`SURPRISE ATTACK': The DPP was able to approve the arms package and other bills for discussion because several pan-blue members were late for the meeting
By Ko Shu-ling
The long-stalled arms procurement bill unexpectedly passed the legislature's Procedure Committee yesterday due to low attendance by the committee's pan-blue members, but the pan-blue camp vowed to block the package in Friday's legislative sitting.

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GAINING GROUND: The US-based Freedom House gave the nation the highest mark on both political rights and civil liberties, while China was again dubbed ``not free''
By Jimmy Chuang
Taiwan has made progress on rights and liberties in the past year, according to the latest report by the US-based organization Freedom House.

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FRAUD ALLEGATIONS: With partial results from last week's election giving a Shiite Party nearly 60 percent of the vote, Sunnis are starting to claim the poll was a sham
Sunni Arabs yesterday protested the partial election results released a day earlier, calling them a "falsification of the will of the people" and saying evidence of fraud was abundant. Assailants kidnapped a driver for Jordan's embassy.

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A smiling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was released from the hospital yesterday, saying he was in a hurry and fit enough to get back to work after suffering a mild stroke two days earlier.

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The number of electoral democracies around the world rose from 119 to 122 this year, setting a new record as freedom made inroads in the Middle East and Africa, an independent monitoring group said.

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