REDUCTION OF RISK: A classified report says that deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq and other factors raise the specter of a compromised response to new conflict
A classified Pentagon assessment concludes that long battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus persistent episodes involving terrorists and other threats, have prevented the US military from improving its ability to respond to new crises, The Associated Press has learned.

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Senator John McCain, the leading contender for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, has written that the US "must take note" of China's military threats and "warlike rhetoric" toward Taiwan.

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A Paris court put French trader Jerome Kerviel behind bars, while the investigation into billions of dollars of losses he allegedly caused for bank Societe Generale took a new twist as a second employee was brought into custody.

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HEAVY TOLL: Most freeway traffic is running smoothly, but this would be small comfort for drivers stuck in a slow moving, 4km mess inside the Hsuehshan Tunnel
An estimated 2.6 million vehicles hit the road yesterday, making it the busiest day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the National Freeway Bureau said, urging the public to use public transport.

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By Charles Snyder
Dozens of Taiwanese-American organizations, spearheaded by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), have publicly urged US President George W. Bush and his administration to support Taiwan's entry into the UN and other international organizations in a half-page ad scheduled to appear in the Washington Post today.

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The world's leading economies pledged to take action -- separately or together -- to secure stability in volatile global markets in a joint communique yesterday, but stopped short of prescribing specific measures.

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