APPOINTMENTS: Analysts say Wu's promotion, together with Mark Chen's being named foreign minister, send a message to China that Taiwan isn't about to cave in
By Ko Shu-ling
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) will head the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) once the Cabinet is reshuffled.

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By Debby Wu and Jewel Huang
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday spoke out against plans by party Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to hold a mass demonstration on May 20, the date of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration.

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`INSURANCE POLICY': Poor progress in Iraq and pressure from Republicans forced the US president to change tack and ask Congress for US$25 billion
US President George W. Bush on Wednesday asked Congress for an additional US$25 billion to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, breaking a pledge not to seek more money before the November election.

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A suicide bomber killed five Iraqis and an American soldier at an entrance to the US Baghdad headquarters yesterday and officials said it looked like the work of an Islamic group linked to al-Qaeda.

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Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 911, which criticizes US President George W. Bush's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and connects the Bush family with Osama bin Laden's, won't be released through Miramax Films on orders from parent company Disney.

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