■ TRANSPORT
Tour bus crash kills one
A tour bus carrying tourists from Singapore rammed into a car on a highway in Wanli (萬里), Taipei County, yesterday morning, killing one and injuring seven others, the Taipei County fire department said. The Taiwanese bus driver was killed instantly, while seven passengers were slightly injured in the accident. The injured were sent to a hospital in Kinshan (金山), Taipei County, said firefighters who rushed to the scene in response to emergency calls. The bus was on its way from Keelung City to the scenic coastal village of Yeliou (野柳) when it slammed into the side of the car.
■ AGRICULTURE
Endangered ferns bred
The Taiwan Forestry Research Institute has successfully bred two endemic endangered fern species, earning worldwide acclaim. The institute made the announcement on Tuesday after six years of research on the reproduction of the two species, Archangiopteris somai Hayata and Archangiopteris itoi Shieh. The two species can be dated back 180 million years and are endemic to Taiwan, the institute said. There are fewer than 1,000 Archangiopteris somai Hayata remaining, while Archangiopteris itoi Shieh numbers less than 100 specimens, it said.
■ SOCIETY
Skin infections strike
Members of the public who observe Tomb Sweeping Day, on which it is customary to pay homage to one's ancestors, should take precautions to guard against skin infections, a dermatologist in Taichung cautioned. Chen Chun-yi (陳駿逸), who runs a skin clinic, told reporters that the number of patients he and his colleagues had treated in the past few days had increased 30 percent, with most suffering from infections resulting from getting sunburns or being bitten by mosquitoes and other insects while visiting tombs. Failing to protect themselves against insects and the sun, many people contracted acute skin infections, developed rashes all over their bodies and suffered from headaches, had difficulty breathing, and experienced excessive perspiration and localized lymphadenitis. Chen said this month was a period when mosquitoes and other insects thrived.
■ MILITARY
Officer demoted for prank
A naval officer has been demoted for pulling an April Fool's Day joke on three soldiers by summoning them back to camp during their holidays for an "emergency," a newspaper said yesterday. The incident occurred on Sunday, April Fools' Day, at a fishing port sentry in Tamsui, the Apple Daily said. The sentry is manned by solders from the navy's Coast Guard Administration (CGA). On Sunday, three solders manning the sentry had just returned to their Taipei homes for a four-day Tomb Sweeping Day vacation when Lieutenant Chan Wei-sung (詹偉松) summoned them back to the camp citing an "emergency." In the telephone call, Chan said a soldier's cellphone had been stolen and the CGA had sent a probe team to the sentry to investigate the theft. But when the three solders rushed back to the sentry, a smiling Chan had lined up the other soldiers to welcome the trio with "Happy April Fool's Day!" "It was such a stupid joke and we felt cheated. There is nothing funny about it," the Apple Daily quoted one soldier as saying. Chan has removed from his command at the fishing port sentry.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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