CRIME
Cody Wilson sent to US
Cody Wilson, a US citizen who fled to Taiwan after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Texas, was yesterday escorted by National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where he was put on a 10pm flight to Houston. Taiwanese aviation security officers were expected to accompany Wilson on the flight and US law enforcement would board to arrest Wilson after the airplane lands in Houston, sources said. Wilson was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Bureau in a cheap hotel in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) on Friday evening. NIA official Chang Wen-hsiu (張文秀) yesterday said that the US on Friday sent a notice to Taiwan, saying that Wilson’s passport had been revoked, which made Wilson’s stay in Taiwan illegal. After Wilson’s arrest in Taipei, his lawyer contacted the NIA on Friday, saying that Wilson was willing to leave Taiwan, Chang said, adding that the lawyer said his willingness to leave Taiwan came after negotiations with US prosecutors.
WEATHER
Storm might affect Taiwan
A tropical storm has formed over the Pacific, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Tropical Storm Trami, which was 2,150km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) in southern Taiwan as of 8am yesterday, was moving west-northwest at 23kph toward Japan’s Okinawa. Although Trami is expected not to affect Taiwan in the short term, it is forecast to come closest to Taiwan on Thursday or Friday, bringing rain to the northern and eastern parts of the country, the bureau said. Trami could affect Taiwan if it continues to gain strength and develops into a typhoon by Thursday or Friday, meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said.
HEALTHCARE
Care rule change proposed
As many as 28,000 households could benefit from a proposed loosening of regulations governing applications for respite care services when their regular foreign caregivers take time off, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Thursday. The rule change, which could be adopted as soon as November, would allow those who qualify to apply for a maximum of 21 days of respite care annually without having to go through a 30-day waiting period without care, which is the situation at present, Long-term Care Services Division official Chou Tao-chun (周道君) said. If implemented, the provision would initially focus on applicants who are severely disabled with limited support, such as individuals who live alone or are older than 75, Chou said. According to the plan, low-income households would be fully subsidized for respite care services, while middle-low-income and general households would be required to pay 5 percent and 16 percent of costs respectively.
SPORTS
Team wins tug-of-war gold
Taiwanese athletes yesterday snagged another gold medal at the Tug of War International Federation World Outdoor Championships in South Africa, giving Taiwan six gold medals at this year’s championship, with other events still being contested. The tug-of-war team from Taipei Jingmei Girls’ High School and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) defeated the host country to win the women’s under-23 500kg title. On Friday, another team of students from Jingmei Girls’ High School and NTNU won a gold medal in the women’s 500kg tug-of-war after defeating Switzerland 2-0 in the finals.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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