AMENDMENTS: Pan-blues slammed the CEC's passage of rules that call for the removal of local election commissioners who engage in `illegal conduct' or abandon their duties
By Loa Iok-sin, Mo Yan-chih, Shih Hsiu-chuan and Flora Wang
Amid heated debate, the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday approved regulations that would allow the premier to remove local election commission members from office upon the CEC's request.

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Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains left close to 100 people dead or missing on the main Indonesian island of Java yesterday, officials said.

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By Shelley Shan
After much speculation, the Tourism Bureau yesterday finally unveiled the message that will be displayed on the Taipei 101 building on New Year's Eve, with "2008 Taiwan" getting the nod over "UN for Taiwan."

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Rescuers in a remote, mountainous region of Panama were struggling to evacuate a 12-year-old American girl, the only survivor of a small plane crash that killed a California businessman, his teenage daughter and their Panamanian pilot.

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PERSONA NON GRATA: The Afghan president said a UN official and an EU official had threatened national security by contacting Taliban rebels
The UN said yesterday it was in talks with the Afghan government over a "misunderstanding" that led Kabul to order the expulsion of two senior European diplomats after claims they had contact with the Taliban.

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