KEY TOPICS: Liu shared his thoughts on Sunday on raising civil servant salaries, balancing Cabinet outreach with policymaking and the recent diplomatic scandal
Premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said on Sunday that he will evaluate the feasibility of raising the salaries of government employees, military personnel and public school teachers after he assumes office on May 20.

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NO EVILDOERS: The party had decided to launch an investigation into Chiou’s conduct, but he left the party yesterday, negating the decision made on Sunday
By Ko Shu-ling
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cannot investigate Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) over his role in the Papua New Guinea fund scandal now that he is no longer a party member, the director of the DPP’s Culture and Information Department, Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠), said yesterday.

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President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) vowed yesterday to increase the education budget by NT$24 billion (US$792 million) a year after taking office and that part of the increase would raise the salaries of university professors to prevent a scramble for talent.

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The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus was found in a wild swan in northern Japan, but no poultry in the area have been found to be sickened with the disease, a health official said yesterday.

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Taiwan and Japan signed an aviation agreement yesterday to promote exchanges on aviation safety and cooperation in the investigation of airline accidents, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced.

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CLOSE CALL: The director-general of the Centers for Disease Control said that the dead boy’s sister had contracted the virus and was recovering in a hospital
By Shelley Shan
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported yesterday that a three-year-old boy died of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) last month in Kaohsiung County, the second death this year from the disease, which is caused by a type of enterovirus.

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By Hung Mei-hsiu
German national Felix Firsbach, who two years ago worked with mentally handicapped children in Hsinchu through a Catholic missionary organization, has returned to the same care center to complete his alternative military service for the German military.

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Two noted US musicians are scheduled to give a concert in an Aboriginal village in Alishan (阿里山) on Friday at the invitation of the Taipei-based Chinese Culture University (CCU), an academic source said yesterday.

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DUPED: Police said that while post office clerks told the woman she was being cheated and not to transfer NT$4.75 million from her account, she insisted on it
By Rich Chang
A woman from Kungliao Township (貢寮), Taipei County, has lost most of her life savings after being defrauded by a fake prosecutor.

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Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai’s (蔡明憲) planned inspection tour of remote Taiping Island in the South China Sea tomorrow has been canceled because of poor weather, Deputy Defense Minister Lin Chen-yi (林鎮夷) said yesterday. The trip may be rescheduled next week, he said.

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■ WEATHER