Prosecutors in Miaoli district detained a woman and a man yesterday suspected of buying votes and seized alleged slush funds worth nearly NT$525 million.

Taiwan's representative office in Sapporo will be opened Dec. 1, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.

Changhua County's cultural affairs bureau is planning to extend its tourism train line from Sihu to Lugang as part of its efforts to promote tourism in the area.

Medium-sized tour buses are now allowed to travel to the typhoon-ravaged Alishan Mountain area, following the reopening of the area to minibuses last month, the Directorate General of Highways (DGOH) announced yesterday.

Security for President Ma Ying-jeou was beefed up after a man was caught taking an air gun to a political rally the leader attended earlier this week, the Presidential Office said yesterday.

Some lawmakers yesterday proposed imposing fines on bicycle riders who fail to wear helmets, in a move to reduce casualties in bike-related accidents.

December is a busy season due to students shopping for items before traveling abroad to study, prompting a jump in online sales of electronic products.

Taiwan-based fabless chip vendor MediaTek Inc. announced Friday that it had reached a deal with U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc. under which the two companies will allow each other to utilize technology covered by their respective patent portfolios.

Taiwan's GreTai Securities Market (GTSM), commonly known as the over-the-counter (OTC) exchange, launched yesterday the online trading service for international bond investment.

Taiwan's currency has strengthened against the South Korean won, the island's central bank said, adding that the two economies compete with one another for exports.