A roadside bomb killed an Amer-ican soldier and wounded three others yesterday in the second fatal attack on US troops in the capital in as many days. Iraq's new leader called for a halt to attacks on foreign troops, saying their rapid withdrawal would be a "major disaster."
American troops blocked off the site of the blast, which occurred as a convoy was passing along a street in eastern Baghdad. An attack against a U.S. convoy Friday -- also in the east of the capital -- killed five Americans and wounded five others.
It was unclear whether the attack was carried out by Sunni insurgents or Shiite Muslim militants enraged by the crackdown against radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who commands a following in the Shiite slums of the capital.
The ambush of the army convoy was one of a series of attacks yesterday against both the US occupation force and Iraqis who work with them as the June 30 transfer of sovereignty to a new, US-backed Iraqi administration draws near.
In Mosul, attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Iraqi Army recruiting center, wounding 17 people, hospital and police said.
Iraq's new prime minister, in his first televised address to the nation, called for a halt to attacks on Americans and other foreign soldiers, saying their presence would be needed to help the sovereign leadership improve security.
"The targeting of the multinational forces under the leadership of the United States to force them to leave Iraq would inflict a major disaster on Iraq, especially before the completion of the building of security and military institutions," Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said.
In the Shiite holy city of Najaf,where US troops and al-Sadr's militia have been facing off since early April, Iraqi police returned to duty on the streets for the first time in weeks yesterday.
US forces and radical cleric al-Sadr agreed on Friday to pull back from Najaf in a deal that, if it works, could mark the end of an uprising that has engulfed cities across southern Iraq and led to hundreds of deaths since April.
Riding in the backs of police pick-up trucks and armed with rifles, police took up positions in the city's main streets. There was no sign of Sadr's Mehdi Army.
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
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
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
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