104-1 week two -throat cut,elementary school girl

A 29-year-old man surnamed Kung (龔) was arrested yesterday after an attack at an elementary school in Taipei in which an eight-year-old girl’s throat was cut.

As of press time, the girl was undergoing emergency medical treatment at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

Police said preliminary investigations suggest Kung entered the grounds of Wenhua Elementary School (文化國小) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) at about 4pm yesterday, before walking up four flights of stairs to the girls’ restroom, pulling out a knife when he saw the girl about to enter the restroom and allegedly slashing her twice across the throat.

The girl was found lying in a pool of blood and was rushed to hospital, while Kung remained at the scene and was detained by police.

An angry crowd gathered outside the police station last night and attempted to beat Kung as he stepped out of the police car. The police managed to hold back the crowd and took him into the station.

There was conflicting information about Kung’s supposed motive, with some sources saying that he was enraged after being unable to find work for four months, while others said that Kung was upset after being scolded by his mother and brother for not visiting his cancer-stricken father in hospital on Thursday.

Responding to questions from city councilors about the attack during a question-and-answer session at a city council meeting, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that the city would assemble a special task force to review schoolground safety and security and establish a system within a year to screen and monitor dangerous people.

He added that the city presently had no system that would have been capable of keeping tabs on the suspect.

Department of Education Commissioner Tang Chih-min (湯志民) said that because schools are “open” as a matter of policy, it is difficult to keep tabs on everyone entering school grounds.

However, he said that more could be done to improve schoolground security, including addressing security camera “blind spots.”

Ko canceled a planned evening fund-raising appearance because of the incident, instead chairing a late-night city government meeting about the matter.

104-1 week three -same sex marriage,legal,the US

The US Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is a legal right across the United States.

It means the 14 states with bans on same-sex marriage will no longer be able to enforce them.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the plaintiffs asked "for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

The ruling brings to an end more than a decade of bitter legal battles.

Same-sex couples in several affected states including Georgia, Michigan, Ohio and Texas rushed to wed on Friday.

However officials in other states, including Mississippi and Louisiana, said marriages had to wait until procedural issues were addressed.

President Barack Obama said the ruling was a "victory for America".

"When all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free " he said.

However, Christian conservatives condemned the decision.

Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee called it "an out-of-control act of unconstitutional, judicial tyranny".

And Kellie Fiedorek, a lawyer for an anti-gay marriage advocacy group, said the decision "ignored the voices of thousands of Americans".

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, a state where marriages licences will now be issued to same-sex couples, said the justices "have imposed on the entire country their personal views on an issue that the Constitution and the Court's previous decisions reserve to the people of the states".

At the scene - Paul Blake, BBC News

Loud cheers erupted outside the court after the ruling was announced, and there were tears, hugs, and cheers of "USA USA USA!".

A sea of rainbow flags overwhelmed the few anti-gay marriage activists who reacted in disbelief, and the demonstration seemed to turn into a street party.

A tour bus drove past honking as hundreds cheered the decision.

One of the demonstrators, Jordan Monaghan, called his mother from his mobile phone amid the celebrations.

"Hey mom, I'm at the Supreme Court. Your son can have a husband now," Mr Monaghan said.

Minutes after the ruling, couples in one of the states that had a ban, Georgia, lined up in hope of being wed.

In Texas, Yasmin Menchaca and her partner Catherine Andrews told the BBC that they are "trying to round up our parents" in order to get married on Friday.

The two have been together for six years, and had attempted to marry in Washington state - but decided to wait because of the financial burden of flying their parents across the country.

On social media, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton merely tweeted the word "proud" and the White House changed its Twitter avatar into the rainbow colours.

The case considered by the court concerned Jim Obergefell, an Ohio resident who was not recognised as the legal widower of his late husband, John Arthur.

"It's my hope that gay marriage will soon be a thing of the past, and from this day forward it will simply be 'marriage,'" an emotional Mr Obergefell said outside the court.