Taipei - The Taipei county government, to reduce the digital gap between the countryside and cities, will dispatch a mobile computer classroom to teach people how to use computers, the county government said Tuesday.

Under the programme, the Taipei county government in North Taiwan will dispatch six coaches carrying teachers, computers, desks and chairs to give computer classes free of charge.

"The only requirement is that there must be 18 participants for our class. Applications can be made by individuals or an institution," Chen Shu-hui, from the Taipei county government's Computer Centre, said.

Taipei - The Taiwan stock market opened higher Tuesday in reaction to the Wall Street rally caused by president-elect Barack Obama's announcement of plans to rescue Citigroup.

By mid-morning the TAIEX index rose 108.73 points, or 2.61 per cent, to 4,269.27.

Beijing - A Chinese court has sentenced to death two Taiwanese drug dealers convicted of trafficking heroin from Myanmar, state media said on Monday.

Chien Chih-Cheng and Chen Ming-Hsiung were among eight Taiwanese citizens sentenced last week in the south-eastern province of Fujian for their part in trafficking more than 12 kilograms of heroin, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Chien and Chen led a gang that bought 39 packets of heroin from Myanmar in early September and sold four of them for 400,000 yuan (60,000 dollars) in the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, the agency quoted police as saying.

Taipei - Taiwan's jobless rate rose to a five-year high in October, as export orders

Taipei - China's decision to allow Taiwan's former vice president Lien Chan to attend the APEC summit in Peru and to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao marked a major milestone in cross-strait relations, according to Taiwan media.

China's move can be interpreted as Beijing's response to President Ma Ying-jeou's call for a "diplomatic truce" with China, they said.

A China Post editorial characterized Beijing's embrace of Lien as a positive sign of across-strait detente.

Taipei  - China-based Taiwanese firms have beeb hit hard by the global financial turmoil with those operating in the Chinese southern city of Dongguan suffering the worst, a report said Sunday.

Due to slumping exports resulting from the global downturn and financial turmoil, two-thirds of Taiwanese textile companies have suffered huge losses, while close to 1,000 footwear firms have shut down, the United Evening News said in a report.

Dongguan is a major base of Taiwanese investments in traditional industries, including textiles, footwear and umbrellas.