REMUNERATION: A lawyer for one of the men at the center of the Papua New Guinea scandal said it would be impossible for the authorities to get all the money back
Ching Chi-ju (金紀玖), who has been embroiled in a high-profile checkbook-diplomacy scandal in which Taiwan was defrauded of US$30 million, will consider returning to Taiwan if he can be assured his personal safety would be protected, his lawyer said.

[ FULL STORY ]

A Papua New Guinean government minister has reportedly admitted meeting a key figure in a failed bid to lure the South Pacific country to officially recognize Taiwan.

[ FULL STORY ]

REFERENDUM RESULTS: The DPP legislative caucus whip said while medicine had nothing to do with politics, China was using the WHO for its own ends
Several ranking members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that they would continue to promote the nation's WHO membership bid at this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting later this month in Geneva.

[ FULL STORY ]

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will not be too harsh on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) if the much-anticipated weekend direct charter flight services across the Taiwan Strait do not start on July 4 as president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has promised, a DPP legislative caucus whip said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

'FOURTH COMMUNIQUE': Japan has changed tack by simultaneously developing ties with China and Taiwan, but Beijing could change all this, a forum in Taipei heard
By Jenny W. Hsu
The so-called "fourth communique" recently signed by China and Japan was more symbolic than substantive, a group of academics said in Taipei yesterday, warning that China might demand that Tokyo take a more negative stance on the Taiwan issue as Japan vies for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

[ FULL STORY ]

The Penghu County Government is planning to have plots of public land ready for the construction of casinos on the outlying main island, Penghu County Commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發) said on Thursday.

[ FULL STORY ]

HODGEPODGE: A number of amendments were approved yesterday, including those regarding choosing surnames for children, revoked drivers licenses and lottery profits
By Flora Wang
The legislature yesterday approved an amendment to the Household Registration Law (戶籍法) that adds an article introducing a maximum five-year jail sentence or a maximum fine of NT$500,000 (US$16,000) for individuals who are caught making or using false national identification cards.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Loa Iok-sin
Preserving infamous former prisons and turning them into museums may help to teach future generations important human rights lessons, speakers at a panel on prison museums said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

JUST A 'SIDE BENEFIT': The Barcode of Life Databank will use species-specific DNA sequences to identify samples within three days and for less than NT$1,000
By Meggie Lu
Merchants conspiring to pass oilfish for the more expensive cod may soon be unable to do so, as a Barcode of Life Databank (BOLD) capable of identifying fish samples within days is under way and would be completed as early as next year, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Mo Yan-chih
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors lambasted the Taipei City Government for indulging council officials and allowing them to occupy public parking spaces, demanding the city government look into the issue and take action if any negligence is discovered.

[ FULL STORY ]

REPORT: Taiwan is on a US watch list for countries that do not provide adequate intellectual property rights protection, but officials are hoping to change that
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will launch the nation's first intellectual property court on July 1 in a bid to further protect intellectual property rights (IPR) and improve Taiwan's reputation in the international community.

[ FULL STORY ]

ORIGINAL DESIGN: The Sinjhuang line is important for city residents, who have suffered from traffic jams for six years because of construction, the alliance said
An alliance of students on Thursday demanded the Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) immediately build a depot in Huilong (迴龍) to facilitate the inauguration of the Sinjhuang (新莊) Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in two stages.

[ FULL STORY ]

Domestic air carriers will raise their air fares by an average of 30 percent for international flights starting next month to reflect surging fuel costs, the airlines announced yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ CRIME