ENTERTAINMENT
Orchestra to perform
Taiwan’s classical music fans have the rare opportunity to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform in October. Widely regarded as one of the world’s best, the orchestra is to perform in Taiwan for the first time in 11 years. Led by conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the orchestra is to give concerts on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, according to promoter, Management of New Arts (MNA). The orchestra is also to perform on Oct. 15 in Kaohsiung for the first time, at the Jhihde Hall, MNA said. The last time the Vienna Philharmonic performed in Taiwan was in 2004. The upcoming concerts are part of the orchestra’s Asian tour, which includes performances in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
DIPLOMACY
Honduran leader seeks trade
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez is to preside over a seminar in Taipei today seeking more foreign investment in his country and promoting bilateral trade relations. Hernandez, who is heading a delegation of government officials, arrived yesterday on the last leg of an Asian trip that has also taken him to South Korea and Japan to attract foreign investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. It is Hernandez’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office in January last year. The seminar is to introduce investment and commercial opportunities in the Central American country to the business community, said Jerry Yang (楊司恭), deputy director-general of the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs. Hernandez is also set to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) tomorrow and is to be welcomed with a 21-gun salute at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the ministry said.
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