CRIME
‘Coldplay’ suspect nabbed
A 21-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of selling fake tickets for Coldplay concerts in Kaohsiung on Saturday and Sunday, police said yesterday. The suspect surnamed Wei (魏) was caught after completing a deal with someone at the high-speed rail’s Zuoying Station on Sunday, and three fake tickets, a smartphone and NT$10,000 in cash were seized, the Zuoying Precinct said. The case came to light after a buyer reported being scammed online. He only realized his ticket for the Saturday show was not real after the QR code would not scan, police said. The fake tickets, which Wei sold for NT$4,000 to NT$5,000, had numerous typos and incorrect information on them, police said, adding there were likely other suspects involved.
TRAFFIC
New bridge lane to open
The three southbound lanes on the Zhongzheng Bridge (中正橋), which is still under construction, would open to motorists at noon on Saturday, the Taipei City Government said. The bridge has been under construction since May 2019 to replace an older structure. Only two lanes on the southbound side of the bridge are currently open, allowing traffic from Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正) to New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和). However, the northbound lanes would not open until early next year, the Taipei New Construction Office said. In the meantime, motorists traveling from New Taipei City to Taipei can still use the old bridge, which was built by the Japanese in 1937 and was once called Kawabata Bridge, the office said.
SOCIETY
Riskiest online stores listed
The Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday announced the “riskiest” marketplaces in the third quarter. The 7-Eleven online store placed first with 1,195 complaints, followed by Carousell with 720 complaints, Shopee with 550, Facebook Marketplace with 168 and the FamilyMart online store with 134. Scams targeting sellers on online marketplaces have been on the rise over the past few months, the bureau said, adding that fraudsters posing as buyers often contact the seller through Facebook Messenger or the platform’s chat function claiming to be unable to place an order, it said. They then send a phishing link or QR code impersonating customer service asking to “authenticate” their bank account by transferring money, it said. No marketplace staff would ask anyone to remit money as authentication, the bureau said, adding that people should never add suspicious Line accounts or click on suspicious links.
SOCIETY
Truck kills cyclist in Hualien
A 21-year-old unlicensed light truck driver early yesterday hit and killed a man on a bicycle after apparently falling asleep at the wheel on Provincial Highway No. 9 in Hualien’s Fuli Township (富里), local authorities said. The driver surnamed Ku (古) and a passenger surnamed Wang (王) had traveled to downtown Hualien in the early hours yesterday to make deliveries, Hualien police said. On the way back to Taitung, Ku fell asleep and the truck crossed the road divider and crashed into a storefront on the opposite side of the road, then hit a man on a bicycle and a traffic light, police said. Paramedics found the cyclist, a 51-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃), with serious head and limb injuries. He was pronounced dead at Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital at about 8am. Ku had scrapes on his arm, while Wang was unharmed. Ku passed a breath alcohol test, but did not have a driver’s license, police said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
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
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
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