ENTERTAINMENT
Pixar concert set for Taipei
A concert in Taipei next month featuring music and imagery from Pixar films will present an audio-visual feast, event organizers said. Taiwan’s Evergreen Symphony Orchestra will perform songs and music scores from 13 Pixar films, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, Up, The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc, Management of New Arts said, adding that scenes from the films will be shown in sync with the music on a large screen. “Pixar in Concert,” to be conducted by Nicholas Buc from Australia, will take place at the National Concert Hall on Sept. 28. The concert premiered in the US in July last year and a similar concert was held at the Tainan Arts Festival in April.
WEATHER
Storm could bring showers
A tropical storm that formed over the Philippines yesterday could bring showers to Taiwan this week as it moves toward the Bashi Channel, the Central Weather Bureau said. As of 8am, Tropical Storm Utor was centered 1,400km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southernmost tip of Taiwan, moving west-northwest at 18kph, the weather bureau said. It was packing sustained winds of 83kph, with gusts reaching 108kph. Utor could be closest to Taiwan between tomorrow and Tuesday, bringing rains to the south and east of the nation, forecasters said. The rainy weather could cause temperatures nationwide to drop significantly beginning on Wednesday, the bureau said. Taiwan has been experiencing scorching weather over the past week because of a high pressure system. Taipei saw a record-high temperature of 39.3oC on Thursday.
RABIES
Rabies cases rise to 76
Tests have confirmed rabies in 13 more Formosan ferret-badgers, bringing the number of confirmed infections in wild animals to 76 since the deadly disease resurfaced in Taiwan last month, authorities said yesterday. The newly discovered infections come from Taichung and Nantou County in the center of the country; Yunlin and Chiayi counties, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung in the south; and Taitung County in the east, the Central Epidemic Command Center for Rabies said. Aside from one Asian house shrew, the rest of the 75 confirmed cases have all been wild Formosan ferret-badgers, the center said. A total of 224 wild carnivorous animals had been tested for the disease as of Friday. The outbreak has been found across 38 districts of eight counties and cities in central, southern and eastern parts of the nation. To date, there have been no confirmed human cases of the disease, which is nearly always fatal after symptoms first appear.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
General named vice minister
Army General Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發), an executive deputy chief of the General Staff, has been named Vice Minister of National Defense for Armaments, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). A graduate of the Military Academy’s 1975 class, Yen later attended the National Defense University’s War College and served as chief of staff and deputy commander of the army. Yen took over the post vacated by Admiral Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻), who assumed office as chief of general staff on Thursday as part of a reshuffle of senior defense officials triggered by the resignation of former minister of national defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) on Aug. 1. Kao’s successor, former deputy minister of national defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖), resigned after only six days on the job and was replaced by former chief of general staff Yen Ming (嚴明).
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant