ENTERTAINMENT
Pixar concert set for Taipei
A concert in Taipei next month featuring music and imagery from Pixar films will present an audio-visual feast, event organizers said. Taiwan’s Evergreen Symphony Orchestra will perform songs and music scores from 13 Pixar films, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, Up, The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc, Management of New Arts said, adding that scenes from the films will be shown in sync with the music on a large screen. “Pixar in Concert,” to be conducted by Nicholas Buc from Australia, will take place at the National Concert Hall on Sept. 28. The concert premiered in the US in July last year and a similar concert was held at the Tainan Arts Festival in April.
WEATHER
Storm could bring showers
A tropical storm that formed over the Philippines yesterday could bring showers to Taiwan this week as it moves toward the Bashi Channel, the Central Weather Bureau said. As of 8am, Tropical Storm Utor was centered 1,400km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southernmost tip of Taiwan, moving west-northwest at 18kph, the weather bureau said. It was packing sustained winds of 83kph, with gusts reaching 108kph. Utor could be closest to Taiwan between tomorrow and Tuesday, bringing rains to the south and east of the nation, forecasters said. The rainy weather could cause temperatures nationwide to drop significantly beginning on Wednesday, the bureau said. Taiwan has been experiencing scorching weather over the past week because of a high pressure system. Taipei saw a record-high temperature of 39.3oC on Thursday.
RABIES
Rabies cases rise to 76
Tests have confirmed rabies in 13 more Formosan ferret-badgers, bringing the number of confirmed infections in wild animals to 76 since the deadly disease resurfaced in Taiwan last month, authorities said yesterday. The newly discovered infections come from Taichung and Nantou County in the center of the country; Yunlin and Chiayi counties, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung in the south; and Taitung County in the east, the Central Epidemic Command Center for Rabies said. Aside from one Asian house shrew, the rest of the 75 confirmed cases have all been wild Formosan ferret-badgers, the center said. A total of 224 wild carnivorous animals had been tested for the disease as of Friday. The outbreak has been found across 38 districts of eight counties and cities in central, southern and eastern parts of the nation. To date, there have been no confirmed human cases of the disease, which is nearly always fatal after symptoms first appear.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
General named vice minister
Army General Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發), an executive deputy chief of the General Staff, has been named Vice Minister of National Defense for Armaments, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). A graduate of the Military Academy’s 1975 class, Yen later attended the National Defense University’s War College and served as chief of staff and deputy commander of the army. Yen took over the post vacated by Admiral Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻), who assumed office as chief of general staff on Thursday as part of a reshuffle of senior defense officials triggered by the resignation of former minister of national defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) on Aug. 1. Kao’s successor, former deputy minister of national defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖), resigned after only six days on the job and was replaced by former chief of general staff Yen Ming (嚴明).
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
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