Sunni Arabs signaled readiness to end their boycott of the commission drafting Iraq's constitution while the US ambassador to Baghdad began his new job calling for broad participation in the process as a key deadline loomed.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former American ambassador to Afghanistan, said another priority will be improving US reconstruction aid, now widely viewed as lagging and leaving Iraqis demoralized.
"My approach will be to under-promise and over-deliver," Khalilzad said Saturday as he took up his new duties.
In a strange twist, al-Qaeda in Iraq posted a videotape showing a reportedly slain Egyptian diplomat discussing foreign access to tourist areas near Sharm el-Sheik in what appeared to be an attempt at justifying Saturday's deadly attacks in the Red Sea resort.
"If you seek evidence of how the Jews are desecrating the land of the Muslims, contemplate the words of the Egyptian ambassador about Jewish access and desecration of the land of Israel," said a statement accompanying the video.
The terror group also claimed responsibility for abducting two Algerian diplomats in Baghdad.
Iraqi police, meanwhile, announced the capture and purported confession of a suspected mastermind of the July 16 bombing in Musayyib that killed nearly 100 people in one of the deadliest attacks since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
Work on the draft charter stalled after 12 remaining Sunni members announced a walkout following the Tuesday assassination of colleagues Mijbil Issa and Dhamim Hussein al-Obeidi.
The committee is working against an Aug. 15 deadline for completing the charter -- considered a key step in the establishment of a broad-based, constitutional government -- and the Sunni walkout raised doubts whether the document could be finished on time.
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Al-Qaeda takes credit for kidnapping of diplomat
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
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