President Ma ying-jeou yesterday presided over a ground-breaking ceremony to kick off construction of a 40-kilometer elevated freeway at a total cost of NT$88.257 billion.

The main opposition yesterday accused the ruling Kuomintang of plotting a witch hunt in the guise of anti-vote-buying actions in order to win next month's elections.

President Ma Ying-jeou said Saturday that Taiwan has made efforts to reduce cross-strait tensions and improve relations with China in response to the calls for world peace by the head of the Catholic Church.

Prestigious medical staff in Taiwan revealed yesterday in a seminar that more than one hundred doctors who are tired of or worried about medical disputes are now studying in law schools.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said that it will host a seminar next month for economic experts to discuss the impact of revived trade protectionism in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The world's third-largest fire training center will be inaugurated in Taiwan in January, featuring advanced facilities for the training of fire fighters and other rescue personnel, the National Fire Agency (NFA) announced Friday.

Electronic schoolbags are a new, trendy measure the government is taking to replace traditional textbooks students carry to school.

New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming said yesterday he prefers to stay in the Yankees next season unless he is forced to make another choice.

A civic movement has collected enough signatures in the initial stage of a drive to launch a referendum on U.S. beef imports, the Consumers' Foundation said yesterday, but the biggest hurdle to achieving the goal still lies ahead.

Rivalry within the main opposition party for nomination for next year's election in Kaohsiung has already heated up, with two potential contenders coming close to engaging each other in an early smear campaign.