Taipei - Former vice premier Chiou I-jen has been arrested on accusations he embezzled a half-million US dollars during his time as Taiwan's intelligence chief, court officials said Friday.

"When he was secretary general of the National Security Council in 2004, the defendant asked the Foreign Ministry for 500,000 US dollars to finance a secret diplomatic mission, which actually was already completed with no more financial need," said Taipei District Court Judge Huang Chun-ming.

Taipei - Taiwan opened the 2008 Taipei International Travel Fair Friday with the aim of attracting more foreign and Chinese tourists.

Sixty-two countries and regions have set up 1,206 booths at the four-day fair with Chinese exhibitors occupying 256 booths, nearly four times more than the second-largest exhibitor, Japan, with 69 booths.

China has sent a 290-strong delegation to the four-day travel fair at the Taipei World Trade Centre, hoping to boost tourism from Taiwan to China.

Taipei - Taiwan's EVA Air will resume the Taipei-Paris service in 2009 after suspending the service in 2007 due to rising fuel prices, EVA Air said Friday.

Starting January 1, EVA will use a Boeing 777-300ER to provide thrice-weekly Taipei-Paris flight, with the flight taking off from Taipei Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and returning to Taipei Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

EVA said that the Boeing 777-300ER uses 20 per cent less fuel than the Boeing 747-400 which was previously used to fly the Taipei-Paris route, thus cutting costs of operation.

Taipei - Fourteen foreign and local baseball players were questioned by prosecutors in Taiwan Thursday as new evidence emerged in an investigation into alleged match-fixing by the T-Rex team.

The 14 include five foreign players. Three of them - including former US Major League baseball player Cory Bailey - have been suspended from playing indefinitely after they were questioned on October 8 and released on bail.

Taipei - Taiwan prosecutors on Thursday requested a 14-month prison term for a city councilman after charging him with inciting a mob to attack a visiting Chinese official last week.

The indictment clouded next week's visit by China's top negotiator with Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, as pro-independence groups saw the charges as the government appeasing China and vowed to confront Chen wherever he goes.

Taipei - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai is negotiating to buy Taiwan's largest newspaper group, the China Times Group, a newspaper said Thursday.

Three parties are seeking to buy the loss-making China Times Group, but Lai's Next Media Group was seen as the likely winner because it is willing to accept a package sale while the other two bidders only want to buy the China Times Group's two profit-making television stations, the Economic Daily News said.

The takeover talks were near completion and Next Media was expected to announce the takeover in early November, the News quoted unnamed industry sources as saying.

Both Next Media and the China Times Group refused to comment on the news report.