SEEKING APPROVAL: A group of Chinese Nationalist Party officials traveled to China, where they were able to please Beijing with their ideas about Lunar New Year flights
By Joy Su
Direct cross-strait charter flights for Lunar New Year are "definitely attainable," China's top cross-strait policymaker said yesterday during a meeting with opposition party politicians and business representatives as reported by Beijing's official newswire.

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By Jewel Huang
Su Chin-chiang (蘇進強), secretary-general of the National Cultural Association (文化總會), yesterday officially took over the chairmanship of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) after the party's central executive committee passed a resolution confirming him without any objections.

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An Indonesian tsunami victim was plucked out of choppy waters by a passing cargo ship after surviving nearly two weeks at sea, officials said Monday.

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Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian Authority president by a landslide, final results showed yesterday, giving the pragmatist a mandate to resume peace talks with Israel -- but also leaving him with the tough task of reining in powerful armed groups.

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`PROBLEMS OF PEACE': More than 3 million people are in danger of starving to death, the World Food Program said, and the world must help
The UN World Food Program (WFP) has appealed for US$302 million for 3.2 million people facing starvation in Sudan this year, without accounting for Darfur, in a statement received by reporters yesterday.

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