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) in the south to prepare for cloud seeding operations and an afternoon thunderstorm system. The average rainfall in Taiwan last month was 8.3cm, down 63.9 percent from a year earlier and the lowest for the month since 2008, in part because no typhoons made landfall, a Bureau of National Statistics report showed.
SPORTS
Taipei Marathon entries open
People wanting to enter the annual Taipei Marathon can register now for the event, which is to be held on Dec. 18 for runners aged 18 and older, the city’s Department of Sports said yesterday. Registration lasts until Sept. 28, with up to 9,000 athletes to be accepted, the department said, adding that the marathon covers 42km from Taipei City Hall to the Taipei Municipal Stadium. A half-marathon is also to be held on Dec. 18, and registration opens today for a maximum of 19,000 runners. First held in 1986, the annual Taipei Marathon is one of the city’s major events, not just for sports, but for tourism marketing and promotion, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
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