At least 90 people were killed and 180 wounded yesterday as US troops and Iraqi forces attacked Samarra in a first effort to reclaim trouble spots before planned elections in Iraq and the US, while a shocked nation buried 34 children killed by car bombs.
The US military said the offensive was in response to what it called "repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces" (US military terminology for oppo-nents of the regime and the US military presence) and had "secured the government and police buildings in Samarra."
About 2,500 US troops from five 1st Infantry Division battalions and 1,000 Iraqi army and national guardsman stormed the city before dawn yesterday.
US troops freed a Turkish hostage during their Samarra operations, the US military said. Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division rescued Yahlin Kaya, a construction company employee, during their sweep of the city 95km north of Baghdad.
Division spokesman Major Neal O'Brien said Kaya was evacuated to a medical facility just outside the city. His condition was not given. Kaya worked for the 77 Construction Co, the major said.
Meanwhile, a Frenchman pre-senting himself as an unofficial negotiator said in a telephone interview with a radio station yesterday that he was with two French reporters who are being held hostage by Iraqi insurgents.
Philippe Brett told the Europe 1 station by mobile phone that he was in Iraq but would not say where. When asked if he was was with Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro and Christian Chesnot of Radio France Internationale, both of whom were kidnapped Aug. 20 along with their Syrian driver, Brett said: "The response is yes."
"I can't tell you any more. We are in the process of finalizing things. I don't want to compromise this operation, which is already sufficiently complicated as it is," he said, adding that "I think that within the next 10 hours or so, I'll be able to [talk to you] with a great deal of pleasure."
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