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Sunday, March 21, 2004
Taiwan's Leader Re-elected, but Tally Is Disputed
By KEITH BRADSHER
and JOSEPH KAHN

The opposition Nationalist Party called for the election to be annulled and suggested that the president might have staged an assassination attempt to generate votes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/international/asia/21TAIW.html?th

Guantánamo Detainees Deliver Intelligence Gains
By NEIL A. LEWIS

Prisoners at the detention center have provided a steady stream of valuable intelligence, including detailed information on Al Qaeda.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/international/americas/21GITM.html?th

Updated: 08:05 PM EST
China puts army on alert over Taiwan crisis -paper

HONG KONG, March 22 (Reuters) - China has ordered its army on combat alert, ready to strike Taiwan if the island's election dispute intensifies, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said on Monday.

The order was issued on Saturday, the paper said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao could cite the newly revised state constitution to declare a state of emergency over Taiwan, paving the way for a military attack, the paper quoted unidentified sources on the mainland as saying.

Beijing has ordered government departments in the capital and the coastal provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang to put more officials on duty, it said. In a military operation, these provinces would serve as bases for missile attacks.

But analysts said there were no signs an attack was imminent, the paper said.

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian narrowly won re-election on Saturday, a day after he was shot in a mysterious assassination attempt, but opposition leader Lien Chan has declared the vote unfair and demanded a recount.

China considers self-governing Taiwan a renegade province that must be eventually be reunified, by force, if necessary.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement on Sunday it was "closely following" the situation in the island.

03/21/04 20:04 ET

News in brief from around California

Associated Press

BARSTOW, Calif. - A freight train derailed Sunday in a remote desert area about a mile from Ludlow with no reported injuries, fire officials said.

Twenty-six of the 98 cars on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway freight train derailed at about 10 a.m., said Tom Barnes, dispatch supervisor for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

There were no reported injuries but two derailed cars leaked about 30,000 gallons of calcium chloride solution, Barnes said.

Calcium chloride is a salt frequently used to melt snow and ice, as well as control dust.

The substance is not hazardous, but hazardous materials crews were expected to clean up the spill, Barnes said. Another car carrying 12,600 butane lighters also derailed but was not damaged.

Ludlow is located along Interstate 40 about 50 miles east of Barstow and about 135 miles east-northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8243760.htm