PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE: The KMT obtained rally permits for Ketagalan Boulevard and Zhongshan N Road near the Grand Hotel to block the DPP from demonstrating
By Mo Yan-chih And Rich Chang
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors vowed yesterday to protest against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) at the Grand Hotel after they obtained a road permit — but not a rally permit — for an area near the hotel between next Thursday and Saturday.

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STEP BY STEP: A Ministry of National Defense official said the links could start with contacts between retired and junior military officers from both sides
The Ministry of National Defense is considering the first-ever contacts between the military and China’s People’s Liberation Army, but has set no timetable for any meetings, a senior defense official said yesterday.

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KEEP OUT: Even if the administration wants to shorten flight times across the Strait, the military will insist on retaining a restricted area, the defense minister said
By Jimmy Chuang
Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) yesterday dismissed lawmakers’ concerns that next week’s meeting between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait could see the military lift its ban on flights through restricted air space in the Taiwan Strait.

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By Jimmy Chuang
Two suspected gangsters were released on bail yesterday after being questioned by Taipei prosecutors over their involvement in an alleged assault on Tainan City Councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇).

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By Rich Chang And Ko Shu-ling
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday of contradicting his position on direct cross-strait transportation in an article he wrote in 1992, and admonished Ma not to betray himself and sacrifice the nation’s sovereignty.

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PROTECTING POULTRY: The Animal Health Research Institute has successfully developed and tested vaccines that protect ducks and geese from Riemerella anatipestifer
By Meggie Lu
In a bid to better protect the nation’s NT$8 billion (US$240 million) annual poultry market, the Council of Agriculture yesterday touted its success in developing a vaccine to combat Riemerella anatipestifer (RA), a common and contagious disease that affects young waterfowl.

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By Mo Yan-chih
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday condemned the city government for damaging Taipei’s international image by promoting it as a city of crazed nightlife, semi-naked girls and drunks, in a Chinese-language weekly magazine published in China.

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‘BOUNCED CHECK’: DPP Legislator Kuo Wen-chen said the bureau had failed to attract Chinese tourists and now it was asking for a NT$1.9 billion pay rise
By Shelley Shan
The Tourism Bureau yesterday faced some tough questions from lawmakers on the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after the bureau said it planned to ask for an increase in its budget for the next fiscal year. The bureau is asking for approximately NT$8.2 billion (US$246 million), compared with this year’s budget of around NT$6.3 billion.

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By Shelley Huang
Grilled by lawmakers over rumors of plans to cut back on the number of foreign laborers in a bid to boost employment rates, Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) officials yesterday repeatedly emphasized that “cutting foreign labor” was not being proposed and that it was a last-resort measure for when unemployment rates were “unacceptably high.”

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By Meggie Lu
Amateur video enthusiasts may be excited to know that a new and improved method of editing video — one where unwanted images can easily be cropped or blurred images made clearer — has been developed, the National Science Council (NSC) said yesterday.

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VIOLATIONS: Several stations were penalized for failing to check their sources and running false news reports. TVBS got a reprimand for its news anchor's behavior
By Shelley Shan
Several TV stations were penalized by the National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday for running false news reports or allowing product placements in their news programs, with the aggregate penalty reaching approximately NT$5 million (US$150,000).

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The Taipei City Parking Management Office, in collaboration with Chunghwa Telecom, plans to launch on Saturday a new parking query system that can help drivers locate the three parking lots closest to their vehicle with a simple text message, an official said yesterday.

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By Annie Huang
The day after a two-seater fighter jet disappeared last week during a routine military training mission over the Taiwan Strait, debris and body parts were found, but authorities are at a loss to explain what happened.

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