■ Politics
DPP expels Cheng
The DPP's Taipei City Branch Office yesterday decided to expel Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文). Party officials agreed to expel Cheng because she had insulted the Department of Health's acting head, Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), in several call-in programs after Twu was accused of being involved in an ear-licking scandal earlier this month. The party's Membership Evaluation Committee said that Cheng first publicly insulted Twu by making false accusations and then refused to apologize after she was proven wrong. It said her behavior had damaged both Twu's and the party's reputation.
■ Diplomacy
Italians back Taiwan
A group of pro-Taiwan Italian parliamentary members on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ask Beijing to remove the missiles it has aimed at Taiwan. The lawmakers issued a statement urging Berlusconi to use all effective channels to ask Beijing to dismantle the roughly 400 missiles targeting Taiwan in order to ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait, allow the two sides to reopen dialogue and to foster peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. In the statement Taiwan is described as a full-fledged democracy that fully respects human rights and protects religious and political freedom.
■ Relationships
Abusive boyfriend rejected
A Taiwan car dealer, who beat his girlfriend because she didn't answer his telephone call, was rejected after spending NT$100,000 (US$2,900) on a billboard begging forgiveness, a report said yesterday. "I am sorry, please forgive me. Please give me one last chance to make up. I love you forever," said 34-year-old Yang Chih-hsiu (楊季修) on the billboard near the home of his ex-girlfriend. Yang had beaten his girlfriend so severely she needed to be hospitalized, a local Chinese-language newspaper reported. "I don't feel touched at all, and I have no plan to go back to him," the unidentified woman said.
■ Aboriginies
Tao council to be formed
The preparation committee of the Autonomous Council of the Tao Tribe yesterday announced that the council will be formally established on Nov. 15. According to the information given by the committee, the council would be made up of 41 elite tribal members. The mission of the council, said Himala Os, a member of the committee, is to push for autonomy for the Aborigines and respect for the Aboriginal ownership of ancestral land. Os said that the council would set up a negotiation task force to communicate with local, government and relevant agencies to push for the implementation of Tao autonomy.
■ Legal
Nagoya crash suit settled
China Airlines agreed to a settlement with relatives of scores of Japanese killed in a 1994 crash at Nagoya airport, a court spokesman said yesterday. In yesterday's agreement, 106 relatives of 38 crash victims -- who had demanded a total of ?4.1 billion (US$33 million) in damages -- accepted an undisclosed payment, the court spokesman said on condition of anonymity. Kyodo News quoted the plaintiffs' lawyers as saying the relatives accepted the airline's original compensation offer of roughly ?6.40 million (US$132,000) for each victim, plus an undisclosed amount. China Airlines spokesman Roger Han in Taipei confirmed the settlement.
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