An Indonesian national employed as a caregiver in Yilan County was sentenced to serve one year in prison followed by deportation, after she held a knife to an elderly woman’s neck, causing injury, in an attempt to get her passport and air tickets back so that she could go home. According to the findings of the Yilan District Court, at around 3:30 am on August 8, 2021, 31-year-old Puji Lestari threatened the 81-year-old woman, named Wu, with a knife .
Read moreAuthor: Phillip Charlier
Indonesian caregiver, employer, die in fire in Taitung City
An Indonesian national, and the daughter-in-law of the elderly woman she cared for were both declared dead, and two other people were injured when rescued from a burning mixed commercial and residential building in Taitung City in the early hours of this morning, December 21. The Taitung City Fire Department dispatched personnel after reports of a fire at a pharmacy on Xingsheng Road at around 1:00 am. Firefighters deployed water lines to fight the fire and simultaneously dispatched personnel to
Read moreMan caught growing 186 marijuana plants ‘for his own use’
A man caught growing marijuana in Keelung City yesterday, December 20, told police that the 186 plants were for his own use. Police raided a house on Fuyi Street, after receiving a tip-off that the 50-year-old man, named Chen, was cultivating marijuana in the building. Police investigators found 13 mature plants, 173 seedlings, 13 bags of dried cannabis with a total weight of 549 grams, cultivation equipment, and other evidence. The plants were grown under lights, with black cloth covering
Read moreCouple rescued after son doesn’t want to get up for school, sets fire to house
Firefighters in Changhua County rescued two people after their son set fire to the house because he didn’t want to get up for school this morning, Monday, December 20. The Changhua County Fire Department received a report of a fire in the house in Tianzhong Township at 7:41 am. Upon arrival, firefighters found the first floor of the house on fire, and two people calling for help from the upper floors. Firefighters used a ladder to rescue a 39-year-old woman
Read moreCops pass the hat around to help elderly man get through winter after arrest for petty theft
Police at a station in Taoyuan City bought food for a man they arrested on suspicion of petty theft, then passed the hat around and sent him off with a little cash in his pocket, hoping that it could help him through the winter. Officers from Guishan District Police Precinct were on patrol last night when they noticed two men apparently having an argument on Wensan Third Street at around 9:00 pm. The police officers stopped to question the men,
Read more5 athletes collapse during Taipei Marathon: 3 required resuscitation after losing vital signs
Five athletes collapsed during the Taipei Marathon event this morning, and were rushed to hospital, at least three having lost vital signs, requiring Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The race started at Taipei City Hall at 6:30 am with the temperature at 13°C, and humidity at 62%. According to reports, a 50-year-old female collapsed, unconscious, on Renai Road, Section 2 at 7:28 am, and was rushed to National Taiwan University Hospital. At 7:43 am, a 41-year-old man collapsed and was also rushed
Read moreHelp for the homeless in Keelung City as cold weather descends on Northern Taiwan
Volunteers handed out sleeping bags, blankets, warm coats, and food, while also offering temporary shelter to homeless people around Keelung railway station, yesterday evening, as a continental cold front descended on northern Taiwan, combined with a northeasterly monsoonal airstream, causing temperatures to plunge into the low teens. In an underpass at Keelung Station, homeless people put up cardboard, styrofoam, and umbrellas as makeshift windbreaks, and one person even erected a tent in an attempt to shelter from the cold wind.
Read moreRegional defense news: US sub re-homed to West Pacific, missile launch site development near Taiwan
In moves resembling a game of geostrategic chess, the US has forward-deployed a nuclear submarine to “the tip of the spear” in Guam, Japan’s development of a missile launch site on Ishigaki Island, near Taiwan, is advancing, China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier has sailed through the Miyaki Strait into the West Pacific, and a German naval vessel is in the South China Sea for the first time in 20 years. USS Jefferson City forward-deployed to new home base Guam The Los
Read moreNavy takes delivery of two more rapid mine-laying ships, increasing asymmetric combat power
Taiwan’s ROC Navy officially took delivery of two rapid mine-laying ships at a ceremony yesterday, December 16, marking an upgrade in national defense research and development, and the improvement of naval mine-laying capability. The two vessels, FMLB-2 and FMLB-3 are the second and third of four rapid mine-laying ships to be built by domestic shipbuilder Lungteh Shipbuilding. The first of the tentatively-named “Minjiang” Class mine-laying ships was launched August 4, 2020. According to the Ministry of National Defense, the ships
Read moreInside job: Security guard arrested for part in ATM cash armed robbery
One of two security guards who were held up at gunpoint while delivering cash in a convenience store in New Taipei City, Tuesday, has been arrested and charged as an accomplice in the robbery. The 19-year-old cash guard, named Tsai, was just a few weeks into a job with the security company, when he and a colleague were held up and robbed of NT$1.21 million at a convenience store in Wugu District. The two robbers took to a getaway car
Read moreParatrooper uninjured after entangling in ropes and landing on road
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense today said that a paratrooper who landed bodily on a public road adjacent to a landing field after becoming entangled in his parachute cords, Monday, had not been injured in the incident. The official military statement said that the soldier was properly qualified, there was no problem with the standard operating procedures, and although landing on the asphalt road was “not ideal,” the soldier was not injured. Members of the public watching the aerial activities
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