Jenn Lin, a bookish, soft-spoken Tainan native, started off uncertain that teaching was her true calling. “My bachelor's degree was in Chinese and English literature,” she said. “I took the certification exam on a whim, because I had completed the required number of credits.”

Singapore opposition parties urged Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Thursday to call a by-election after the parliamentary speaker abruptly resigned due to an extramarital affair.

The stage wasn't especially big. The lighting was simple. There were hardly any props or stage scenery. The actors? They were just wearing T-shirts and jeans. Yet the audience howled with laughter, fully engaged in the show and apparently unfazed by the low-budget production values. O-ya took to the stage to lead his troupe for a two-hour performance using only props and ideas supplied by the audience. They acted out storylines that had not existed until that moment.

Have you ever visited a website called Word Cloud? This popular website is an information visualization project that allows you to analyze a digital text.

Often when we imagine the people who influence our lives, we think of political and corporate leaders — men and women of great power who can shape the future of our country and our world. In reality, however, the people who influence our lives come in a variety of forms.

The recent news that the Walt Disney Co. plans to release a new “Star Wars” movie in 2015 — following its purchase of the franchise's producer Lucasfilm — has sent shockwaves through "Star Wars" fan communities, who have been eagerly anticipating a new movie to revive the epic saga.

Biting into a juicy burrito loaded with lettuce, salsa, meat and rice, it almost feels like you are in the U.S. Except, of course, you're not. You are in east Taipei, munching on the authentic, American-style burritos at Juanita Burritos and Tacos.

It is difficult to get Lin Ching-li to talk about herself.

When Hsieh Su-wei was 15 years old, she went to Japan to escape her father. "She wanted freedom, so she went to Japan to compete and train alone for three years," says father and tennis coach Hsieh Tze-lung. "She felt I was too strict.” And maybe he was.

“I have had a really busy and fulfilling life recently,” said a smiling Huang Yu-siang (黃裕翔), a shy young man who has experienced a meteoric rise to fame because of the film “Touch of the Light.”(逆光飛翔)