Vague

WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence officials have received information suggesting that al-Qaida might be plotting an attack in the United States this summer to coincide with one or more major public events, a senior U.S. official said last night. The intelligence includes no specific information, the official said, such as a date, place or method of a possible attack. Nor does it indicate how well-formed, if at all, any plot might be. Because of the vagueness of the information, officials said they have no plans to raise the nation's terror alert level.

Howard County's Planning Board voted last night to allow townhouses to be constructed on about 7 acres of commercially zoned land across the street from Deep Run Elementary School in Columbia. Representatives of the Howard Research and Development Corp., a Rouse Co. subsidiary, testified last night in favor of the land-use change. The company's plans for 123 acres - of which the 7-acre plot is a piece - include more than 44,000 square feet of retail space and 316,800 square feet for commercial uses.

WASHINGTON - John Kerry, accused by President Bush of plotting a gargantuan tax increase, is under pressure to provide specifics on what budget plans he would push for if he won the White House - and how much they would cost. Kerry vigorously denies he would raise taxes by $900 billion - a figure the Bush campaign pinned on him last week in its first negative ads against the likely Democratic nominee. But Kerry has avoided outlining a detailed plan with any alternative estimate. "George Bush knows, and Dick Cheney know[s]

He was one of the government's first key witnesses in the federal death penalty trial of a violent West Baltimore gang, and prosecutors were expecting convicted felon Tavon M. Brown to detail for jurors all he knew about the neighborhood drug trade, the players on the street, and a string of shootings and homicides. Instead, as he lounged casually in the witness chair, the 25-year-old Brown surprised prosecutors with vague answers and information that in some instances differed from what he had previously told authorities.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, seeking to remove an irritant threatening to undermine the president's meeting today with China's premier, strongly criticized yesterday a planned referendum in Taiwan that could be interpreted as a move toward independence. Senior administration officials told reporters that the United States would oppose "any unilateral steps" to change Taiwan's status, including the use of force by Beijing or "any moves by Taiwan itself, including referenda or constitutional reform that would change the status quo on independence or unification."

FROM ALL reports, the Democratic presidential candidates had precious little to say about urban issues at last week's debate at Morgan State University. The impression that issues affecting cities are being overshadowed by broader concerns, such as the debate over foreign policy, or relegated to the back burner is reinforced by the Web sites of many of the major candidates. Drop-down issues menus on the Web sites of Howard Dean, John Edwards, Richard A. Gephardt, John Kerry and Joseph I. Lieberman have no separate categories for cities, the way they do for such subjects as agriculture (for Dean)

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat announced yesterday that he would appoint a prime minister, in a step toward meeting a central demand of the Bush administration for a resumption of the peace process. Arafat did not say who would fill this new post or what powers the prime minister would have. Palestinians and Israelis are jockeying to improve their diplomatic positions, in response to domestic political pressures and in anticipation of a revival of the peace process as a result of a possible American war against Iraq.

Justice Department investigators trying to determine whether federal funds were misspent by a Maryland crime control office might face one central hurdle: vague guidelines established by their own agency for how the money can be used. The department's grant-making arm, the Office of Justice Programs, gives states broad discretion in allocating funds and hiring employees. That could complicate the work of FBI agents and U.S. prosecutors who, in determining whether rules were broken, must first figure out what the rules were.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Everyone who lives on the narrow cobblestone streets of this city heard the news, and nearly all remembered how many times they had heard the same vague promises. Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed that Israeli troops began withdrawing last night from the city's outskirts as part of a tentative truce that could expand to include all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip - news that Palestinians here greeted with skeptical looks and complaints that their leaders had sold them out. "This agreement will be a disaster," said Nayef Mo'eti, a 37-year-old cabdriver waiting in vain for riders at Manger Square, the center of the city.

WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have issued a secret alert to state and local law enforcement agencies warning them of the possibility of a terrorist attack in the United States around the Fourth of July holiday, senior government officials said. The message from the FBI, like others issued in recent weeks, was not made public because intelligence analysts concluded that the threat was too vague to justify a public warning, the officials said. "The FBI possesses no information indicating a specific and credible terrorist threat related to the July 4 Independence Day time frame," said the message, which was sent Wednesday.