Taipei- Taiwan's seasonally adjusted jobless rate skyrocketed to 5.33 per cent in January, as sharply reduced global demand seriously battered the local manufacturing industry, a government agency said Thursday.

Some 578,000 Taiwanese were officially classified as out of work, 29,000 more than in December, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a press statement.

The grim unemployment condition in January came after Taiwan's jobless rate surged past the 5 per cent level in December to a seasonally adjusted 5.01 per cent, the agency said.

Taipei  - A Taiwanese man was arrested in the robbery of 5,000 Taiwan dollars (143 US dollars) from a computer engineer after leaving his phone number with his victim to demand more money later, local television reports said Wednesday.

The engineer was collecting money at a cash machine in the central county of Taichung Tuesday night when the man threatened him with a knife and robbed him, the cable news network ETTV said.

Taipei  - Taiwan posted yet another record slump of 41.67 per cent in export orders in January, as deteriorating global economic conditions further eroded overseas demands, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Tuesday.

In January, the island received orders worth just 17.68 billion US dollars, down 41.67 per cent year-on-year, following a 33-per-cent decline in December, the ministry said in a statement.

Among Taiwan's export markets, orders from China and Hong Kong - Taiwan's top export destinations - fell a record 54.71 per cent year-on-year to 3.66 billion US dollars.

I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as hills," the Mahatma had once said and to know more about the man whose philosophy is still relevant today, a delegation from Taiwan, comprising entrepreneurs, doctors and techies, visited the Gandhi Ashram on Sunday.

Taipei  - A frail former Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bian appeared in a Taiwan court for pretrial hearings on corruption allegations.

Chen, who ended a three-day hunger strike to protest against what he claimed was political persecution and injustice, was brought to court in handcuffs from the Taipei Detention Centre, where he has been jailed since late December.

When asked how he felt, he told Taipei District Court Judge Tsai Shou-hsun that he felt weak and uncomfortable.

Taipei - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian resumed eating Monday, three days after beginning a hunger strike to protest what he claimed was unfair prosecution on corruption charges, officials said.

Lee Ta-chu, deputy director of the Taipei Detention Centre, said Chen ate porridge and cabbage provided by the prison and food brought by his wife, Wu Shu-chen.

He resumed eating after Wu visited and asked him to preserve his energy for a pretrial hearing set on Tuesday, Lee said.