SHOPPING LIST: The weaponry, while not including all of Taipei’s requests, will represent one of the largest sales of arms in the history of US-Taiwan relations
By Charles Snyder
The administration of US President George W. Bush on Friday officially agreed to provide nearly US$6.5 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan, ending a year-long freeze that arose from strained US-Taiwan relations and which had raised questions about Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan’s national security.

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By Mo Yan-Chih And Jimmy Chuang
The Presidential Office is thankful that the US government sent an official notification on Friday to Congress on the sale of five major packages of weaponry to Taiwan, officials said yesterday, adding that the move signaled a new era of mutual trust between Taiwan and the US.

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INTERVENTION: An earlier version of the rescue plan was rejected, but the bill was sweetened with tax cuts and an increase in the limit on federal insurance
US President George W. Bush quickly signed into law a far-reaching US$700 billion bill to bail out the tottering US financial industry, calling it “essential to helping America’s economy” weather the storm.

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Eating a tiny bit of a melamine, the chemical responsible for a global food safety scare, is not harmful — except when it’s in baby formula, US food safety officials said on Friday.

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A jury on Friday night found O.J. Simpson guilty of robbery and kidnapping, a verdict that came 13 years to the day after Simpson was acquitted in the highly publicized murders of his ex-wife and her friend.

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