Taxi fare hike seen likely in November

The China Post -- If approved by the Taipei City Government, a taxi fare hike in Taipei may be put into practice in November at the earliest, a city transportation official said yesterday. Full Story

Mid-Autumn Festival BBQ accused of being 'eco-hazard'

The China Post -- Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday named Mid-Autumn Festival "Eco-hazard Day" and urged residents to forgo barbecue outings next Tuesday. Full Story

Chinese hairy crabs unavailable for gourmets by Moon Festival

The China Post -- Local consumers are unlikely to enjoy delicious hairy crabs from China, also known as Dazha crabs, during the Moon Festival on Sept. 25, as Chinese inspection and quarantine authorities have declined to issue a green light for the exports of such crabs to Taiwan, according to importers of such crabs. Full Story

Mooncake sellers to be fined for false claims: The Department of Health

The China Post -- The Department of Health (DOH) warned yesterday that online mooncake sellers who promote their products with overstated claims can be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,232). Full Story

Palace Museum garden open for Festival

The China Post -- To celebrate this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Taiwan's National Palace Museum will open its garden to the public on the evening of September 22nd, treating visitors to complimentary fine Chinese tee sampling, a classical music concert and a traditional puppet show. Full Story

AIT denies intervention in Chiu Mei-yun murder investigation

The China Post -- The American Institute in Taiwan denied yesterday it intervened in the investigation of the murder of Chiu Mei-yun. Full Story

Drunken truck driver rams into Presidential Plaza

The China Post -- A supermarket hauler rammed through railings and blocks into the Presidential Plaza and overturned, yesterday.Full Story

New tropical depression forms in Western Pacific

The China Post -- A new tropical depression has formed to the east of the Philippines barely two days after Typhoon Wipha swept across northern Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. Full Story

Peach fruit fly larvae found by customs

The China Post -- Plant health officials confirmed Thursday that fresh mangoes a passenger tried to smuggle through the Taoyuan International Airport last month contained larvae of one of the most hated fruit pests -- the peach fruit fly. Full Story

Taiwan's schoolchildren are shorter, The Ministry of Education survey says

The China Post -- Schoolchildren are growing shorter in Taiwan, according to a Ministry of Education survey. Full Story

Former banker may have escaped to China: officials

The China Post -- A former chairman of a local bank, sentenced to seven years in prison for breach of trust, may have already escaped to China, officials of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) said yesterday. Full Story

Tortoise sends bus into pole in Taiwan; 12 hurt

The China Post -- A tour bus rammed into an electrical pole Thursday in northern Taiwan, injuring 12 passengers, all because of a slow moving tortoise, media reports said. Full Story

Ang Lee cuts 'Lust, Caution' for Chinese censors: report

The China Post - Director Ang Lee has agreed to a 7-minute cut from the original version of the award-winning movie "Lust, Caution," to be released in China next October, a report said yesterday. Full Story

Filipina confesses in broker's murder

The China Post - Philippine woman Armia Nemencia Panaglima was held incommunicado yesterday morning, hours after confessing to the murder of cram school teacher broker Chiu Mei-yun during interrogations by Kaohsiung Prosecutors' Office, but her boyfriend David Michael Fillion, a U.S. citizen, was released again following a second round of interrogation yesterday afternoon. Full Story

Layoff regulations tightened, revised to cover contract employees

The China Post - The Cabinet yesterday approved a set of revisions to the labor law, which if passed by the Legislative Yuan, will protect contract employees under the rules and regulations governing mass layoffs. Full Story

Council of Labor Affairs sets new rules to hire foreign blue-collar workers

The China Post - Local manufacturing companies will not be allowed to apply for foreign laborers solely because they have launched large-scale projects, a Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) official said yesterday. Full Story

Arranged marriage restrictions proposed

The China Post - Matchmaking agencies in Taiwan will no longer be allowed to arrange international marriages for a profit under a new law proposed by the Chen administration yesterday. Full Story

Tainan dengue spread worse than expected: CDC officer

The China Post - Tainan City's dengue fever outbreak is indeed more serious than expected, a disease control official acknowledged yesterday. Full Story

The Ministry of Education launches program to increase students' stature

The China Post - The Ministry of Education (MOE) has launched a program to help increase the average height of Taiwanese elementary students, which has fallen for the past two years, an education official said yesterday. Full Story

Taiwan safe from major earthquake, says seismologist

The China Post - Taiwan will be spared from devastating earthquakes over the next five to 10 years because a recent chain of smaller tremors has eased the geologic pressure that causes big ones, Taiwan's top seismological authority said. Full Story

Cultural activities to mark Confucius' birthday

The China Post - The Taipei Confucian Temple is slated to organize a series of cultural activities later this month in celebration of Confucius' 2,557th birth anniversary, which falls on Sept. 28, a temple official said yesterday. Full Story

Little damage caused by Typhoon Wipha: COA

The China Post - The Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday that Typhoon Wipha, which swept through northern and northeastern Taiwan a day earlier, has affected crops in areas north of Miaoli, although the damage is not excessive. Full Story

Yunlin man arrested for attempted sale of rotten meat: MOJ

The China Post - A man in Yunlin was arrested yesterday for allegedly attempting to sell some 20,000 kilograms of meat derived from cattle that died due to sickness, according to the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau. Full Story

Couple wanted after police car hit-and-run in Kaohsiung

The China Post - Police in Kaohsiung County yesterday said they were looking for two fugitives who allegedly stole a vehicle which they used to smash into a police car prior to taking off. Full Story

Police arrest two suspects in Taoyuan airport robbery

The China Post - Police yesterday said they have arrested two suspects in connection with a robbery last month at the parking lot of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Full Story

Female fugitive nabbed after posing as a man for 8 years

The China Post - Taiwan police have arrested a woman criminal who has been on the run disguised as a man for eight years, press reports said yesterday. Full Story

Typhoon expected to hit Taiwan today

The China Post - Government offices, schools, and financial institutions in several counties and cities in northern Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, will be closed today due to the arrival of Typhoon Wipha. Full Story

Ground continuing to sink in Taipei basin

The China Post - Chen Shen-hsien, director of the Water Conservancy Administration, warned yesterday the ground in parts of the Taipei basin has continued to sink. Full Story

Ministry of Foreign Affairs car accused of abusing, eschewing diplomatic rights

The China Post - A man whose car was hit by another belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Sunday accused the government body of taking advantage of special diplomatic rights to eschew responsibility in the accident. Full Story

Ang Lee's Chinese roots fuel Taiwan debate

The China Post - As Taiwan's government ratchets up a campaign to emphasize its cultural separateness from China, one of the island's internationally famous cultural icons insists his mainland Chinese roots have played a major role in his film-making. Full Story

Two female heroin mules arrested at Taoyuan Airport

The China Post - Officers with the criminal investigation division of the Kaohsiung city police arrested two female drug mules at Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Full Story

Strip-tease show to amuse a departed soul

The China Post - A promise is a promise. One has to keep it. That's exactly what a Changhua resident did Sunday for his good friend who had died a day before. Full Story

Kaohsiung seeks Japanese murder suspect

The China Post - Police are still searching for a Japanese national suspected of murdering a cram school teacher broker, whose body was found by police inside a sack in Kaohsiung Saturday. Full Story

Hairy crabs stuck in customs, may miss Moon Festival

The China Post - None of mainland China's Yang Cheng Lake hairy crabs arriving in Taiwan this year have passed customs inspection, which might prevent the seasonal delicacy from reaching dinner tables by the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 25th. Full Story

Nine Taipei expressways to open to big motorbikes

The China Post - Taipei City Department of Transportation (DOT) announced yesterday that it will open nine elevated and ground expressways in Taipei to large motorcycles over 550cc pending an announcement by the central government. Full Story

Mandarin Air cuts prices below High Speed Rail

The China Post - ocal air carrier Mandarin Airlines announced that it has reduced the fare of its Taipei-Kaohsiung route below that of the Taiwan High Speed Rail between Taipei and Kaohsiung. Full Story

Kinmen Island is the home of many generals

The China Post - Kinmen, where a crucial artillery duel took place between Taiwan and China in 1958, is the home of generals. Full Story

Keelung police identify 'fruit-knife' burglars

The China Post - Officers from a local police station in Keelung City arrested yesterday two brothers in an Internet cafe for allegedly committing thefts in the Keelung and Shichih (Taipei County) areas. Full Story

Underprivileged treated to Viennese choir

The China Post - Taiwan-based Central Trading and Development group (CT&D) will sponsor needy children and foreign spouses with complimentary tickets to the Vienna Boy's Choir performance in Taipei on November 2nd. Full Story

Over 10,000 apply for KRTC jobs

The China Post - The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. (KRTC) is recruiting 109 new staff, and more than 10,000 jobseekers have participated in an entrance examination for the positions, a KRTC executive said yesterday. Full Story

The Central Weather Bureau may issue sea warning for tropical storm

The China Post - The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) may issue a sea warning at noon today for a newly developed tropical storm, the 12th reported in the West Pacific region this year, the bureau said yesterday. Full Story

