The National Immigration Agency busted a human-trafficking gang in Hsinchu City on Friday and helped five runaway workers from Indonesia escape the misery of being forced by the gang to work as prostitutes.

The annual Taiwan National Day fireworks event will be held in Hsinchu City this year, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) announced yesterday.

A descendant of Japan's imperial family attended the 100th birthday celebration of the Hsinchu Railway Station in Northern Taiwan Sunday and said he hoped that Japan and Taiwan can continue their close friendship.

National Tsing Hua University (NTHU, 清大) yesterday urged members of the public to notify the police if they have seen people shooting animals on its campus, after a live squirrel pierced with a crossbow arrow was discovered on university grounds.

A babysitter and her son face manslaughter charges after two babies in her care died on the same night in what is believed to be two separate accidents, Hsinchu County Government and prosecutors said yesterday.

The installation of a special lantern for the 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival was kicked off recently in the neighborhood around the Hsinchu High Speed Rail Station, where the festival will run from Feb. 24 through March 10.

The Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) is set to launch the 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Hsinchu County starting from Feb 24. to March 10.

A Hsinchu City Council member surnamed Hsu (許) has been charged with DUI (driving under the influence) for the second time, and was sentenced to a NT$90,000 fine.

Prosecutors are looking into the cause of a crash on Sunday in which 13 people were killed when a bus rolled off a cliff in Hsinchu County's Qalang Smangus (司馬庫斯).

Insurance companies are expected to pay out more than NT$70 million over Sunday's bus accident in Hsinchu County's Qalang Smangus (司馬庫斯), a source from the insurance industry said yesterday.