International food fair set for TAS campus
The Taipei American School (TAS) Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) will hold an international food fair on Saturday from 10am to 3pm. The activity, which is open to the public, will feature dishes from Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia, North America and South America. The fair will include games and prizes as well, the school said in a statement. The fair will take place on the school campus at 800 Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 6, Taipei City. The entry fee is NT$10 per person. More information is available from the PTA office at (02) 2873-9900, ext. 363.
Curious minds wanted for ‘The Big Question'
People interested in tackling “big questions” and social networking are invited to participate at next month’s installment of The Big Question, which will give participants an opportunity to share ideas, engage in debates and cooperate with other people. The Big Question is an annual interactive dialogue inspired by www.ted.com, a platform that recognizes thinkers and individuals who have carved their own paths through passion, ideals and a spirit of social responsibility. Speakers at The Big Question will include two individuals recently highlighted in Community Compass, Robin Winkler, cofounder of Winkler Partners & Wild at Heart Foundation, and Pierre Loisel, former general manager of HP Asia, farmer and agent for social change. Other speakers will include Chu Ping, (朱平), founder of Canmeng (Aveda), Canbran and Canlove, and Ben Tsiang (蔣顯斌), cofounder of Sinanet.com and founder of the CNEX Foundation. The event will be held in Chinese, with English interpretation, on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 at Taipei City’s Huashan Cultural Center, Middle 5 Building. The entry fee is NT$1,200 for the two days. More information, discounted passes, free online forums and registration are available at www.thebigq.org or by contacting Keli Yen, keli@thebigq.org , 0919-906-810.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique