Prosecutors yesterday completed an investigation into the blaze that claimed nine lives and injured 12 in a Taichung bar and pressed for six-year and three-and-a-half-year jail terms for the owner of the club Wang Ming-che (王銘哲) and Chu Chuan-yi (朱傳毅), the fire performer who caused the fire, respectively.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu will leave Taiwan today for China and Japan to lobby for support for the city's bid to host the East Asian Games in 2017, city officials said yesterday.

The police in Wuri District of Taichung City yesterday busted a car-theft ring, arresting 12 suspects who allegedly stole luxury cars to sell with fabricated license plates at a low price of NT$100,000 per unit or shipped dismantled parts to mainland China, according to police sources.

Undaunted by long waits, thousands of Taiwanese fans of Lady Gaga formed long queues on Sunday at designated spots in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung hoping to get tickets to the singer's July 3 promotional show.

Feng Chia Night Market in central Taiwan's Taichung, one of the largest night markets in the country, has launched a campaign of discounts to entice Chinese tourists, the city's tourism authorities said Saturday.

Cheng Li-wen, a lawmaker-at large of the ruling Kuomintang is expected to enter into the legislative election for the constituency of Taiping and Dali districts of Taichung City as President Ma Ying-jeou, who concurrently serves as chairman of the KMT, has asked her to take the job.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu announced Thursday that July 3 will be the central Taiwan city's “Lady Gaga Day” to coincide with the American pop idol's first visit to the special municipality.

Law enforcement officers yesterday pored over security camera footage in hopes of identifying the arsonists who set fire to two police vehicles in the central city of Taichung.

The Taichung government is planning to build a skyscraper in the Taichung Shueinan Airport Trade Park that it hopes will stand as a new landmark in central Taiwan, a city government official said yesterday.

Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) ran its first “wedding carriage” yesterday, taking off from Fongyuan station and transporting newly wedded couple TRA worker Chang Shou-cheng and his blushing bride Fu Hsi-chi as well as their wedding guests north to Songshan station.