■ JUSTICE
Court annuls election win
The Yunlin District Court yesterday annulled the election victory of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) in the first trial of the case. The verdict is not final. The case began when Chang’s rival, Democratic Progressive Party legislative candidate Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), filed a lawsuit in January to annul Chang’s victory on bribery allegations. Chang sent reporters text messages later yesterday saying that he respected the court’s decision, but that he would appeal. Chang went on to say that he would continue to focus most of his energy on serving the people in his electoral district, supervising the government and protecting the rights of the people.
■ EDUCATION
NTU won’t strip Lee’s status
National Taiwan University (NTU) secretary-general Liao Hsien-hao (廖咸浩) denied yesterday that the school was considering stripping renowned constitutional expert Lee Hung-hsi’s (李鴻禧) honorary professor status over Lee’s remarks during a rally in support of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). At a rally on Saturday last week, Lee said: “I want to curse the whole families of those judges and prosecutors who acted recklessly [in the investigation into corruption allegations against Chen.]” Liao told reporters that the school had received many angry phone calls as a result of Lee’s remarks and that it had held meetings to discuss the matter. “NTU felt shocked and regretted Professor Lee’s remarks, but since Lee is retired, he should take full responsibility for his comments,” Liao said. “We hope Professor Lee will not make controversial remarks as an NTU honorary professor again.”
■ SPORTS
Tai chi competition to open
An international Tai chi boxing competition is scheduled to open in Kaohsiung City today with practitioners from 13 countries taking part. A total of 127 practitioners from Hong Kong, South Africa, Japan, Uruguay, Bangladesh, Nepal, Peru, Germany, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, the US and Taiwan will compete in three categories over a period of two days, the Kuoshu Wushu Federation said.
■ EVENTS
Activists plan vigil
As part of a globally coordinated event to commemorate the first official abolition of the death penalty in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany on Nov. 30, 1786, anti-death penalty activists in Taipei will organize a candlelit vigil and a small “Cities for Life” concert tomorrow in front of the Chinan Presbyterian Church on the corner of Jinan Road (濟南路) and Zhongshan S Road (中山南路) in Taipei. From 6pm to 8pm, Aboriginal singers Panay and Nabu will also perform.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its