NEW ERA: The agreement signed in Washington on Saturday will give Japan an expanded role in the two countries' defense planning, and tighten military ties
The US and Japan agreed on Saturday to sharply cut US forces in Okinawa, deploy a powerful missile defense radar in Japan and tighten army ties in a major realignment of the main US military alliance in Asia.

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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed yesterday to give Japan's military a firm legal basis by revising the pacifist post-war constitution.

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An obscure Kashmiri militant group claimed responsibility yesterday for bomb blasts in India's capital which killed at least 59 people, but analysts said it was probably a front for a larger Pakistan-based group.

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PARTY REPUTATION: DPP officials said the move was necessary as the party's image has already been tarnished by Chen's deceptions
By Jewel Huang and Chiu Yu-tzu
Former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) was formally expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday because of his alleged involvement in the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal, in a resolution passed by the DPP's central evaluation committee.

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BIGGER SLICE: Booming shipments of digital cameras, phones and PDAs mean that Taiwanese manufacturers are set to grab larger global electronics market shares
By Jason Tan
Taiwanese contract manufacturers are poised to grab a larger slice of the worldwide digital consumer electronics pie, as latest studies showed that their shipments in digital cameras, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) will post nearly 50 percent growth this year.

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