■POLITICS
DPP to participate in rally
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it would continue with a plan to hold a rally scheduled for Aug. 30 despite a suggestion by some party members that the party should not participate in light of a scandal over alleged money laundering by the former first lady. DPP Department of Culture and Information Director Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) told reporters that the decision was made during the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday. Committee members suggested the party continue with the rally to boost morale, Cheng said. The rally, which aims to protest against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-China policies, is organized by several pro-localization groups. It is scheduled to begin at 3pm on Aug. 30 and end in front of the Presidential Office. The date of the protest was chosen to coincide with the Ma administration’s 100th day in office.
■HEALTH
Enterovirus warning issued
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) yesterday reminded county residents to be on the alert against a possible enterovirus resurgence following the start of the new school year on Sept. 1. A total of 346 serious enterovirus cases have been documented in Taiwan so far this year, including 39 cases in Kaohsiung County. Yang said that although the outbreak has been brought under control, with no new cases being reported in the county in the last six weeks, history shows that the start of the new school year often leads to a second wave of new enterovirus cases. Yang urged parents to encourage their children to frequently wash their hands to avoid infection, and to maintain a clean environment in and around their homes.
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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