ENTERTAINMENT
Music awards set for fall
This year’s Golden Melody Awards ceremony is to be held on Oct. 3 at the soon-to-be inaugurated Taipei Music Center, the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development said yesterday. The ceremony, which had been scheduled for this month, was postponed in April due to disease prevention measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The bureau said that it chose the newly constructed venue for the awards because it would provide for exciting ceremony content. The center, which would hold its official opening ceremony on Sept. 5, can hold up to 6,000 people, its Web site shows. The nominees for the 31st Golden Melody Awards are to be announced in the middle of next month, the bureau said.
TRAVEL
Taipei again best destination
Taipei has won the “best leisure destination in Asia” Leisure Lifestyle Award from the US-based Global Traveler magazine for the third consecutive year, the Tourism Bureau’s Los Angeles office said on Friday. Singapore and Seoul were second and third, followed by Tokyo, Phuket in Thailand, Hong Kong and Bangkok. The magazine also ranked Taiwan second in “best adventure destination, international,” and ranked Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport fourth in “best airport for layovers,” behind Miami International Airport, Singapore’s Changi Airport and Doha’s Hamad International Airport. Brad Shih (施照輝), director of the bureau’s Los Angeles office, said the best leisure award represents an important recognition for Taiwan’s tourism industry. The award was determined by a survey conducted from Oct. 1 last year to Jan. 31.
ENTERTAINMENT
Film festival begins
The Taipei Film Festival on Friday began screening a dozen full-length feature films from new and emerging international filmmakers. The annual festival this year accepted 12 films by filmmakers from Taiwan, Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, Kosovo, Lesotho, Peru, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay for its International New Talent Competition category. It is on Monday to announce the winner of its grand prize and special jury prize, worth NT$600,000 and NT$300,000 respectively. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival would not hold an award ceremony, as international filmmakers would be unable to attend, festival organizers said. This year’s festival, which opened on Thursday, runs until July 11. Screening times and ticket information are available on the Taipei Film Festival’s Web site, taipeiff.taipei.
SCIENCE
Researchers make discovery
A team of Academia Sinica scientists have discovered how phosphatidic acid (PA), a molecule that influences the growth of pollen tubes, is produced in plants, it said on Tuesday. The team, led by associate research fellow Yuki Nakamura, found that PA was produced by the enzymes DGK2 and DGK4, which convert diacylglycerol into PA in pollen grains. Scientists have long known that PA plays an important role in the growth of pollen tubes, which enable fertilization, but how PA forms in plants was not known, the team said. The study was conducted using thale cress, a small flowering plant commonly used in scientific studies. Because DGK2 and DGK4 are also found in rice, wheat and corn, the same mechanism could also exist in those crops, and could help improve scientists’ understanding of crop fertility, the team said. Their research paper on the discovery was published on May 29 in the journal The Plant Cell.
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
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