MUSIC
Kylie Minogue wows fans
Pop diva Kylie Minogue dazzled fans last night in Taipei, performing in Taiwan for the second time after her first visit in 2008. The concert, held at the Nangang Exhibition Hall, was part of her six-month “Aphrodite” world tour, which began in February. Upon her arrival on Saturday for a three-day visit, she was welcomed at the airport by a crowd of screaming fans, with some singing Minogue’s hit songs to attract her attention, as the Australian singer-songwriter walked out of the airport’s arrival lobby. She greeted fans and signed autographs, saying she was very happy to be in Taiwan. The singer will leave today to travel to Manila for another show.
SOCIETY
More women walk
Walking is the primary means of non-motorized transportation for women in Taiwan, while men more often ride bicycles, a survey released yesterday by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications shows. The ministry said the gender factor was a key issue in the use of public transport and that the survey could be a useful reference in transportation policy planning. The survey showed that 13.9 percent of women used non-motorized forms of transportation, about 2.1 percent more than men. Non-motorized transportation is defined as active transportation and human-powered transportation that provides both recreation and transportation. In the poll, walking and cycling were included in the category of eco-friendly public transportation. The survey showed that 17.14 percent of women take public transportation, such as city buses and the MRT, while only 10.3 percent of men do so, as they prefer to drive cars. Almost 78 percent of men take private motorized transportation, about 9 percent higher than women, the survey found.
POPULATION
Birthrate rises in first half
The number of babies born in the country in the first five months of this year increased 8.3 percent compared with the same period last year, according to recent government figures. During the January-May period, 75,792 babies were born in Taiwan, statistics from the Ministry of the Interior showed. Last year, 166,886 babies were born in Taiwan, a 12.8 percent decrease from the previous year. Fifty-three percent of the babies were firstborns and 36 percent were second births. Meanwhile, the number of mothers in the 20 to 24 age group dropped 12.1 percentage points from 10 years ago, while those in the 25 to 29 age group fell 6.5 percentage points. Taiwan has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
SOCIETY
Balloons fly over Taitung
Twenty hot air balloons crossed Taitung over the weekend, creating a kaleidoscope of color. Most of the balloons, tethered together, floated over the Luye Rift Valley on Friday, while some were released on Saturday and yesterday. Fourteen of the balloons were from the US, Canada, Switzerland, Dubai, Thailand, India and New Zealand. Hot air balloons are classified as aircraft, which means they are not officially permitted to fly over Taiwan for reasons of aviation safety, according to Rosa Huang, a lecturer at the University of Kang Ning, which co-sponsored the event. The 20 balloons were launched for teaching purposes only, Huang said.
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