Taipei - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian on Wednesday denied accepting bribes in a land deal and embezzling state funds during a pretrial hearing in Taipei.

A fiery Chen, apparently angered by the court's rejection of his plea for release the night before, lashed out at prosecutors for using what he claimed was "questionable testimony" from a witness who had accused him of corruption.

Taipei - Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, the world's largest electronics components manufacturer, and IBM Inc agreed Wednesday to jointly develop technologies to fight carbon emissions.

Hon Hai and IBM signed the agreement at Hon Hai headquarters in Tucheng near Taipei on delivering and deploying GreenCert, the world's first system that can calculate and certify the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by a facility.

Taipei - Hon Hai, the world's largest electronics components manufacturer, and IBM will sign a pact Wednesday on jointly developing environment-friendly products, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Tuesday.

Parliament Speaker Wang Jin-pyng and Environmental Protection Administration Minister Shen Shu-hung will witness the signing of the pact on strategic alliance, CNA said.

CNA did not reveal details of the cooperation, but said that in 2007, IBM launched Project Big Green which is aimed at protecting the environment.

Taipei - A Taiwan court decided Tuesday to begin the formal trial of former first lady Wu Shu-chen on March 17 on corruption charges.

"The formal proceedings will be held on March 17, during which Chen Cheng-hui will be summoned to testify against the defendant," said Tsai Shou-hsun, judge of the Taipei District Court, who made the decision during a pretrial hearing for Wu.

Taipei  - Taiwan and China, in a further sign of improved ties, will jointly hold the second World Buddhism Forum later this month to promote world peace, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

The China Times said that China has allowed Taiwan's Fokuangshan Monastery to join China in hosting the second World Buddhist Forum.

San Francisco/Taipei - Intel Corporation and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp announced Monday a deal that will allow the Asian firm to produce Intel's smallest chips for use in mobile phones, netbook computers and other devices.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on technology, intellectual property and other issues related to Intel's Atom chip, the US company said at its Santa Clara, California headquarters.

Intel said the move would broaden the market for the chip and speed its use in various products.