ENTERTAINMENT
Madonna coming to Taipei?
“Queen of Pop” Madonna is scheduled to hold her first concert in Taiwan on Feb. 4 next year at the Taipei Arena, according to a promotional poster that was accidentally posted at a 7-Eleven store. Tickets for the “Rebel Heart Tour” will go on sale at 11am on Sept. 26 at http://ticket.7net.com.tw/ or at the 7-Eleven ibon kiosks, according to the information on the poster. A photo of the poster was uploaded to the Madonna Taiwan Facebook fan page on Sunday. When asked about the poster, concert promoter Live Nation Taiwan said it would not disclose nor confirm any information about the concert until today. Local media reported that the poster was accidentally posted earlier than scheduled by 7-Eleven employees. Rumors about a Madonna concert in Taiwan started circulating last month.
ENVIRONMENT
Spoonbill festival planned
Taijiang National Park in Tainan will hold a six-month festival featuring the black-faced spoonbill that will run from October to March, when the endangered bird species migrates to Taiwan for winter, park authorities said on Thursday. Tainan is one of the most important wintering sites for the black-faced spoonbill, accounting for more than 65 percent of the global population. Every year, more than 1,000 of the birds are recorded in the park. The festival is scheduled to start with an exposition on Sept. 26. In addition to an exhibition, there will be games, dramas, DIY activities and quizzes. The festival is set to feature a different theme each month, with various activities such as bird watching and bicycle riding. Those interested in the activities can register to take part via the park’s official Web site two weeks prior to the start of the events.
SPORTS
Marathon registration starts
The Taipei Marathon, previously known as the Taipei Fubon Marathon, is now open for online registration, with the number of runners limited to 27,000, the organizer said yesterday. If more than 27,000 people register, participation is to be decided by drawing lots, the Taipei City Department of Sports said. It is the first time that the drawing of lots has been introduced as a means of selecting runners for the annual marathon. Another change this year is that the event has been renamed the Taipei Marathon as it no longer has a naming rights sponsor, which used to be Fubon Financial Holdings Co. In addition, there will only be three competition categories this year: full marathon (7,000 competitors), half-marathon (12,000 competitors) and 10km run (8,000 competitors). The marathon is to start at 6:30am on Dec. 20.
CRIME
‘Lotto’ robber arrested
A man who tried to rob a bank to buy tickets for the Super Lotto that were to be drawn later yesterday was arrested shortly after his heist attempt failed, police said. The Super Lotto’s jackpot now stands at NT$2.9 billion (US$88.6 million) after 40 draws over a span of nearly five months have failed to produce a winner — the lottery’s longest-ever consecutive winless streak. The 40-year-old odd-job man, surnamed Lin (林), went to First Bank’s Rueifang (瑞芳) branch in New Taipei City, brandished a knife and told the guard he wanted NT$100,000, police investigators said. When the guard ignored him, Lin went to the bank’s counter and took a NT$1,000 note, whereupon the clerk punched the alarm bell. At least 15 police officers responded from the police station, which is only 500m from the bank, and overcame Lin in less than a minute.
LEISURE
Zoos to swap deer, pandas
The Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung on Sunday said it had reached an agreement with the Chengdu Zoo in China’s Sichuan Province to exchange a pair of Formosan sika deer for two Chinese pandas. The exchange is expected to enrich the diversity of species at the Shoushan Zoo, which has been seeking to do so, but has been limited by its funding and space, Shoushan Zoo director Chuang Hsuan-chih (莊絢智) said. The zoo, which attracts about 1 million visitors each year, said it is hoping to attract private investment to expand the zoo complex. The zoo expects it would be at least two years before the exchange can take place given the complex process and paperwork.
AGRICULTURE
Taiwan pledges Haiti cash
Taiwan has committed US$4.6 million in funding for agricultural cooperation projects in Haiti this year, the nation’s embassy in Haiti said. Ambassador Peter Hwang (黃再求) pledged the funds to Haitian Minister of Agriculture Fresner Dorcin at a ceremony on Friday. Dorcin expressed appreciation for Taiwan’s long-term support and contributions to Haiti’s agricultural development, adding that agricultural cooperation projects over the past 43 years have been fruitful. The embassy said that Taiwan’s agricultural technical mission in Haiti is to manage the US$4.6 million fund and the agricultural projects for which it is to be used. It said that funding for agricultural cooperation projects in Haiti has risen from US$100,000 in 1972, contributing greatly to the nation’s agricultural output and development, and improving the life of local farmers.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
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