Big S (大S) has hit the headlines of the Chinese-language media yet again, this time for putting an end to her two-and-a-half year romance with F4 band member Vic Chou (周渝民). Rumors abound, ranging from the prosaic but credible "divergent career paths and incompatible interests," to the juicier suggestion from Apple Daily that Chou has recently had a relapse into depression after getting too deeply into his role in Johnnie To's (杜琪峰) most recent flick, Linger (蝴蝶飛). According to reports, Chou's name has also been linked with Linger's leading lady Li Bingbing (李冰冰) and TV personality Patty Hou (侯佩岑), whom he met while working on the TV romance series Delicious Relation (美味關係).
Recent reports say that the young Lothario, who swept Big S - five years his senior - off her feet back in 2005, is now history for her. His excuse for his recent inattention to his "big sister" has been preoccupation with the release of the new F4 album, Waiting For You (在這裡等你), which two weeks ago hit the charts at number two, but has since dropped to number 17.
Pop Stop is glad to announce that its prediction that Guatemalan-Taiwanese model Liz Yang's (楊莉思) involvement with David Tao (陶吉吉) would earn her plenty of coverage in the gossip rags has come true. After Tao's two run-ins with police (on both occasions significantly the worse for drink) the rising model has decided that enough is enough. According to Next, the model claims that they are "just friends," that he has been too busy to get in contact and the rest of the usual brush-off palaver. As a result, the model has a four-page spread and a cover (lathered fetchingly in strawberries and cream and wearing cherry-print cotton knickers) in this week's edition of the magazine. Clearly she is not just a pretty face.
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According to gossip Web sites, Yang is not the only one getting a leg up from a big-name star. The 19-year-old TV commercial model Chiang Yu-chen (江語晨), who has been associated with Jay "The Chairman" Chou (周杰倫) ever since his fling with Hebe ended, seems to be doing well enough in the romance race to spark the envy of Internet gossip mongers. They have been painting her as a two-timing gold-digger, with possible lesbian inclinations to boot.
In November last year, Little Pan-pan (小潘潘) was caught up in the drug busts that hit the celebrity world. Although cleared, the celebrity says that the incident lost her NT$300,000 over the last three months as gig organizers cancelled shows because of the negative publicity. To console herself, reports say, Little Pan-pan has announced that she will head to the cosmetic surgeon's office so she can put on a new face for the New Year.
CTV's One Million Star (超級星光大道) pop idol "reality" show is finally beginning to slip in the ratings. Bad singing and almost constant rumors that the competition is fixed by record companies have been taking their toll. The show still manages to hold first place though, well ahead of TTV's rival reality show Super Idol (超級偶像). It seems that One Million Star works the rumor mill to maintain its lead, this week generating the snippet that the current second-place holder and Hello Kitty look-alike, Annie Lin (林宜融), is related to the show's producers. With the number of people surnamed Lin in Taiwan, though, even the gossip rags are unable to put their heart into this one. In another story with a rather gloating tone, Apple Daily reported that last year's One Million Star favorite, Aska Yang (楊宗緯), flubbed his first appearance as a guest host on GTV's 100% Entertainment (娛樂百分百).
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Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
Perched on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, Arunothai is a dusty crossroads town, a nowheresville that could be the setting of some Southeast Asian spaghetti Western. Its main street is the final, dead-end section of the two-lane highway from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city 120kms south, and the heart of the kingdom’s mountainous north. At the town boundary, a Chinese-style arch capped with dragons also bears Thai script declaring fealty to Bangkok’s royal family: “Long live the King!” Further on, Chinese lanterns line the main street, and on the hillsides, courtyard homes sit among warrens of narrow, winding alleyways and
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