TRAVEL
Bus catches fire
A bus carrying 32 people to a soccer game in Taoyuan caught fire on a freeway yesterday, the National Highway Police Bureau said, adding that no one was injured. The bus was at the 179.8km mark on National Freeway No. 3, traveling north from Tainan, when the driver pulled over at noon after noticing a problem, the bureau said. The 32 passengers also got off immediately, the bureau said, adding that they were students and teachers from Tainan Municipal Houjia Junior High School. Shortly after, a blaze broke out on the bus and the fire brigade was called, the bureau said, adding that the fire was put out by 12:10pm. While the incident caused a traffic jam for about 1km on the northbound freeway, there were no injuries, it said.
CRIME
Father to donate safety tools
The father of a 17-year-old boy who was one of the victims of a knife attack on a Taichung Mass Rapid Transit (TMRT) train earlier this week plans to donate safety equipment to the metro company. The man, identified by his name, Lu (呂), said on Friday that he is planning to raise NT$2 million (US$62,091) to purchase shields and batons to donate to the TMRT. His son sustained cuts to the chest, shoulder and arm after allegedly being attacked by a 20-year-old knife-wielding man who went on a rampage on a TMRT train at Taichung City Hall Station on Tuesday morning. Lu said his son’s condition has stabilized, but he would not be able to play basketball, which he loves, for the next three to six months. The father said he hopes the donation would help provide passengers with a means of self-defense if needed. On Friday, the TMRT said that all metro stations are equipped with shields, batons and pepper spray, while security guards carry whistles and batons.
CRIME
Suspected trafficker arrested
The Customs Administration confirmed that a woman entering Taiwan from Thailand was arrested on suspicion of wildlife trafficking, but declined to comment on media reports that she was caught with as many as 87 live animals taped to her body. Taipei Customs said the 64-year-old suspect arrived in Taiwan on a flight from Thailand with a friend on May 19. As the woman had a previous record of live animal smuggling, she was searched at customs, where live animals were found, the office said. Local media reports said the woman was arrested with 87 live animals, including protected species and four types of monkeys, taped to her body. The species confiscated by authorities included a Sunda slow loris, common marmoset, Senegal bushbaby, Asian barred owlet, green iguana, Nile monitor, Indian star tortoise, Mekong snail-eating turtle and an elongated tortoise, the reports said.
TRADE
US cherries rejected
Three shipments of red cherries imported from the US have been rejected at Taiwan’s border for containing the banned substance mefentrifluconazole, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. The three batches of US red cherries, totaling 2.34 tonnes, were seized after being found to contain mefentrifluconazole — a conazole fungicide permitted for use in pears and apples, but not cherries — at a rate ranging from 0.05ppm to 0.17ppm, the FDA said. FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said it is the first case this year of substandard cherries from the US being identified. The FDA is to begin conducting shipment-by-shipment inspections on all cherries imported by the three companies.
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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