Wed, Nov 23, 2022 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  TRAVEL

  Hanoi flights to start

  Taipei-based StarLux Airlines is to start flights to Hanoi on Jan. 13, as the nation and Vietnam ease border controls, it said yesterday. StarLux will fly between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Vietnamese capital once a day using the single-aisle Airbus A321neo, the airline said in a statement, adding that its target market would be Taiwanese businesspeople and tourists. The daily flight is to fly from Taoyuan at 9:25am and land in Hanoi at 11:40am, and then depart from Hanoi at 12:55pm and arrive in Taiwan at 4:35pm, the carrier said. The new route would make travel to Vietnam more convenient, as the airline already provides flights to Da Nang in central Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in the south, the statement said. StarLux — which has a fleet of 11 A321neo, four A330neo and one A350-900 aircraft — is also to launch flights to the Philippine city of Cebu on Jan. 17, bringing the total number of destinations it serves to 15, all of them in Asia.

  SPORTS

  Howard out for two weeks

  Taoyuan Leopards’ newly recruited eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard is likely to be out of action for two weeks after he felt some knee discomfort during a home game on Sunday, the T1 League pro basketball club said on Monday. Howard felt his left knee act up after a teammate ran into his leg in the first half of a 103-94 home loss to the Taichung Suns at National Taiwan Sport University’s multipurpose arena in Taoyuan. After doctors examined the knee on Monday morning, they said he did not have a major injury, but suggested that Howard rest for two weeks and return to action after fully recovering, the Leopards said in a statement. Howard thanked Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for their efforts and instructions for follow-up treatment, the Leopards said. Howard also visited a traditional Chinese medicine clinic for a second opinion, the Leopards said. The former NBA all-star will probably miss the Leopards’ next two games — against the Suns on the road on Sunday and against the defending champion Kaohsiung Aquas, also on the road, on Dec. 4. If the doctors’ timetable holds, Howard would be back for his team’s following game, at home against the Tainan TSG GhostHawks on Dec. 16.

  FOOD

  Ginseng shipment seized

  A shipment of fresh ginseng from South Korea was recently seized at the border, after being found to contain seven types of pesticides, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. The 325kg of ginseng was confiscated after sample testing on Oct. 18 detected 0.05 parts per million (ppm) of boscalid, as well as varying levels of fluopicolide, propamocarb hydrochloride, pyraclostrobin, fluazinam, penthiopyrad and tebuconazole ranging from 0.02ppm and 0.07ppm, the FDA said. The five detected levels of pesticides — boscalid, fluopicolide, propamocarb hydrochloride, pyraclostrobin and tebuconazole — all exceeded the allowable limit of 0.01ppm, FDA official Chen Ching-yu (陳慶裕) said. Fluazinam and penthiopyrad are banned for use in ginseng, Chen said. The items will either be returned to the country of origin or destroyed, said the FDA, which yesterday also published a list of nine other imported items that recently failed safety inspections. Other items rejected and destroyed or returned by customs included 780kg of fish sauce from Vietnam, 10,080kg of frozen water chestnuts from China and 20kg of cumin powder from India, the FDA reported.
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