TRAVEL
Japan No. 1 destination
Japan is the most popular destination among Taiwanese planning their upcoming summer vacation, a survey released on Tuesday by Hong Kong-based travel platform Klook showed. Among the top attractions in Japan is Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo — The Making of Harry Potter, which is set to open tomorrow, Klook said. It is to be the largest indoor Harry Potter attraction in the world and the first Warner Bros Studio Tour in Asia. Other attractions include Shibuya Sky, an observation area 229m above the bustling city of Shibuya, and teamLab Planets Tokyo, an art facility touting immersive experiences, it said. Driving holidays have also become popular, with top destinations including Okinawa and Hokkaido, it said. The other countries in the top three destinations were Thailand and South Korea, Klook said. Taiwanese have also shown a particular interest in visiting the US, France, Italy and the UK, it said.
TRAVEL
Cathay to resume Nagoya flights
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday said it would resume direct flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Nagoya in Japan on Oct. 29, with booking available now. The flights would use Airbus A330-300 aircraft, the airline said. They would be offered daily, except for Nov. 4, 8, 10, 13, 21, 23, 29, and Dec. 1, 5, 7 and 11, it said. Flights on the route were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with suspensions of the airline’s Taoyuan-Tokyo (Narita) and Taoyuan-Osaka flights. The latter routes resumed on May 1 and June 1 respectively.
HEALTH
Students infected with flu
A total of 49 students at two military academies in Kaohsiung have been infected with influenza A since the beginning of this month, the Kaohsiung Department of Health said on Tuesday. The students only have mild symptoms, it said. Thirty-four of the cases were reported at the Republic of China (ROC) Air Force Academy and 15 at the ROC Military Academy, the department said. The students had recently taken part in activities in preparation for the Military Academy anniversary celebration tomorrow. Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School in Kaohsiung also reported a cluster infection earlier this month, with 65 students testing positive for influenza A as of June 8. The school closed for a week and switched to remote teaching the same day.
SOCIETY
Suicides hit three-year high
Suicides in Taiwan hit a three-year high of 3,787 last year, figures released on Monday by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed. It was the first increase since 2017. Ministry official Chen Liang-yu (陳亮妤) said many factors could cause someone to take their own life, such as Internet use, family conflicts or mental illness. Global studies have also shown that teenagers are prone to risks of suicide if their parents have separated, or are in protracted familial feuds, she said, adding that the department would meet with city and county governments nationwide to introduce a call-in system between schools and local health departments. There were 16.2 suicides for every 100,000 people last year, the ministry said, making it the 12th-most common cause of death. The number of suicides among people aged 25 to 44 (1,096 suicides) and 65 or above (1,138 suicides) rose for the first time since 2019, while suicide was the second-most common cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 44, it said.
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,
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
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
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
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