CRIME
Homeless man attacked
New Taipei City police said they were investigating after a homeless man was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant as he slept in a park in the city’s Shulin District (樹林) on Monday night. The 64-year-old man, surnamed Chang (張), was sleeping in a park pavilion on Shulin’s Shuiyuan Street when he was awoken at about 11pm by a man who slashed him multiple times with a knife before fleeing. After the attack, Chang went to a nearby sink to clean his wounds and then went back to sleep in the pavilion, where a passersby later reported him to the police due to the large quantities of blood at the scene. Chang was taken to the Tucheng branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital to be treated for slash wounds on his body and hands, and a severed left index finger, which was later found near the pavilion, police said. Chang was believed to have consumed alcohol before going to sleep, resulting in a diminished awareness of pain and did not know who attacked him. Investigators are reviewing surveillance camera footage to try and identify the suspect in the attack, police added.
CRIME
Mother, boyfriend detained
The Taitung District Court on Monday granted a request by prosecutors to detain a single mother and her live-in boyfriend suspected of attempted murder, after the woman’s 11-month-old daughter died from alleged child abuse. The toddler was unconscious when she was rushed to hospital on Oct. 8. Doctors found that she had multiple physical injuries, including to the head, a Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office statement said. After efforts to resuscitate her failed, she was pronounced dead on Saturday by the hospital, which immediately alerted the police and the Taitung Social Affairs Department of the matter, prosecutors said. The daughter was one of a pair of twins born to the 28-year-old mother, police said. The woman has had three failed marriages and a follow-up investigation also revealed that the twin son also had bruises on him, indicating alleged child abuse, police said. Besides the twins, the mother also has another child from a previous marriage and lives with her boyfriend, identified only by his surname Kao (高). During questioning, police said the couple’s answers were inconsistent with their statements and prosecutors who reviewed the case later filed a request with the court to have them detained over suspicion of attempted murder.
EDUCATION
Ten injured in collapse
Ten girls at Donghu Elementary School in Taipei on Monday sustained minor injuries after portable bleachers on which they were performing collapsed under their feet. The girls, who were part of a choir made up of 40 students, fell from heights ranging from 60cm to 120cm when the portable bleachers collapsed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the 10 girls were sent to hospitals immediately for treatment and observation. The girls were sent to Taipei City Hospital Zhongxiao Branch and Tri-Service General Hospital. Fan I-more (方怡謨), deputy superintendent of Taipei City Hospital Zhongxiao Branch, said all six girls sent to that hospital were calm after sustaining minor injuries, such as sprains and abrasions, and they were discharged an hour after arriving. Tri-Service General Hospital said in a statement that the four girls it admitted had bruises and abrasions, and had been released. The bleachers that collapsed were purchased about four to five years ago, school principal Hsiu Chin-chu (修金莒) said. Hsiu said that the bleachers collapsed because the weight of the 40 students was unequally distributed.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS