TOURISM
Taiwanese hurt in bus crash
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) yesterday said that nine Taiwanese tourists were injured in a bus crash in which four people died in Bandung, Indonesia, on Monday night. Lin said that the staff of the ministry’s mission in the country has been sent to help the injured. Non of the Taiwanese were in mortal danger, while one has already been discharged from hospital, Lin said, in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) at the legislature. According to the ministry, the bus was carrying Taiwanese and Chinese tourists when it overturned on a mountain road, killing three Chinese and one Indonesian.
SCIENCE
France honors local scientist
Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), a former president of Academia Sinica and a winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was honored by the French government yesterday for his contribution to scientific exchanges between Taiwan and France. Lee was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit. Presenting Lee’s medal, the French Office in Taipei praised Lee for helping to strengthen scientific ties between the two countries. Lee has been an example of the saying “science has no boundaries,” French office director Olivier Richard said. As a result of Lee’s efforts, the two countries now work together on more than 160 scientific projects each year, the office said. In an interview earlier this week, Lee said his two goals in life were to “become a good scientist” and “create a beautiful world with people who share the same beliefs.” To this end, he is leading a project called “Future Earth” as president of the International Council for Science, a non-governmental organization.
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