Taiwan has begun testing DNA from shark fins sold in local markets in a bid to protect endangered species such as great whites and whale sharks, an official from the Fisheries Agency said Wednesday.

The efforts come as the island moves to restrict its shark-fin industry, which environmental groups say accounts for the deaths of 73 million sharks each year across the world.

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in Sunday for his second and last four-year term, as the opposition rallied against utility hikes and beef imports from the United States.

In his inaugural speech to hundreds of dignitaries from the island and abroad Ma, who was reelected in January, vowed to pursue free trade agreements with other countries and continue rapprochement policies with China.

Tens of millions of animals, mostly fish and birds, are dying every year in Taiwan because of so-called "mercy releases" by Buddhists trying to improve their karma, according to animal welfare activists.

The government is now planning to ban the practice, saying it damages the environment and that a large proportion of the 200 million or so creatures released each year die or are injured due to a lack of food and habitat.

A city in northern Taiwan will run an innovative scheme to keep its streets clean by encouraging residents to collect dog pooh for a chance to win gold.

New Taipei City, which surrounds the capital, will in July offer residents who collect canines' waste the chance to enter a lucky draw, the United Evening News newspaper reported Saturday.

With four grown-up children, ample savings and her own house, Lee Hua thought she could live out her golden years in modest comfort. Now, the 77-year-old collects recyclable garbage to make ends meet.

In a slow and frail voice, Lee explained how she was forced out of her home and now lives in a shabby rented house outside Taipei, has no money left in the bank and has all but lost contact with her three daughters and one son.

The battle between an ailing Chinese electronics maker and Apple Inc. over the iPad name is just as much a tale of obsolescence in the fast-moving global technology industry as it is a legal row over a trademark.

When businessman Rowell Yang Long-san launched his own iPAD-branded device in 2000, a decade before Apple unveiled its hit tablet, he declared it received an "overwhelming market response."

A shallow 5.9-magnitude earthquake sent panicked people fleeing onto the streets in Taiwan's second-largest city of Kaohsiung on Sunday as rail services were temporarily suspended.

The quake struck 57 kilometers (35 miles) east of the city at 10:34 am (0234 GMT) at a depth of just four kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Taiwan's navy will arm its submarines with anti-ship missiles for the first time ever beginning next year, a report said Wednesday, as the island boosts its defense capabilities against rival China.

The Taipei-based United Daily News said the navy, which ordered the U.S.-built Harpoon missiles in 2008, recently test-fired the weapons in the United States, in preparation for installing them on its two Dutch-built submarines.

Seven people have been arrested in southern Taiwan for allegedly kidnapping dozens of race pigeons for ransom, police said Wednesday.

The suspects were accused of setting traps along the racing routes to capture the pigeons and demanding up to Tw$5,000 ($165) in ransom per bird from the owners, said the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

As a long career devoted to Taiwan's technology sector draws to a close, Max Fang has turned to an entirely new task -- helping to build a globally competitive film industry on the island.

To this end, 60-year-old Fang has launched a venture capital fund, much as he would do if he were to pour money into new IT start-ups, but with the crucial difference that the fund is solely meant for movie and TV projects.