NONPARTISAN: The Judicial Yuan said it would not require members of the judiciary to declare their political affiliations, but might ban party membership in the future
By Rich Changand Jimmy Chuang
The Judicial Yuan said yesterday it would not ask members of the judiciary to reveal their party affiliations, but added that a ban on judges and prosecutors joining political parties was in the works.

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TERRORIST ATTACKS: At least 25 people were killed in two separate bomb blasts in Rawalpindi in which officials saw the hand of al-Qaeda and the Taliban
Two suicide bombings yesterday ripped through a military bus and a market near the Pakistani army headquarters, killing 25 people in the latest attacks aimed at destabilizing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

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OPTIMISTIC: The US president said on Monday his advisers had told him that if things continued to improve in Iraq, troop reductions were possible
Flying away from the dusty war zone in Iraq to an Asia summit, US President George W. Bush flirted with the idea that US troop strength could be reduced if security across Iraq improves as it has in Anbar Province, once rife with insurgents.

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Tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) announced yesterday that he will donate NT$15 billion (US$454.54 million) to National Taiwan University (NTU) to fund bio-medical engineering projects and the construction of a cancer hospital.

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Australia said yesterday it will press ahead with plans to urge Pacific Rim countries -- including China and other big developing-world polluters -- to agree that limiting greenhouse gas emissions should be part of a new international pact on global warming.

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Accusations that the Chinese military had hacked into US Defense Department computers are "groundless," Chinese officials said yesterday.

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