ENVIRONMENT
Potable water on weekends
The Taipei Water Department said that starting today, drinking water is to be available to the public during weekends at select night markets and commercial quarters in the city. Drinking water fountains have been installed at the following popular sites: the Ximending pedestrian zone, Raohe Night Market, Ningxia Night Market, Shilin Night Market and Yongkang commercial quarters, the water department said. The quality of the water is guaranteed and will be checked regularly, Water Department Deputy Commissioner Chen Man-li (陳曼莉) said. Each fountain is to have a “Taipei Wonderful Water” QR Code so that the public can check the water quality using their mobile phones, she said. Potable water is to be available on weekends, from 5pm to 10pm, she said.
EDUCATION
Team in math competition
With four silver medals, one bronze and one honorable mention, Taiwan was on Wednesday in 18th place among the 104 countries competing in the International Mathematical Olympiad. The Taiwanese team has six students from junior and senior high schools. The top three teams are the US with five gold medals and one silver, China with four golds and two silvers, and South Korea with three golds, one silver and two bronze. The 56th International Mathematical Olympiad was held from July 4 to yesterday in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Taiwan’s best performance in the competition was last year, winning four gold and two bronze medals.
TOURISM
Alishan promotes wedding
The Alishan National Scenic Area is promoting a wedding under a 1,000-year-old sacred tree on Oct. 25, followed by a three-day honeymoon at the national park. The wedding and honeymoon are part of a promotional event called “Alishan-Eternal Love Beneath a Thousand Year Old Sacred Tree,” which was first launched by Alishan tourism authorities in 2007. The wedding this year is being cohosted by the Alishan National Scenic Administration, the Forestry Bureau’s Chiayi Forest District Office, the Chiayi County Government and the Southwest Coast National Scenic Administration. During their three-day honeymoon in Alishan, the couple is expected to embrace nature while learning more about Tsou Aborigines, the organizers said. At least 12 couples are expected to exchange vows under the sacred tree this year, they added.
CULTURE
WWII Web site launched
A Web site on China’s War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945) was launched early this month, with content offered in Chinese and English. Visitors to the site can find information that begins with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, and ends in October 1945, when the Nationalist army was preparing to take over Taiwan from Japan. The Web site also features more current information, such as President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) presentation of commemorative medals to 25 World War II veterans in the middle of last month, a military parade on July 4 and an international conference that was held from July 7 to July 9 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war. Under the heading of “journals,” readers can find abstracts of papers presented at the conference, which was attended by about 200 academics. The Web site — en.70thvictory.com.tw — is being hosted by Academia Historica and maintained by the Central News Agency.
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
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