CRIME
Relatives held over killing
Three people in Yunlin County were detained on Friday following the death of a family member who is believed to have been beaten to death, prosecutors said. The detainees are the parents and brother of a 28-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), who was taken to a hospital early on Friday after he lost consciousness, the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday in a news release. Chen had cardiac arrest before he arrived at the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead after efforts to resuscitate him failed, prosecutors said. Preliminary investigations indicated that Chen was tied up and beaten unconscious at his home in the county’s Huwei Township (虎尾). The main suspects are his parents and younger brother, a Yunlin prosecutor surnamed Chu (朱) said. The three family members have been detained on suspicion of inflicting injuries that resulted in death, possibly after collusion, Chu said. The exact cause of death is to be determined after an autopsy, Chu said, adding that the circumstances leading to the fatality are still being investigated.
TRAFFIC
Top speeding spot named
An eastbound section of Civic Boulevard has been labeled the No. 1 speeding spot in Taipei after it was revealed to be the area where the most tickets for excessive speeding were issued, the Taipei City Police Department said yesterday. From July to October, 456 tickets were issued for excessive speeding on the section between Linsen N Road and Jinshan N Road, it said. In Taiwan, the definition of excessive speeding refers to surpassing the maximum speed limit by 40kph or more. It was lowered from 60kph after the country imposed a slew of stricter traffic rules from June 30 following an amendment to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The maximum fine for severe speeding has been raised from NT$24,000 to NT$36,000, and vehicle registration plates are confiscated for six months. The surface-level Civic Boulevard is an accident-prone area due to the high number of U-turn sections, as well as entrances and exits to underground parking lots, it said.
SOCIETY
Mandarin competition held
Three US students on Tuesday won the top prizes in the Foreign Students Chinese Public Speaking Competition, in which 68 students from 15 countries competed, said the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which organized the event. Each contestant was given five minutes to speak about one of five assigned topics: “My observations of Taiwan’s election culture,” “The one thing I find most surprising about Taiwan,” “Is the gender column necessary on [Taiwan’s] National Identification Card?” “How has artificial intelligence [AI] impacted humankind?” and “Should you offer people compliments or criticism?” They were graded on their speech content, delivery, posture and time management. Kyle Kaczorowski, who won third place and NT$12,000 in prize money, spoke about the potential risks of AI in academia and politics if its use was unregulated, and, to illustrate his point, he revealed that he wrote the introduction of his speech using only ChatGPT. Norbert Sanchez, who placed second, spoke about Taiwan’s elections and compared Taiwan’s electoral system with that of the US. Sean McEvoy won first place and NT$20,000 in prize money for his speech on whether people should give others compliments or criticism. Apart from the top three winners, there was a fourth-place winner and six “superior” prize winners.
‘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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