■CRIME
New jail needed: premier
A new location for the Taipei Detention House in Tucheng (土城), Taipei County, is urgently needed to solve an overcrowding problem, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said on Thursday. The detention house is used to incarcerate lawsuit suspects and people serving short prison sentences. Lee Mung-tung, director-general of the detention house, said that inmates numbered around 3,600 as of the end of last month, while the capacity should be only about 2,100. Overcrowding in the women’s section is even more serious, with capacity at 198 percent — still lower than the 302 percent recorded last year, he said. Liu said an earlier government plan to move the detention house to a former Ministry of National Defense ammunition depot in the county has raised objections from local residents, but he said the government would continue to communicate with the public to seek its consent and cooperation.
■TRANSPORTATION
TRA battles scalpers
The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday it had installed a verification mechanism in its voice ticketing system to prevent scalpers from booking tickets. The mechanism will start working on Monday. The administration has already installed a similar mechanism in its online ticketing system after it found hackers were buying up all the train tickets by staying logged into the system. They were able to call into its voice ticketing system and complete each purchase within 30 seconds, the TRA said. The verification mechanism will raise the difficulty, it said. The TRA said buyers would be given a verification number when entering the system. They would then have to key in their verification number. The phone line will be cut off automatically if the person enters the wrong number three times. Meanwhile, the administration will open both the online and voice ticketing systems on Friday for those wanting to book tickets for the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, which begin on Sept. 12.
■CRIME
Flyers cause rumpus
A former school employee was prosecuted by Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday for allegedly distributing flyers on campus defaming a colleague. Liao Wan-ju (廖婉茹) was the director of general affairs at Kaomei College of Health Care and Management when in November she ordered a student to produce flyers reading: “Dogs and Tang Sheng-ming (唐勝明) are not allowed on campus.” She and the student, surnamed Yang (楊), distributed and posted the flyers, prosecutors said. Tang, the director of educational affairs, filed lawsuits against them, but withdrew the suit against Yang after the student said that she made the flyers under Liao’s instructions. Tang said that he suspected Liao acted out of dissatisfaction with his criticism of her work performance. The school dismissed Liao from her job in January.
■HEALTH
Free liver tests on offer
National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei is to offer free liver disease screening tests this morning, while the Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-ho Memorial Hospital will hold a free lecture on liver health later today. Registration for screening for people aged 21 and over will be held from 8am to 11am for a maximum of 50 people. Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, in cooperation with the Hepatitis B Foundation’s Taiwan branch, will hold an open lecture today to give information on hepatitis B symptoms, screening procedures and prevention.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption
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