STUMPING: The premier said voters would choose mayors and county heads based on their personal qualities, not on the Ma administration’s performance
By Mo Yan-chih and Shih Hsiu-chuan
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday that the public should not draw a link between next month’s mayor and county commissioner elections and the public’s view of the performance of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his government.

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A leading Chinese human rights lawyer who tried unsuccessfully to meet US President Barack Obama in Beijing last week was detained and interrogated twice during Obama’s visit to China, a US lawmaker and a US-based Chinese activist said.

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Legal experts said that thousands of tobacco lawsuits could gain momentum in Florida after a Fort Lauderdale jury ordered Philip Morris USA to pay US$300 million to a former smoker who says she needs a lung transplant.

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TO HARM AND TO HOLD: A US-based activist said that lawyer Jiang Tianyong was detained while outside the US Embassy hoping to meet the visiting leader
A leading Chinese human rights lawyer who tried unsuccessfully to meet US President Barack Obama in Beijing last week was detained and interrogated twice during Obama’s visit to China, a US lawmaker and a US-based Chinese activist said.

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German prosecutors investigating corruption in soccer said 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland have been arrested and that about 200 games in Europe — including Champions League matches — are involved in what an UEFA official called the biggest match-fixing scandal in Europe.

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