Taiwan (historically called "Formosa" especially prior to 1945, from Portuguese: Ilha Formosa, "Beautiful Island") is an island and an archipelago in East Asia, composed of Taiwan Island and several much smaller islands such as the Penghu Islands, Orchid Island, Green Island, and Hsiao Liuchiu. The main island is located some 180 kilometres (112 miles) off the southeastern coast of China across the Taiwan Strait. It has an area of 35,883 km² (13,855 sq mi) and straddles the Tropic of Cancer. The archipelago makes up the majority of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as "Taiwan"), after the ROC lost its mainland China territory in the Chinese Civil War.

The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling Chianan Plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan at 3,952 metres (12,966 ft), and there are five other peaks over 3500 meters. This makes it the world's fourth-highest island.

Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso (born 18 June 1946 in Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia Brazil), better known as Maria Bethânia (Portuguese pronunciation: [maˈɾiɐ beˈtɐ̃niɐ]), is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião" ("Opinion"). Due to its popularity, and the popularity of her 1965 single "Carcará", the singer became a star in Brazil, with performances all over the country. She has released over 30 albums to date.

In her childhood, Bethânia had aspirations to become an actress. However, her mother was a musician, so music was prevalent in the Veloso household. Though Bethânia was born in Santo Amaro da Purifição, her family moved to Salvador, Bahia when she was 13 years old. The move allowed her to experience the bohemian, intellectual circles of the city as well as to visit theaters. When she was 16, her brother Caetano Veloso invited her to sing in a film for which he was producing the soundtrack, but she refused. However, the film's director, Álvaro Guimarães, liked her voice and invited the young musician to perform in a 1963 performance of a Nélson Rodrigues musical. She began performing again with her brother, as well as Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Tom Zé, at the opening of the Vila Velha Theater in the next year. During one of these performances, the bossa nova musician Nara Leão offered her an opportunity to take her place in a series of performances titled "Opinião". She released her first single, a protest song named "Carcará", in 1965, the same year as her brother released his first recording.

Jorge Lanata is an Argentine journalist and writer, born in Mar del Plata in 1960. He co-founded the daily Argentine newspaper Crítica de la Argentina on March 2, 2008, and was its director until April 4, 2009.

He started his career at 14 writing short news for Radio Nacional. Since 1977 he was a collaborator of several written media: Siete Días magazine, Clarín Revista. In 1983 he entered the news program of Radio Belgrano and made investigation reports for Sin Anestesia show, while collaborating with Humor, El Periodista and El Porteño magazines.

He was a founder of the Cooperativa de Periodistas that purchased the monthly magazine El Porteño, and was its editor in chief. In 1987 he founded Página 12 newspaper, and was its director until 1994. From 1990 until 1993 he hosted Hora 25 radio show, and between 1994 and 1996 Rompe/Cabezas (1995 Martín Fierro Award for best journalistic show in radio). He regularly published in media abroad (Miami Herald, El Espectador -Colombia-, among others).