A woman allegedly set fire to two scooters, owned by her colleagues, in an attempt to take their temporary jobs that they were granted as victims of flooding caused by Typhoon Morakot, said the Yunlin County Police Department yesterday.

The police in Dounan Township in Yunlin County arrested four suspects for illegally killing six wild Petaurista lenas, the white-faced weasel, using modified shotguns.

Chang Li-shan, the Kuomintang (KMT) nominee, quit his run for magistrate of Yunlin yesterday, sending a shock wave through the ruling party leadership, reeling in disarray over the fiasco in Saturday's legislative by-election.

In yet another blow for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) following its defeat in the Yunlin County legislative by-election last weekend, the party's candidate for the year-end magisterial election in that rural constituency withdrew her bid Monday.

Prosecutors in Yunlin yesterday questioned 18 people, including an elected official, in connection with an alleged vote-buying case ahead of a legislative by-election later this month, officials said.

Miao Jung-tang, village chief of Qinghan village, situated in Yunlin county's Kouhu township, was swept away by waters late on Sunday night after he and his wife attempted to operate a water gate in order to alleviate flooding in the village.

A woman passed away, and another remains in a coma after suffering from methane poisoning at a pickled cabbage factory in Yunlin County.

A race to fill a legislative seat representing Yunlin County has heated up after a court evicted a Kuomintang lawmaker over vote-buying Tuesday.

According to local folk tales, Hebao Mountain and its environs in Gukeng Township used to be blanketed by coffee plants and berries.

A ringleader who had been on the run for 15 years from indictments of first-degree murder and numerous felony counts was apprehended in Taipei County on Thursday, local media reported.