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).
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of