HIGH-LEVEL: Analysts believe that Beijing has been hoping for US President Bush to weigh in on Taiwan's UN referendum. But Condoleezza Rice could be all that it gets
By Charles Snyder, Shih Hsiu-chuan and Mo Yan-chih
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government will go ahead with the UN referendum as it is a response to a public petition, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday, adding he was confident the referendum would pass.

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The Sept. 11 commission asked the CIA in 2003 and 2004 for information on the interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects, only to be told the agency provided all that was requested, the New York Times reported yesterday.

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ONE-YEAR STINT: Andrew Natsios, who intends to return to academia, is to be replaced by Richard Williamson, who is close to the US deputy secretary of state
US President George W. Bush's special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, resigned and was replaced by a former US diplomat to the UN amid questions about the administration's policies toward the vast African country.

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Chinese police banned a gathering of writers from taking place in Beijing yesterday, sparking fears that authorities were continuing to crack down on dissent ahead of the Olympics, a dissident writer said.

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Pakistan has arrested several suspects in connection with the suicide attack on a mosque that killed 56 people, security officials said yesterday.

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