■ CrimeIlan police arrest dog
Police in the northeastern county of Ilan yesterday arrested a dog in connection with the death of an 85-year-old man, who died after accidentally falling off a hospital bed recently, officers said. The man, identified only as Lin, was treated for a bite wound on his right leg at a hospital in Ilan before his deadly fall, police said. "He was attacked by the dog when he passed by a betel-nut vendor in January and left with a 6cm cut caused by the bite," a police officer said in a telephone conversation. The family claims that, were it not for the dog bite, Lin would not have checked into the hospital and fallen from the bed to his death, according to the officer.
■ Politics
Chai seeks plebiscite law
DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) has registered to join the Home Affairs Committee at the legislature for the coming session, in order to push for the enactment of a plebiscite law, his office said yesterday. However, DPP convener at the legislature Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the party does not see the urgency of enacting a plebiscite law, which is controversial and could lead to a showdown between the ruling and opposition parties. The KMT and the PFP are firmly opposed to a plebiscite law out of concern that pro-independence groups might push for a plebiscite on politically charged issues such as independence.
■ Politics
Lee lauds Chen's rule
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said the administration led by Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is the only Taiwanese regime the nation has had in 400 years and urged citizens to support it. Speaking to a hundred middle-school students selected and being trained by the TSU as the country's future leaders, Lee said Taiwan has always been ruled by intruders since people first settled the island until 2000, when Chen was elected president. Lee, who campaigned for KMT candidate Lien Chan (連戰) against Chen in the 2000 presidential election, said all Taiwanese should value the hard-earned opportunity to rule themselves and should rally behind Chen.
■ Nuclear power
Activists begin 500km trek
A group of anti-nuclear activists started what they described as a 500km trek from Lukang, Changhua County, central Taiwan, to Taipei City yesterday to demand a plebiscite on the Fourth Nuclear Plant. Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who is heading the group, said the trek is aimed at boosting public support for a plebiscite coinciding with next year's presidential election on whether the controversial Fourth Nuclear Plant should be scrapped. The group said in a statement released late Saturday in Lukang that public projects, especially nuclear plants that threaten the lives and safety of future generations, affect the public, which should have the final say on whether such projects are pursued.
■ Human rights
Parris Chang goes to Paris
A group of Taiwanese lawmakers met in Paris Saturday with French parliamentarian Christian Bataille and human-rights activist Pierre Rigoulot. The lawmakers, led by DPP Legislator Parris Chang (張旭成), told Bataille, who is the head of a pro-Taiwan group in the French National Assembly, and Rigoulot, who monitors the human-rights records of Asian states, about Taipei's bid to join the WHO and sought their support.
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