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Flea Market comes to Taichung
Morrison Academy Taichung campus’ annual Senior’s Flea Market is being held on Saturday from 9am to 1pm. The school said it will be the biggest event of its kind in Taichung City with thousands of second-hand items for sale. Refreshments will also be available. Admission is free. For information on renting a stall or donating items, contact the school on (04) 2292-1171.
CONTEST
Taipei promotes language contest
A Mandarin/Hoklo speech contest for foreigners in Taiwan sponsored by the Taipei City Government will be held next month. The city government is inviting individuals to share their thoughts about the city and potentially win big prizes. Foreigners who have lived in Taiwan for less than six years are eligible to enter the contest. The theme of the contest is “Having Fun in Taipei,” and participants should prepare a three-minute speech in Mandarin or Hoklo to share their recommendations of fun spots in Taipei City, the city government said. To enter, download application forms at www.rti.org.tw and send them by mail, e-mail or fax to Radio Taiwan International. A primary round of the contest will be held at 1pm on May 11 at the Grand Hotel. The final will be held at 1pm on May 24 at the Warner Village Pedestrian Area. The winner will take home NT$30,000 and a Grand Hotel voucher, the city government said. For more information, visit www.rit.org.tw or www.taipeitravel.net or call (02) 2885 6168 ext.722.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it