CRIME
Police hunt for pepper sprayer
Police are still searching for a suspect who released pepper spray inside the Taipei MRT twice over the past two weeks, the Taipei Police Department said. Travelers at Taipei Main Station reported a pungent scent in the station’s underground shopping area at 8:40pm on Monday, police said in a statement. Surveillance footage showed a man spraying the chemicals behind his back, they said. The same man is believed to have released pepper spray as he walked along the Blue Line platform in the station on 8:15pm on March 17, police said, adding that they are trying to establish a motive.
TRAFFIC
Butterflies close freeway lane
The outer northbound lane of a section of Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) was closed until 1pm yesterday to protect large swarms of purple crow butterflies heading north as part of their seasonal migration. Chen Jui-hsiang (陳瑞祥), head of the Taiwan Purple Crow Butterfly Ecological Preservation Association, said the National Freeway Bureau set up protective netting 4m high and 1,100m long along northbound lanes between the freeway’s 251km and 253km markers. It also closed the outer northbound lane along that stretch in Yunlin County’s Linnei Township (林內) at 9am yesterday, as more than 250 migrating butterflies per minute were spotted, Chen said. Later, at about 10am, as many as 1,080 butterflies per minute — the most so far this year — flew along the freeway heading north, Chen said.
SOCIETY
None hurt in factory blaze
No one was injured in a fire that broke out at a factory run by major electronics manufacturer Wistron Corp in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) late on Monday, based on information from the Hsinchu City Fire Bureau and Hsinchu Science Park Bureau. The fire bureau said it received a report about the blaze at 10:22pm, and along with the Hsinchu County Fire Bureau dispatched 23 fire trucks and 112 firefighters to the scene. The fire was put out at 2am, and none of the 464 people evacuated from the factory were hurt. Firefighters found that an outdoor air-conditioning unit on the top floor of the plant had caught fire, the city fire bureau said, without offering further details about what caused the blaze. Data monitored by the science park and the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau indicated that air pollution from the fire had quickly fallen back to normal levels by later yesterday morning.
SOCIETY
Invoice lottery announced
The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$313,519) special prize in the January-February uniform invoice lottery is 16620962, the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday. The winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 50008017, while the three numbers for the first prize of NT$200,000 are 73705743, 90315047 and 10604429. The holders of receipts whose serial numbers match the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers win NT$40,000, while those with invoices with serial numbers matching the last six digits win NT$10,000. Other prizes are NT$4,000 for receipts with the last five digits of any of the first-prize numbers, NT$1,000 for receipts with the last four digits and NT$200 for invoices with the last three digits. Those holding prize-winning receipts can claim their winnings from Saturday next week to July 5, the ministry said.
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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