Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-28
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwan’s premier, Mao Chi-kuo, announced Sunday a ban on the use of color powder in

public events until its safety has been fully assessed.

The announcement comes in the wake of a horrific incident in New Taipei on Saturday evening when colored powder sprayed onto the crowd at a water park party ignited and engulfed the partygoers in flames.

Over 500 people suffered injuries, with 194 listed as serious. AP reports that eight people have life-threatening injuries.

Mao made the announcement to reporters after visiting National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei. He said he is shocked and in grief over the incident, and stressed that the Executive Yuan will set up a special task force to handle the treatment and rehabilitation of those who were injured.

The powder used at the event is understood to have been corn starch, which is known to be flammable when aerosolized.     [FULL  STORY]

BEACHCOMBING COMMUNITY:Nanliao villagers use the materials they have at hand in surprising ways, including mixing cow manure and peanut shells into a fuel source

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 28, 2015
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Nanliao Village (南寮) on the sparsely populated outlying island of Penghu might not look

very different from any other rural Taiwanese community at first, but take a closer look and the fishing-turned-farming community is full of surprises.

A distinctive feature of Nanliao is that coral is used as a building material, which can be seen in the caijhai (菜宅, vegetable houses) — windbreaks set up to protect vegetable plots from the northeast monsoon winds which blow from September to April, and on the facades of older houses

Due to its arid weather — the village has an annual precipitation of only about 1m — and the sandy composition of its soil, farmers in Nanliao mostly grow peanuts and sweet potatoes, which do not need much warer, said Nanliao Village Warden Chao Chia-hsieh (趙嘉協), who has been promoting organic farming in the community for many years.

Describing Nanliao as an eco-friendly community with an emphasis on recycling, he said that residents have found applications for many things that are usually regarded as worthless, including coral, cow manure, discarded plastic fishing floats and even the small evergreen tree white popinac — which is not native to Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

The Jakarta Post
Date: June 27 2015

The Riau Islands Police said on Friday that they would work with Taiwanese authorities to investigate fraud cases that have allegedly involved dozens of Taiwanese citizens who have recently been arrested by local police in Batam.

On Thursday, the Riau Islands Police arrested 58 Taiwanese citizens from two upscale housing estates in Batam for allegedly perpetrating fraud against people in Taiwan and China.

As many as 20 people were arrested at a house on the Crown Hill Estate while the remaining 38 were arrested at another house on the Palm Spring Estate. Of the 58 people arrested, 52 were men and the remaining six were women.

The foreigners, according to the police, ran their scam by contacting their prospective victims over the phone. They later persuaded or threatened the victims in order to make them transfer a certain amount of money.     [FULL  STORY]

The Guardian
Date: 27 June 2015

More than 200 people were injured, more than 80 of them seriously, in an explosion at a

water park outside Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, on Saturday, after coloured powder being sprayed on to a crowd ignited, officials said.

Footage on the Apple Daily newspaper website showed crowds dancing as music played. Clouds of powder suddenly turned into a ball of fire sweeping through the spectators.

“Our initial understanding is this explosion and fire … was caused by the powder spray. It could have been due to the heat of the lights on the stage,” said a spokesman for the New Taipei City fire department.

The municipality’s deputy mayor said 221 people were hospitalised, with fire officials earlier saying 81 were seriously injured. Local media reported that 97 people were seriously hurt.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/27
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 27 (CNA) Taiwan’s Environment Protection Administration (EPA) on Saturday warned the public to avoid outdoor activities due to dangerous levels of ultraviolet rays amid clear skies and high temperatures.

The ultraviolet index had reached 11, a dangerous level, in many parts of the island as of noon, according to EPA data.

In central Taiwan’s Changhua, Nantou and Chiayi counties, as well as southern Taiwan’s Tainan and eastern Taiwan’s Hualien and Taitung counties, a level-12 ultraviolet index was seen.

The agency warned the public to avoid going outside because overexposure to ultraviolet rays may result in acute and chronic health effects on the skin, eyes and immune system.  [FULL  STORY]