Construction of the NT$4.55 billion Taipei Pop Music Center began yesterday, with President Ma Ying-jeou, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) and local representatives from the music sector attending the groundbreaking ceremony.

The annual Taipei International Food Show, scheduled to be held next week, is one of the most important food exhibitions in Asia and will showcase a wide variety of food products and two cooking competitions, according to the organizers.

Nicholas Biniaz-Harris is a young American classical pianist who is more at home performing Bach, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff than the obscure works of Nazi concentration camp inmates.

itish comic Russell Brand told Katy Perry he was divorcing her by text message, the U.S. pop star said in a new magazine interview, adding that she hasn't heard from him since.

“Girl Rising” airs on CNN International Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23 at 2100 HKT. CNN International today announced a new slate of programming focused on the empowerment of young girls around the world with the premiere of critically acclaimed film “Girl Rising” and launch of “A Girl's World,” a distinctive new series chronicling the lives of seven girls in seven countries.

Foreign musicians and dancers yesterday recalled late pop singer Michael Jackson's legacy and his impact on their lives, ahead of a the theatrical production in Taipei by Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil.

The Taiwan Pavilion at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, to be held from Oct. 9-13, will showcase an array of books, comics and e-readers from Taiwan, the Taipei Book Fair Foundation said on yesterday.

As a queen, Helen Mirren reigns on screen and stage. National Theatre Live, which broadcasts stage shows from England to movie screens worldwide, said Monday that its June 13 live broadcast of Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in the play “The Audience” has captured its largest audience to date.

Comedy fans know the names — John Belushi, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Joan Rivers — but before those famous faces graced Hollywood movies or the “Saturday Night Live” stage they were discovered by Bernie Sahlins, co-founder of The Second City.

The behavior of Thailand's Buddhist clergy has been thrust under the spotlight after footage emerged of three monks flying in a private jet, wearing earphones and sunglasses and traveling with a Louis Vuitton luxury bag.