CRIME
Woman sentenced over fire
A Kaohsiung woman has been sentenced to 30 days in prison, commutable to a fine, for offenses against public safety stemming from a kitchen fire after her pet cat turned on an induction stove. The 24-year-old defendant, surnamed Chen (陳), and her 27-year-old roommate, surnamed Hung (洪), traveled to northern Taiwan on Jan. 6 last year, leaving their four cats in their apartment, the Kaohsiung District Court said. The verdict can be appealed. On Jan. 8 last year, a fire started in the apartment, burning an area around the stove before triggering the building’s sprinkler system, which extinguished the blaze, it said. The Kaohsiung Fire Department said in a report that one of the cats had started the fire, likely by pushing an iron wire mesh from the counter onto the range, and then touching the stove’s power button, turning it on. The wire, heated by the stove, ignited other items on the counter, it said. The court said that Chen’s negligence had made it possible for the fire to start, endangering other residents of the building. If it had not been for the sprinklers, there could have been extensive damage, and even injuries or deaths, it said. Hung, who was also indicted, is being tried separately.
WEATHER
Reservoirs get rain boost
The catchment area of Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) in Chiayi County’s Dapu Township (大埔) yesterday had the greatest single day of rainfall in 260 days, easing concerns of a water shortage. As of noon, 125mm of rain had fallen upstream of the reservoir, the Water Resources Agency’s southern branch said. The last time the area saw more than 100mm of rain in a single day was on Sept. 10 last year, it said. Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫) in Tainan’s Guantian District (官田) and Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) in the city’s Nanhua District had 72mm and 125mm respectively fall in their catchment areas, it said. Water levels in the Zengwen-Wushantou system had reached 34.93 percent, while the Nanhua Reservoir had reached 28.89 percent, rising slightly from the day before, it added. Meanwhile, the Central Weather Administration said that Typhoon Ewiniar, the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season this year, was 640km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, at 2am yesterday. The storm was moving northeast and was expected to pass east of the Ryukyu Islands and head toward waters southeast of Japan, it said. While it should not directly affect Taiwan’s weather, there is a chance of swells along the Keelung coast, the east coast, Hengchun Peninsula, Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) today, it said.
SOCIETY
Taichung distillery honored
A Taichung distillery was given Double Gold and Gold awards for its products at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Taichung City Government said in a statement yesterday. ABAS Distillery Story Hall won Double Gold for its ABAS Original Aged Liquor and a gold for its ABAS 53 percent Aged Liquor, the statement said. The distillery, which was in the competition for the first time, was up against more than 5,500 entries, it said. The distillery was founded in 2003, rebranded as ABAS in 2020 and established its “Distillery Story Hall” in 2022. Double Gold is awarded to entries that receive unanimous gold ratings from the judging panel. Gold is awarded to “exceptional spirits that are near the pinnacle of achievement,” the competition’s Web site says.
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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