■HEALTH
DOH to provide flu shots
The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday announced that it would provide free flu inoculations for people with high risks of infection beginning on Wednesday. The targeted groups are those aged 65 and over, children aged six months to three years, children enrolled in their first to fourth year of elementary school, healthcare and quarantine workers and workers in the poultry and livestock industries, said Shih Wen-yi (施文儀), deputy director-general of the Center for Disease Control. The center has prepared 2.865 million doses for adults and 355,000 doses for children. Those who have inquiries can call the bureau’s 24-hour toll free hotline: 1922.
■DIPLOMACY
US visa prices to increase
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced yesterday that because of the recent shift in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the New Taiwan dollar, and in keeping with the global US non-immigrant visa processing fee, AIT would increase its visa processing fee effective this Monday from NT$4,100 to NT$4,300. All applicants for the visas who pay the visa processing fee on or after Monday must show a receipt for NT$4,300. Applicants who paid the visa processing fee before Monday may still submit receipts for NT$4,100. The US non-immigrant visa processing fee remains at US$131. Applicants who paid the previous fee of US$100 prior to Jan. 1, must pay an additional NT$1,000.
■CRIME
Policeman kills himself
A police officer in Chiayi County jumped to his death from the 7th floor of his police precinct in an apparent suicide early yesterday morning, Chiayi police said later in the day. Police suspect the 56-year-old officer, surnamed Huang, committed suicide because of severe pressure in his personal life, said Wang Yu-chun (王育群), supervisor of the Chiayi County Police Department. Wang said that Huang had taken out around NT$1 million (US$31,000) in loans from three banks on behalf of a friend and that he was caring for a 28-year-old daughter who has been bedridden since a serious car accident four years ago. The suicide occurred at around 1:30am, Wang said, adding that Huang died at the scene. Investigators found a pair of shoes belonging to Huang and half a bottle of kaoliang liquor on the roof of the police precinct, Wang said. They also found a journal in the drawer of his desk detailing the loans.
■EDUCATION
MOE stresses the classics
The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced yesterday plans to increase the number of Chinese literature classes and the percentage of classical Chinese literary works in the nation’s high school curriculum. Vice Education Minister Wu Tsai-shun (吳財順) told reporters in the ministry that the number of Chinese literature classes offered in high school had been reduced to four sessions per week in the curriculum guidelines published in 2006 year. The amount of classical Chinese literature in high school Chinese literature textbooks has dropped to 45 percent, Wu said. “What we are certain now is that classical Chinese literary works will account for more than 45 percent of the content of high school Chinese literature textbooks,” Wu said. Wu said the ministry would also make Analects of Confucius (論語) and the Works of Mencius (孟子), both of which were optional under previous regulations, required reading for high school students.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
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