Over 3,000 break world cardio-pulmonary resuscitation record

The China Post - Over 3,000 people practiced cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in a training drill in Taipei County yesterday, breaking the Guinness world record for people simultaneously performing CPR. Full Story

Discrepancy in college admission in north, south: Yuan Ze head

The China Post - The president of Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan County said that a discrepancy currently exists in student admissions between colleges in northern Taiwan and southern Taiwan. Full Story

Taiwan to release uncut version of Ang Lee film

The China Post - Taiwan censors have approved the release of the full version of director Ang Lee's award-winning erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution," a report said Saturday. Full Story

11 Taiwanese rescued from grounded boat

The China Post - A Taiwanese fishing boat, the "Tsaiyiyu No. 1," ran aground near Pengchiayu islet northeast of Taiwan early yesterday, but all 11 crew members have been rescued. Full Story

Seven members of loan shark ring arrested

The China Post - The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) and the Hsinchu District Prosecutor's Office Saturday said they cracked down on a criminal ring that made over NT$9 million a month in fraudulent credit card charges. Full Story

Tainan City inaugurates bicycle patrol squad

The China Post - A bicycle patrol squad composed of police officers and volunteers formed by the Tainan city government was inaugurated Saturday with the aim of safeguarding tourists at several historic sites in the southern city. Full Story

Red Sox crush Yanks; Beckett gets 19th win

The China Post - The Boston Red Sox rebounded from a tough loss by hammering their arch-rival New York Yankees 10-1 behind Josh Beckett's Major League-leading 19th win of the season on Saturday. Full Story

12,000 take part in eco-friendly Car-free Day in Taipei, Nantou

The China Post - Taipei City and County governments yesterday held a Taipei Car-free Day to encourage the public to use the environment-friendly transport methods of "BMW" (bicycle, metro, walk) instead of driving. Full Story

Tycoon's foundation to open Hope Elementary School

The China Post - Following four months of preparations, the Yonglin Hope Elementary School was officially inaugurated yesterday to help school children in remote areas and poor families to continue their studies more smoothly. Full Story

Typhoon churns in East China Sea

The China Post - A powerful typhoon packing winds of up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour was churning off Japan's southern islands in the East China Sea on Saturday. Full Story

Release of 'Wolf of Huakang' causes uproar

The China Post - A serial rapist whose previous requests for parole have raised tremendous controversies will soon be out of jail after the Justice Ministry decided to grant him his wish yesterday. Full Story

Ex-official gets 15-year jail term

The China Post - A former Cabinet official was given a 15-year jail term after a district court found him guilty of taking bribes and embezzling funds from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Full Story

Foreign workers are not criminals: groups

The China Post - Civic groups and members of the legislature yesterday condemned the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) and the National Immigration Agency (NIA) for their alleged abuses of foreign workers' rights. Full Story

Over 100 trees die of brown root rot disease in Taipei parks

The China Post - Over 100 trees in parks in Taipei died at the end of last year due to brown root rot disease, with Taiwan Forestry Research Institute saying that the disease has appeared in trees in every part of Taiwan except the outer islands. Full Story

International remote-controlled car competition starts today

The China Post - Some one hundred top remote-controlled car racers will show off their skills at Taiwan's first international remote-controlled car competition, the 10th Tamiya Asia Cup, which will feature custom-designed remote-control cars. Full Story

TaiMed AIDS drugs expected to enter market in three years

The China Post - New AIDS drugs, to be developed by a new Taiwan biotechnology firm led by former Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen and AIDS research pioneer David Ho, are expected to be on the market within three years, Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong said yesterday. Full Story

German professors to teach at local university

The China Post - Six German professors will give one-month courses on coastal protection at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan from Sept. 17, an NCKU spokesman said yesterday. Full Story

Tainan prosecutors bust counterfeit liquor ring

The China Post - Public prosecutors in Tainan took a third member of a counterfeit liquor ring into custody Friday after seizing more than 100,000 bottles of fake French red wine and counterfeit foreign brand-name liquors. The detained suspect, identified as Lin Shui sheng, had turned himself in a day earlier. Full Story

Taoyuan encourages use of new English Village

The China Post - Taoyuan County Magistrate Chu Li-lun encouraged all school children in the northern Taiwan county to make good use of the newly opened English Village at the county's Happy Elementary School, and to thereby learn English effectively. Full Story

Typhoon Nari unlikely to hit Taiwan: the Central Weather Bureau

The China Post - Typhoon Nari, the 11th storm in the western Pacific this year, will not pose a direct threat to Taiwan but may increase the chances of rain in northern and northeastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said in a forecast yesterday. Full Story