The Tainan County Government ordered the metal processing plant in Houbi Township to suspend its operations yesterday due to its causing the contamination rice paddies with cadmium.

The first applications were accepted on Monday for internationalized domain names (IDNs), in one of the most significant steps to making the Internet more accessible around the globe.

YouTube and Univision announced an agreement on Monday to bring short- and long-form programming from the Spanish-language broadcast network to the video-sharing site.

What word sums up 2009? How about unfriend?

Environmentalists on Sunday warned bluefin tuna was on its way to extinction after an international meeting of fishery ministry officials trimmed catch quotas but upheld continued hauls of the fish, prized in sushi dishes.

Fingers will be flying when space shuttle Atlantis blasts off Monday: About 100 of NASA's geekiest fans will be on hand, pecking away at iPhones, BlackBerrys, laptops and other Twittering gadgets.

An international seminar on Asian black bears will open at the Taipei Zoo today to promote research and conservation of the endangered species, academic sources said yesterday.

Officials from the Council of Agriculture (COA) and the Environmental Protection Department of Tainan County assured consumers yesterday that no rice contaminated by cadmium has been distributed onto local markets.

Amid successive reports of soil contamination from slag deposits in southern Taiwan, an official said yesterday that the law governing waste recycling will be revised to prevent slag and fly ash from coming directly in contact with soil used for agricultural purposes.

Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand castles.