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, a project designed to widen the section between Wugu of Taipei County and Yangmei of Taoyuan County on the Sun Yat-sen National Expressway, according to the National Expressway Engineering Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).

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.

President Ma Ying-jeou has not been featured in the ruling Kuomintang's latest TV advertisement, sparking speculation that the party no longer sees the leader as an asset for election campaigns because of his declining popularity.

The Taipei District Court yesterday gave a former interior minister a suspended two-year prison term after finding him guilty of corruption in one of the cases involving ex-first lady Wu Shu-chen.

The chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expressed optimism Thursday about the party's chances in the upcoming Dec. 5 local elections, saying that the DPP is expected to retain its grip on the counties of Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung.

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.

The chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expressed optimism Thursday about the party's chances in the upcoming Dec. 5 three-in-one local elections, saying that the DPP is expected to retain its grip on the counties of Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung.