China to lift ban on citizens going to Taiwan
Reuters - 29 minutes ago By John Ruwitch. BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing will lift restrictions on Chinese tourists going to Taiwan and is offering the island a pair of giant pandas in a show of goodwill at the end of a visit by Taiwan opposition leader Lien Chan.

Israeli cabinet member quits to protest pullback plan
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - 1 hour ago By Laura King, Los Angeles Times. JERUSALEM -- Natan Sharansky, the onetime symbol of oppressed Soviet Jewry, quit his Cabinet post yesterday to protest Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer.

Morgan Stanley fails to silence rebel campaign over Purcell
Independent - 2 hours ago By Katherine Griffiths in New York. Former executives at Morgan Stanley have refused to call off their campaign to oust the investment banking giant's chief executive Philip Purcell, despite concessions from the board.

Stand up. Tongue update. Time travelers.
Houston Chronicle - 8 hours ago By KYRIE O'CONNOR. 1. I was, I confess, slightly disconcerted by Laura Bush's stand-up act at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night. Now, I'm thrilled she'd have the gumption to take on that

'Inexperience' of troops blamed in agent's death
Washington Times - 1 hour ago By John Phillips. ROME -- Italy yesterday blamed "stress and inexperience" among US troops for the shooting death of its top intelligence agent in Baghdad but accepted that he was killed accidentally. In a