**Extended military service to include higher pay, longer boot camp: President **

President Tsai Ing-wen has announced that compulsory military service in

Taiwan will be extended from four months to one year, effective Jan. 1, 2024,

to strengthen Taiwan's combat readiness against potential Chinese attacks.

Tsai also promised to increase the monthly salary of conscripts, from the

current starting salary of $6,510 NT to $26,307 NT, to make sure they earn

enough to cover their basic daily expenses.

The decision is expected to affect conscripts who were born on Jan. 1, 2005

and after.

Tsai says conscripts will receive more intense (強烈的) and longer boot camp

training to boost their combat preparedness, firing no less than 800 rounds

of ammunition during their one-year service period.

She says they will also be trained to fire Kestrel anti-armor rockets and

FIM-92 Stingers, operate UAVs and engage in close-combat training, which have

proven useful in modern day warfare, she said.

The president stressed that "No one wants war," but Taiwan has faced

increasing military coercion from China in recent years and needs to do its

part by boosting self-defense.

(NS)

**New wage subsidy available to employers of live-in migrant caregivers **

The Ministry of Labor says employers of live-in migrant caregivers are

eligible for a subsidy of up to $3,000 NT per month.

Officials say the subsidies are aimed at covering the increase in the minimum

wage for live-in migrant caregivers from $17-thousand NT to $20-thousand NT,

that took effect on Aug. 10-th.

The ministry says applicants (申請人) should provide the employment contracts

showing that their employees are paid at least $20-thousand NT per month and

a copy of the passbook cover of the employer's domestic bank account.

Health officials say as of Dec. 15-th, there have been nearly 40-thousand

applications, and the first subsidy payments were made on Dec. 5-th.

(NS)

**Pakistan Bombing Suspects Arrested **

Pakistan's interior minister says authorities have arrested five people

suspected of involvement in last week’s suicide car bombing that killed a

police officer in the capital of Islamabad.

The minister says the detainees included the suicide bomber’s handler.

He said the attacker arrived in the garrison (駐軍) city of Rawalpindi from a

former tribal area of Kurram.

The official did not disclose the identity of the detainees and no spokesman

for the Pakistani Taliban, which had claimed responsibility for the attack,

was immediately available for comment.

**US Trump Tax Returns Published Friday **

Former President Donald Trump's tax returns are expected to be made public on

Friday.

AP correspondent Norman Hall reports

**Mexico President Appeals Against **

Mexico's president is appealing (呼籲) to the country's citizens not to

accept holiday handouts and gifts from drug gangs.

His comments came after videos posted online showed pickup trucks handing out

loads of gifts while bystanders described the drivers as members of the

Jalisco drug cartel.

Authorities have not confirmed the source of the gifts, but President Andres

Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed that some drug gangs were looking to resume

such giveaways to gain the support of the local population.

Lopez Obrador said that local residents in some communities have tried to

protect traffickers, stop drug seizures or oppose the installation of

National Guard bases intended to fight drug trafficking.

That was the I.C.R.T. news,

Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded

every day in the afternoon.

Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____.

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