■ JUDICIARY
Court finds Hu not guilty
The Taipei District Court yesterday found political commentator Hu Chung-hsin (胡忠信) not guilty in a libel lawsuit filed by President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) daughter Chen Hsin-yu (陳幸妤) in 2005. Chen Hsin-yu filed the suit against Hu after the commentator alleged during a TV talk show in October 2005 that she had used a professional meeting in the US as a pretext to travel there to open a bank account to help her father conceal his assets. The court said that while Hu's allegations were not completely factual, he had nevertheless given his sources. The court ruling also said that as Hu's comments were on a public matter, he had not committed libel.
■ SOCIETY
Taipei pushes moon cake
The Taipei City Government yesterday urged residents and businesses to support groups for the disabled by purchasing moon cakes made by several shelters for disabled people. Showcasing various moon cakes and other snacks -- including egg rolls and pineapple cakes -- at Taipei City Hall yesterday, nine civic groups joined forces to promote the products and encourage disabled people. Addressing the event, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said working at the shelters helped give disabled people a sense of confidence and a sense of accomplishment. "Supporting their products helps take care of disabled people's finances and ease the burden on their families," Hau said. The products can be purchased at shelters sponsored by the Children Are Us Foundation, the Taipei City Disabled Group Association, the Taipei Parents Association of Autism, and the Renai and Songteh branches of the Taipei City Hospital.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
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