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.
SCANDAL: There are still discussions over whether a ban from being coaches, referees or agents should be imposed on the players, the association said The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA), Taiwan’s basketball governing body, on Tuesday said that it has handed lifetime bans to 10 players accused of game-fixing and breaches of betting rules. In a statement on Tuesday, the CTBA said it has revoked the registration of nine former players from the semi-professional Super Basketball League’s (SBL) Yulon Lexgen Dinos and one from the Taiwan Beer Leopards of the professional T1 League. The nine former Dinos players are Ko Min-hao (柯旻豪), Chiu Chung-po (邱忠博), Chen Pin-chuan (陳品銓), Huang Hsuan-min (黃鉉閔), Wu Yu-jen (吳祐任), Chou Wei-chen (周暐宸), Yen Wen-tso (顏聞佐), Lee Chi-en (李其恩), and Senegalese center
It took director Chong Keat Aun (張吉安) nearly a decade to complete Snow in Midsummer (五月雪), a deft chronicle of Malaysia’s May 13 incident told through one woman’s search for her brother and father. Although only his second feature, it led the field at yesterday’s Golden Horse Awards with nine nominations. Chong said it had been a struggle to get people to share their memories of the intercommunal violence following the 1969 national election, known among the country’s ethnic Chinese community as “513.” “My father, for example, would shut the conversation down if my mother or grandma even mentioned the topic,” Chong said
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
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