RISING TENSIONS: The secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei said that the next six months will be critical for cross-strait relations
By Charles Snyder
Over the past six months, China has intensified its military exercises in the Taiwan Strait as a subtle threat to Taiwan in advance of next year's elections and plans for a referendum on UN membership, raising the prospects of heightened cross-strait military tensions through next spring, a leading Taiwan expert said in Washington on Monday.

[ FULL STORY ]

ALLEGATIONS: The campaign manager of the DPP's presidential candidate said Prosecutor Wu Wen-chung tried to extract harmful information from Wu Meng-teh
By Flora Wang and Rich Chang
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign yesterday accused a prosecutor of having tried to entice former Kaohsiung Bureau of Urban Development director Wu Meng-teh (吳孟德) into incriminating Hsieh in exchange for a lighter sentence.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Ko Shu-ling
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not step out of the plane during a brief stopover in the US state of Alaska on his way to Central America yesterday -- a gesture described by accompanying Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers as a "silent protest" against the US.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Flora Wang
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun came under fire from several party members yesterday over his remarks that DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) public support ratings had dropped because the party had not proposed a clear vision as stated in its draft "normal country resolution."

[ FULL STORY ]

INTERVIEW: The head of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association lashed out over a report that said he and Ma had had an `amicable interaction'
Hwang Kun-hu (黃崑虎), president of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, yesterday demanded that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) explain comments one of his aides made to a magazine and which Hwang dismissed as false.

[ FULL STORY ]

LOW SCORES: Taiwan's English-learning environment faces five main obstacles to effective English learning, including proper facilities and standardized teaching materials
Taiwan is performing badly on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), a recent report said.

[ FULL STORY ]

ELECTION RIVALRIES: Mayor Chen Chu wants the Taiwan High Court to overturn a June ruling that last December's mayoral poll must be restaged
By Rich Chang
The first hearing in the appeal against the Kaohsiung District Court's decision to annul the result of last December's Kaohsiung mayoral election was held yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

LABOR OF LOVE: Liao Hsiu-kuang, 88, taught Japanese and Chinese, and now after 56 years of study he has finished a manuscript with its own phonetic system
By Chen Hsiao-yi
Liao Hsiu-kuang (廖修廣) is not a university Chinese professor, nor is he an official Taiwanese language researcher. But after 56 years of self study, this year he has finally completed a 3,308-page manuscript for a Taiwanese dictionary complete with hundreds of thousands of entries and his own modified phonetic transcription system.

[ FULL STORY ]

INTERNATIONAL: The fastest team to climb to the top of the column and snatch the flag is believed to enjoy the protection of ghosts during the year
The 2007 Cianggu, an event that has been held annually during Ghost Month in Hengchun Township (恆春), Pintung County, for more than 100 years, will be the largest ever and enjoy the addition of some "international flavor," an official said on Monday at a press conference.

[ FULL STORY ]

Kaohsiung County officials responsible for health and environmental protection affairs were mobilized yesterday for an urgent undertaking aimed at preventing an outbreak of dengue fever.

[ FULL STORY ]

The Ministry of Education (MOE) plans to provide NT$270 million (US$8.18 million) over the next three years to set up 450 sports centers on campuses around the country in an effort to encourage students to exercise regularly and help them cultivate "lifestyles of health and sustainability" (LOHAS), a ministry official said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Jimmy Chuang
The Cabinet expressed disappointment yesterday that several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-ruled counties could not provide a venue for an exhibition displaying government documents and pictures related to the party's stolen assets.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ AGRICULTURE
[ FULL STORY ]