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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by