BREAKTHROUGH: Negotiators representing Taiwan and China were able to plow through some of the difficulties surrounding Lunar New Year's flights for businesspeople
By Wang Hsiao-wen
Taiwan and China yesterday hammered out a landmark agreement on non-stop charter flights for the Lunar New Year holiday, a move hailed by some as the biggest breakthrough in cross-strait relations in years.

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GUILTY: A `leading figure' in the Iraqi prison scandal involving guards making photographs and videos of torturing prisoners was found guilty on five charges
Army Specialist Charles Graner, the reputed ringleader of a band of rogue guards at Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted of abusing Iraqi detainees in a case that sparked international outrage when photographs were released that showed reservists gleefully humiliating prisoners.

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Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on Friday called on the Chinese Embassy to explain the withdrawal of travel visas for two Canadian citizens accompanying his trade mission to Beijing and Hong Kong next week.

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Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in as Palestinian Authority president yesterday and started his job with two crises: Israel cut contacts with him until he reins in militants and two top election officials resigned amid allegations of irregularities in the vote that brought Abbas to power.

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