The Intellectual Property Rights Police Team tracked down over 3,000 pirated film disks that violated the copyright for an estimated value of more than tens of million dollars during the Chinese New Year holiday, according to local media reports.

The “Flowers in Changhua 2010” series activities will kick off on Feb. 14, Valentine's Day, for an 8-day run in the central county of Changhua, dubbed as “homeland of flowers,” with people around the island welcomed to join the activities and see a wide variety of beautiful flowers, according to a press statement issued yesterday by the Changhua County Government.

A lamb butcher surnamed Tsai used 289 fake NT$50 coins to give as change to customers and was charged with counterfeiting currencies.

Immigration authorities yesterday arrested three people for allegedly abusing the rights of two Vietnamese employees who claim they had been working at a nursing home in Changhua 20 hours a day for four months without holiday, officials said.

A company co-owned by Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of fashion powerhouse Chanel, filed fraud charges against a senior entertainer, demanding euro 40 million (NT$18 billion) in compensation for counterfeiting its weight loss product.

A couple was paid NT$1.9 million in coins after a conflict over a property transaction. The buyer paid the sum with 38,000 NT$50 coins placed in 19 bags that weigh 300kg in total.

A 17-year-old girl in Changhua had one-third of her inflamed ear removed after getting it pierced at a local store. The doctors diagnosed that her ear was infected with Bacillus Subtilis.

A Taiwan Power Company staff, surname Lai, was bitten by a black dog as he took meter readings.

The Changhua District Court ruled a rapist responsible for paying the victim NT$5 million in reparation yesterday. The case can still be appealed.

Quarantine authorities yesterday disinfected a Changhua County chicken farm found to have been infected by the H5N2 bird flu virus, the Central News Agency reported.