REGROUP: When the evictions began at 4:40pm, the students had already decided to discuss their next move in front of the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall
By Shih Hsiu-chuan
Hundreds of college students and professors protesting the police crackdown on demonstrations against the visit of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in recent days were forcibly evicted yesterday by police from the front gate of the Executive Yuan.

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By Jimmy Chuang
Bruised and battered from five days of protests that dogged Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) during his visit to Taiwan, the police and protesters yesterday tried to evaluate the number of people injured in the sometimes heated clashes.

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By Loa Iok-sin
The Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) yesterday condemned violent acts — by both demonstrators and the police — that harmed reporters at various protest scenes on Thursday night.

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PROS AND CONS: Chang Pi said both police and protesters were responsible for the damage done to her store, but 200 copies of ‘Songs of Taiwan’ sold in a single day
By Chao Ching-yu
While her music store Sunrise Records gained popularity overnight after the Songs of Taiwan incident, when asked for comment owner Chang Pi (張碧) said that she would leave it to the public to ponder the significance of the incident.

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By Jenny W. Hsu And Mo Yan-chih
The international community strongly approved of the recent deals signed between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

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TAKE A BREAK: An ophthalmologist said that presbyopia could be delayed by resting for three out of every 30 minutes when using computers, and by eating more carrots
By Shelley Huang
The increased use of computers in recent years has caused presbyopia — a common vision condition that normally affects people over 40 years old — to be diagnosed at a younger age, an ophthalmologist said yesterday.

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‘TIME-TRAVELING BABIES’: Despite the fact that the father has lost the ability to produce sperm, the 36-year-old testicular cancer survivor has produced two sons
By Shelley Huang
When a 36-year-old man named Chen was diagnosed with testicular cancer 13 years ago, he had some of his sperm frozen before chemotherapy made him infertile. This year, that sperm was used to successfully impregnate his wife, who last month gave birth to healthy twin boys.

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The government agency in charge of monitoring high speed rail services demanded yesterday that staff of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) be punished for an operational mistake that caused services to be suspended at the Taipei end of the line.

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With several countries adoptingresolutions urging the Japanese government to apologize to comfort women — those who were forced to provide sexual services for Japanese soldiers during World War II — a Taiwanese women’s rights group yesterday urged legislators to pass a similar resolution. The subject is expected to be discussed next week.

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PROTECTING THE BIRDS: Conservation Division Director Kuan Li-hao said that efforts were paying off, as evidenced by increasing numbers of spoonbills
The 2008 Taipei International Birdwatching Fair will be held this weekend with global warming as the main theme, at a time when avian habitats are being threatened by climate change, a Forestry Bureau Conservation Division official said yesterday.

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CHANGES: Taipei lost several of its leading supporters in Washington as a result of this week’s elections and Taiwan lobbyists are now scrambling for replacements
By Charles Snyder
Taiwan’s fortunes in the US Congress next year could face tough times, depending on the stance the administration of president-elect Barack Obama takes toward China, Taiwan supporters in Washington say.

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A bicycle path along the nation’s only mountain railway opened to the public yesterday, allowing cyclists to enjoy breathtaking scenery on Alishan (阿里山), officials said.

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DANGERS: The legislature also yesterday passed an amendment to the Statute Regulating Firearms, Ammunition, Knives and Other Deadly Weapons
By Shih Hsiu-chuan
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday blocked a government-sponsored amendment to the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) that would have cut the 0.3 percent stock transaction tax in half to boost the stock market.

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