HEALTH
Costco to aid hepatitis cases
Members-only warehouse retailer Costco Taiwan yesterday promised assistance to any member who becomes ill after eating a contaminated frozen berry blend sold under the retailer’s Kirkland Signature brand. Those who seek medical attention should provide receipts, and assistance would be determined on an individual basis, it said. The US retailer was responding to calls by some consumers that it should compensate customers who ate the tainted product. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said one batch of the Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend tested positive for hepatitis A after inspecting five batches of the product from the retailer’s warehouse in Kaohsiung this month. About 17 tonnes from the batch had been sold in Taiwan. The FDA said those who have eaten the frozen food snack should monitor their health for 60 days.
CRIME
Boyfriend suspect in death
A 32-year-old South Korean man surnamed Kim has been named a suspect in the death of his 31-year-old partner, a woman surnamed Lee, at a hotel in Kaohsiung, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The man was released on NT$100,000 bail and barred from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said. Kim on Monday called first responders, who found the woman in the hotel room with no signs of life. Kim said he discovered his partner lying unconscious on the floor following an apparent fall, prosecutors said. Lee was pronounced dead at a hospital following doctors’ unsuccessful resuscitation efforts. An autopsy on Thursday revealed bleeding in the skull and under the scalp, indicative of blunt-force trauma inflicted by impact with an object or a wall, prosecutors said.
CRIME
Gun attack boss returned
A man accused of arranging a morning submachine gun attack on a New Taipei City pawn shop on April 20 was escorted from Malaysia to Taiwan by Criminal Investigation Bureau agents on Friday. A man surnamed Lin (林) fled to Kuala Lumpur on the day of the attack, but was detained upon arrival after Taiwanese police alerted their Malaysian counterparts, National Police Agency Director-General Huang Ming-chao (黃明昭) told a news conference. Lin and an alleged accomplice surnamed Tu (杜) were brought back to Taiwan on a China Airlines flight on Friday morning, the agency said. Lin is accused of ordering the attack in which a 17-year-old taxi passenger stopped mid-ride to fire more than 50 bullets at a pawn shop in Tucheng District (土城) before taking the same cab to a nearby police station and confessing.
CRIME
Managers suspects in fire
Prosecutors have named two employees of Lian-Hwa Foods Corp as suspects in a deadly fire that engulfed the company’s factory in Changhua County on Tuesday last week, leaving eight people dead and 14 injured. A suspect surnamed Tsai (蔡) was head of the factory’s fire management department, while another surnamed Cheng (鄭) was a site supervisor, the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Investigations and questioning of Tsai and Cheng led prosecutors to conclude that the men could be guilty of negligent homicide, the prosecutors’ office said. The two were released on bail of NT$300,000 each after prosecutors decided it was unnecessary to seek a court order for them to be held in custody. The eight people who died were four Filipino migrant workers and four Taiwanese.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
Rallies supporting recall efforts targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place in Taipei today. Traffic controls were in place on Taipei City Hall Road starting from 10pm last night, and would be in place on Jinan Road Sec 1 from 8am today, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei City advocating the recall of KMT legislators, along with the “Safeguard Taiwan Anti-Communist Alliance” have announced plans for motorcycle parades and public rallies in both cities today. Permission has been granted for campaigners to hold
M1A2T ABRAMS TANKS: Thirty-eight of the 108 armored vehicles were delivered in December last year, with the rest to be delivered between later this year and next year The military is to live stream a round of live-fire training sessions on Thursday featuring its newly delivered M1A2T Abrams tanks, allowing the public to witness the training results firsthand, the Ministry of National Defense said. Based on the ministry’s plan, the live-fire training session, scheduled to take place at an army tank training ground in the Kengzihkou (坑子口) area of Hsinchu County, is to feature the US-made armored vehicles firing their 120mm smoothbore guns at moving and stationary targets, while stationary or in motion. At least one senior government official is expected to preside over the round of training sessions, per
RSS