■ SOCIETY
Divorce hurting children
The Hualien branch of a social welfare group said yesterday that society should pay more attention to the impact of the growing divorce rate on children, with children often being raised by single mothers. Chen Ching-hui (陳清輝), director of the Hualien branch of the Chinese Fund for Children and Families, said the number of children in Hualien County receiving monetary subsidies from the organization was increasing at a rate of more than 300 annually. Chen said that a study conducted by the organization showed that most of the newly registered children were from households with divorced single parents, a demographic that was increasing by about 200 per year. The organization has lifted its threshold for applicants seeking economic handouts and is providing monthly monetary aid amounting to NT$5 million (US$164,000) to some 3,000 children from about 1,300 families in Hualien County, Chen said.
■ SCIENCE
NARL decides on new home
The National Science Council’s National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) said it would build its marine research center in Kaohsiung County. The facility will serve as headquarters for marine technology research and development, long-term observation of the nation’s marine environment and biology, and the training and cultivation of marine technology talent, NARL said. The national research center will also promote cooperation with other countries and organizations in the development of marine technology, push for the sustainable use of marine resources, and conduct marine disaster control and prevention. The headquarters, which will be located at Hsingta Port in Jiading Township (茄萣), will be built on a 6.6 hectare plot of land, while a wharf at the port will be renovated to accommodate four research ships.
■ HEALTH
Chiayi unveils tax exemption
Recreational businesses in Chiayi County that temporarily halted their operations because of the enterovirus outbreak can now apply for entertainment tax exemption. The county government’s Finance and Taxation Bureau said the move was part of efforts to halt the spread of enterovirus. As of Friday, 296 serious enterovirus cases — with 10 fatalities — had been confirmed around the country this year. The bureau said any businesses that decided to interrupt operations over enterovirus concerns could apply for the exemption, which would be granted after their case is examined by bureau officials.
■ CRIME
Fake ID ring busted
Law enforcement officials busted an eight-member forgery ring selling fake identification cards, driver’s licenses and various certificates, the Kaohsiung Public Prosecutors’ Office said on Friday. The office said prosecutors, supported by communications intercepts, raided 13 locations in Kaohsiung, Taoyuan and Taipei on Thursday and arrested the ring leader and his seven accomplices. The group had placed ads in newspapers to attract customers and sold certificates for NT$30,000 to NT$50,000. Police estimated that the ring had sold at least 1,000 fake IDs and certificates, including a fake license to practice medicine. A Chinese woman and her Taiwanese husband were among the accomplices and allowed their names to be used to make fake IDs, driver’s licenses and property ownership certificates. Through its operations, the ring managed to get more than NT$78 million (US$2.57 million) in loans from Taipei Fubon Bank, Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
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