A UN nuclear agency report said Iran produced small amounts of plutonium as part of covert nuclear activities. While finding "no evidence" that Tehran tried to make atomic arms, it said such efforts cannot be ruled out.
The significance of the plutonium extraction was unclear, and the report did not link it to weapons activity. Plutonium also has uses in peaceful programs to generate power -- which is what Iran says the sole purpose of its nuclear activities is.
But the report, by the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), criticized Iran for not reporting its processing activities, listing it as part of dozens of cases where Tehran had covert programs in place.
"Neither the [processing] activities nor the separated plutonium had been previously reported to the agency," said the report, which was seen by The Associated Press yesterday.
While praising recent cooperation with the agency, much of the 29-page document faults Iran for not telling the truth in the past about its nuclear programs.
Prepared for a Nov. 20 meeting of the IAEA board of governors, the report comes as the US continues to focus attention on Iran's nuclear activities. The George W. Bush administration has argued that Iran should be declared in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty at that meeting -- a move that would lead to UN Security Council involvement.
The report credited Iran for a change of heart since September, when the agency demanded it clear up suspicions it was running a covert weapons program by explaining contradictions and ambiguities in its nuclear activities.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique