■Elections
Vote-buying figures tallied
A total of 614 criminal complaints resulting from the elections of mayors and councilmen in Taipei and Kaohsiung cities have been handled with most of the complaints being for attempted bribery, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of the Justice (MOJ). The MOJ reported eleven cases that have resulted in charges of vote-buying. Investigators were still looking into 575 cases and the rest were thrown out or dropped on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Of the complaints listed, 39 surrounded the mayoral races; the others came from campaigning by candidates for city council. Although most of the complaints were handled by district court prosecutors in Taipei and Kaohsiung, one case was handled in each of the following cities: Chiayi, Tainan, Hsinchu and Ilan.
■ Elections
Yam.com offers poll updates
Yam.com will offer exclusive Web pages providing instant information about the mayoral and city councilor elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung today. Yam.com ran up-to-the-minute reports on last year's legislative elections, drawing a record number of visits, reaching 150,000 in four hours. This year Yam.com expects to perform even better by collaborating with the Chinese Television System, the Central News Agency and two Chinese-language newspapers in an effort to keep Internet users informed of the latest election results, a Yam.com executive said.
■ Politics
Premier Yu's mother dies
Premier Yu Shyi-kun's mother, Huang Shou-chu (黃秀菊), passed away of lung cancer yesterday at age 78. Huang died at 7:30pm at National Taiwan University Hospital, with Yu and other family members by her side. Yu's lost his father when he was 14. As the oldest son, Yu had to drop out of junior high school and go to work. His family's economic situation improved a few years later when Huang married a veteran soldier, Hsia Fu-hsi (夏福禧) and Yu was able to enter senior high school at 19.
■ Coast Guard
Counterfeit cigarettes seized
The coast guard intercepted two fishing vessels off Chiku, Tainan County, seizing a large amount of counterfeit Taiwanese cigarettes produced in China. Aboard the Taiwanese fishing boat Ri Ri Chun and a Chinese sampan, the coast guard discovered 22 large boxes of counterfeit Long Life brand cigarettes, with a street value of about NT$8 million (US$230,000). Both vessels were impounded and the four men involved, including the Ri Ri Chun skipper were taken into police custody for questioning. Wu admitted that the counterfeit Long Life cigarettes were produced somewhere in China and that he was attempting to smuggle them into Taiwan, according to officials.
■ Foreign Affairs
India apologizes over murder
The Indian government has offered an apology to the family of 35-year-old Lee Ching-yi (李靜宜), who was murdered in a hotel in Udaipur this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Indian police have arrested a man suspected of involvement in the murder, ministry officials said. Members of Lee's family are scheduled to leave for India on Monday, the officials said, adding that they are assisting her family in applying for visas and other travel papers. Lee, a resident of Tamsui, left for India Nov. 14 on a sightseeing trip. Her body was found on Wednesday.
Agencies
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