ENTERTAINMENT
Hu Ting-ting announces split
British-born Taiwanese actress Hu Ting-ting (胡婷婷), the daughter of Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), announced yesterday that she has separated from her husband, Julio Acconci, after a year of marriage. “It was a very peaceful decision made by both sides... we are still good friends,” Hu Ting-ting wrote on Facebook. She did not give a reason for the breakup, saying only that “it was love that brought us together. It was also because of love that we decided to part ways.” Hu Ting-ting, who made her acting debut as a Thai prostitute in the romantic comedy Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, married Acconci in January last year. At a press conference yesterday, her father choked up with emotion as he said that he was “shocked” and very sad to hear the news, but that the most important thing for him now was to help his daughter through this difficult time.
ENTERTAINMENT
Hsu sets marriage date
Taiwanese singer-actress Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄) is to marry her Singaporean businessman fiance Sean Lee in June, her management company said. The couple held an engagement party on Saturday in Taipei. While the 38-year-old model, singer and actress enjoys popularity in her home country and Japan, she plans to settle down in Singapore after her marriage, but will continue her career in the entertainment business if there are good opportunities, the company said. Lee is chief executive officer of Marco Polo Marine, a Singapore-based integrated marine logistics group. Hsu was once a member of the popular Japanese group Black Biscuits and has also appeared in a number of films and television series in both Taiwan and Japan, including The Shoe Fairy (人魚朵朵) and The Knot (雲水謠).
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central