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.
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