■ POLITICS
Former officials impeached
The Control Yuan yesterday impeached former secretary-general of the Executive Yuan Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳), former chief of the Hsinchu Science Park James Lee (李界木) and former minister of the National Science Council Wei Che-ho (魏哲和) over a land procurement deal allegedly involving former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). They were charged with breach of duty when they completed a deal whereby the government-run Hsinchu Science Park purchased land in Longtan Science Park, Taoyuan County, from Dayu, a subsidiary of Taiwan Cement Group. Prosecutors in December indicted the former first family for allegedly receiving NT$300 million (US$9.1 million) in kickbacks from a total payoff of NT$400 million made by Leslie Koo (辜成允) related to the deal. The case is currently being tried.
■ TOURISM
Bureau launches promotion
The Tourism Bureau yesterday launched the Southern Taiwan Summer Tour Passport, which aims to integrate the efforts of local governments and various stakeholders in the tourism industry, such as restaurants and hotels, to promote tourism in southern Taiwan. The summer tour promotion, co-organized by the city and county governments of Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Penghu, will offer discounts of up to 50 percent at hundreds of hotels and restaurants from July 13 to Sept. 30 and includes add-ons such as NT$10 hotel upgrade packages. A total of 80,000 Southern Taiwan Summer Tour Passports are now available free of charge at highway rest stops, train stations, Taiwan High Speed Rail stations and Taipei MRT service centers.
■ TRADE
Fair to focus on France
Next year’s Taipei International Book Exhibition, one of the highest-profile book fairs in Asia, is to focus on French literature and publishing as its main theme, the organizer announced yesterday. Paulina Lin (林文琪), executive director of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation, said there is much to learn from publishing policies and traditions in France, such as the fact that the French government has adopted protection measures for small publishing companies so that the public has access to non-mainstream authors. The 18th annual exhibitionwill be held between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1 at the World Trade Center.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai