Taipei - Taiwan's former first lady Wu Shu-chen pleaded guilty Tuesday to money laundering and document forgery charges in a widely watched pretrial hearing at the Taipei District Court.

But she denied more serious embezzlement and bribery charges, saying that to her knowledge, the millions of US dollars in funds she had received were merely political contributions for her husband, Chen Shui-bian, when he was still president.

"I pleaded guilty over the Nankang case and related money laundering," she told Judge Tsai Shou-hsun in a two-and-a-half-hour hearing.

Taipei - Hong Kong's English-language daily the South China Morning Post Monday refuted media reports that it would launch a bilingual newspaper in Taiwan.

"There is no truth to recently published reports that the South China Morning Post plans to launch a new publication, either in print or online, in Taiwan," the South China Morning Post (SCMP) Group said in a press statement.

It said the group has not appointed anyone to conduct business or negotiate on its behalf with respect to launching a new venture in Taiwan.

Beijing, Feb 9 : A Taiwan clinic is likely to be fined after allowing two of its nurses to pose nude for an advertising campaign.

Chen Yueh-ying, a Tainan city health department official, said: "We are going to prosecute. What they did violates the law."

Businesses in Taiwan often photograph fashionably dressed woman for advertisements or put them on stage for promotional events, but they are seldom shown naked.

"Clinics were not the same as normal businesses, and the adverts fell foul of medical conduct rules," Chen added.

Taipei  - A German national was arrested on charges of smuggling 2.4 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan from Thailand, police at the Taipei international airport said Monday.

Mario Schubat, 38, was arrested Sunday night at Taoyuan International Airport. He had travelled on a China Airlines flight from Bangkok.

Customs officers said they found the 2.4 kilograms of heroin powder in his luggage.

Taipei  - Hong Kong's English-language daily the South China Morning Post plans to launch a bilingual newspaper in Taiwan in response to growing ties between China and Taiwan, a newspaper said on Sunday.

According to the Economic Daily News, the South China Morning Post plans to hire several economic and finance experts as it prepares to launch a Taiwan edition.

Taipei - A Taiwan man, whose tongue was bitten off by the women he tried to rape, has been sentenced to six years in prison, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Lee Tang-hsiang, 35, attacked the woman in 2008 in Chiayi City in central Taiwan and was sentenced on Friday in Chiayi District Court on a conviction for attempted rape, the Apple Daily said.

On October 17, Lee was riding his motorbike about 4 am in Chiayi when he saw the woman on a motor-ped. Lee, whose criminal record includes previous sex crimes and drug use, rode alongside the victim, pulled her blouse and skirt and eventually caused her to fall off her motorbike.