CULTURE
Beethoven concerts planned
Orchestras in Taipei and Kaohsiung are to hold Beethoven-themed concerts over the coming weeks to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The National Symphony Orchestra on Thursday announced plans for three concerts at the National Concert Hall, to be streamed on Public Television Service’s (PTS) YouTube channel and the PTS+ streaming service. The concerts are to begin at 7:30pm today, on Saturday and on June 12, and are to be available on the PTS+ platform afterward. The Taipei Symphony Orchestra on Friday said that tickets had sold out in two days for its Beethoven-themed concert on June 5 at the National Concert Hall. The Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra is to stream a recorded concert at 7:30pm on Saturday on the YouTube channels of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts and the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival.
SPORTS
Summer games announced
A national sports event is to be held in August to allow the nation’s athletes who were supposed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics this summer to review their fitness and adapt their training programs if necessary, Sports Administration Director-General Kao Chin-hsung (高俊雄) said on Thursday. The event is to be held from Aug. 1 to 8 at the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung and is to feature 12 disciplines — athletics, swimming, archery, boxing, karate, gymnastics, table tennis, badminton, weight-lifting, taekwondo, judo and shooting — he said. The International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee in March postponed the Olympic Games until next summer because of concerns about athletes’ health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
SOCIETY
Body of woman found
Rescue personnel yesterday found the body of a 37-year-old woman who fell into the water from a pier at Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) the previous day, the Nantou County Fire Station said. The woman, surnamed Chang (張), was about to board a ferry in the evening when she slipped and fell into the water, fire officials said. Rescue divers were immediately sent to the area to search for her, station section chief Chin Ko-han (金可瀚) said. However, underwater visibility was extremely poor due to heavy rain and divers were forced to halt their search after four hours at about 9pm, he said. A team of about 30 divers was dispatched yesterday morning and found her body at the bottom of the lake at 1:55pm, he said.
SOCIETY
Fetus found in septic tank
Cleaners on Thursday discovered a four-month-old fetus in a septic tank in a residential community in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊), police said. Cleaners opened the lid of the tank in the building’s basement at about 10am and saw the fetus floating in the tank, police said. They immediately alerted the manager of the complex, who contacted the police, they said. Firefighters and police who arrived at the scene could not identify the gender of the fetus, police added. An investigation has been launched, police said, adding that they would examine surveillance camera footage in the building and question the residents of the complex. The fetus might have been flushed down the toilet, police said.
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