TOURISM
Basketball fundraiser set
Entertainers from Taiwan and South Korea are scheduled to take part in a charity baseball game in Greater Taichung on Sunday, as part of a collaborative effort with the Tourism Bureau to promote travel through sports exchanges. The Taiwanese team is to be led by comedian Peng Chia-chia (澎恰恰). The money raised from the free game at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium is to be donated to charities for autistic children, the bureau said. The bureau is also planning to organize a “Taiwan Day” next month, in collaboration with the US NBA Houston Rockets basketball team, as part of the efforts to give Taiwan greater visibility. Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin (林書豪), the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, is likely to be a major attraction, the bureau said.
SOCIETY
Children’s film fest to open
The Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival, which is set to start in Taipei on March 27, is this year aimed at inspiring children to think more openly and creatively. The biennial festival, to run until April 6 at the Xinyi Vieshow Cinemas, will feature more than 100 films from 32 countries, according to Taiwan Public Television Service (PTS), the festival’s organizer. The films’ main themes range from friendship, sibling relationships and family struggles, to adventure, science and life and death. The theme of this year’s festival — “Diversified Thinking and Boundless Creativity” — was chosen to challenge and inspire youngsters to think about things from different perspectives and beyond boundaries, PTS said.
CRIME
Family may sue prosecutors
The family of a man who reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself with shoelaces in a detention room of the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it is considering filing suit against personnel for neglecting their duties to guard him. District prosecutors’ office spokesman Kuo Chih-ming (郭志明) said the 35-year-old man, surnamed Lo (羅), was arrested with three others on suspicion of trading drugs and carrying pistols. They were brought to the office at 5pm on Friday, Kuo said, adding that to prevent them from colluding on their statements, police kept them in four separate rooms. The spokesman said police had also taken the men’s belts. However, at 7:10pm, police found Lo dead after he had allegedly hanged himself with shoelaces. Kuo said the office has apologized to Lo’s family and that a criminal investigation has been launched.
AGRICULTURE
Lettuce exports set to rise
Farmers are likely to export more lettuce this year compared with last year after securing more orders through contract farming, according to the Council of Agriculture. The nation’s farmers grow the vegetable on about 600 hectares of land — in which the crops are sold to designated buyers at fixed prices, the council’s Agriculture and Food Agency said. Exports of lettuce have increased substantially in the past four years, steadily rising from 2,904 tonnes in 2009 to 4,012 tonnes in 2010, 4,565 tonnes in 2011, 8,311 tonnes in 2012 and 10,384 tonnes last year. Lettuce exports were worth NT$283 million (US$9.36 million) last year, more than tripling the NT$90 million earned in 2009, data showed. Japan is Taiwan’s largest export destination for lettuce, accounting for 80 percent of total lettuce exports.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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
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