TRAPPED IN TUCHENG: Reverend Lyim Hong-tiong said the Church cared about the former president's predicament because it was an abuse of his human rights
By Ko Shu-ling
Beginning tomorrow, former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office will hold a series of rallies across the country in support of Chen, who has been detained incommunicado without charge since Nov. 12.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
The Control Yuan published asset declarations of government officials yesterday, the first time since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration came to power on May 20.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Jimmy Chuang
Former minister of the interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲), who was detained on Oct. 15 in relation to an investigation into allegations of corruption involving the former first family and the construction of the Nangang Exhibition Hall, was yesterday released from detention on NT$1 million (US$30,000) bail.

[ FULL STORY ]

TOUGH TIMES: The Taiwan Fund for Children and Family's Miguel Wang said donations fell 20 percent this year as civic groups touted voucher donations
By Loa Iok-sin
Facing financial problems because of the global economic recession, civic groups yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to keep his promise to donate his consumer vouchers to welfare groups, in the hope that more people would follow suit.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Loa Iok-sin
While those attending a public hearing yesterday on the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) agreed that reforms were necessary, government officials, legal activists, academics and lawmakers still held different views on whether clauses on restricted areas, the police’s power to disband demonstrations and the penalties on people who violate the law should be removed.

[ FULL STORY ]

DRESS WARM: With the season’s coldest days so far on the way, the Council of Agriculture said it would help fishermen and farmers if extensive losses are suffered
By Meggie Lu
Affected by a cold air mass from China, Taiwan will experience its coldest period so far this year. Starting yesterday evening until Sunday, the mercury is expected to drop to as low as 8˚C in central parts of the country, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

RUINS: Protesters said that a government notice to residents to vacate buildings by Monday went against an agreement reached last year to preserve 40 structures
By Shih Hsiu-chuan
A group of activists protested in front of the Executive Yuan yesterday, calling on the government to keep its promise to preserve the Lo Sheng Sanatorium, built in 1930 during the Japanese colonial period to isolate patients with Hansen’s Disease.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Mo Yan-chih
Taipei City Hospital will open its first women-only sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic today at its Kunming branch in Ximending to provide a safe and friendly medical environment for women.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Mo Yan-chih
Mudslides and erosion around a support pillar of the Maokong Gondola system have had a negative impact on the system’s capability to withstand an earthquake, but the stability of the pillar would otherwise not be affected, a civil engineering expert said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) said it had installed a high-concentration photovoltaic system with an output of 5kw and an advanced sun-tracking unit, which is said to be the first of its kind in Taiwan, officials at the Tainan-based university said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

The number of Hodgson’s hawk eagles — Taiwan’s largest bird of prey — has dropped to 100, members of the Taitung Wild Bird Society said on Wednesday, attributing the decline to human encroachment on the mountain bird’s habitats.

[ FULL STORY ]

CAMPUS SAFETY: The ministry will continue to cut the number of military teachers at universities but not high schools, where they play a key role, the minister said
By Flora Wang
The Ministry of Education’s policy to reduce the number of military instructors nationwide remains unchanged, Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) said yesterday, while the justice minister admitted to accidentally telling universities to hire government ethics personnel.

[ FULL STORY ]

NO EXPLANATION: Chen Ting-fei said she was having tea at the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei hotel on Nov. 5 when police surrounded her
Five Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday filed a lawsuit against three high-ranking police officers, accusing them of infringing on their civil liberties during protests against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) visit this month.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Loa Iok-sin
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) has organized a film festival that begins tomorrow to raise public awareness of various human rights issues.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ DIPLOMACY

[ FULL STORY ]