US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves today to spearhead international Lebanon crisis talks as diplomatic efforts pick up speed, 10 days into Israel's offensive against Hezbollah.
Rice said she would first meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, before heading to Rome for an international conference on the violence in Lebanon.
But she rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire as a "false promise" based on the assumptions of the "old" Middle East, and ruled out any role in a peace deal for Hezbollah.
Rice's warnings contrasted with increasingly urgent calls for a truce from UN mediator Vijay Nambiar, who met Rice earlier on Friday in New York, shortly after returning from the region.
Nambiar bemoaned "serious obstacles" to a ceasefire in the immediate future, during a public debate of the 15-member UN Security Council.
In another sign that diplomatic efforts had hit a higher gear, the White House said Rice would join President George W. Bush today to discuss the crisis with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile called Bush to discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, the White House said.
As Rice firmed up her plans, a flurry of European politicians toured the region, most seeking to nudge the warring parties closer to a ceasefire and to alleviate the plight of Lebanese civilians.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced plans to travel to Cairo, and then Israel to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Zippi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
He was also due to meet Abbas.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy warned of a looming "catastrophe" and called for an immediate ceasefire as he left Beirut.
European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana has also been in the region.
The Rome conference, which Italian foreign ministry sources said would take place on Wednesday, will bring together the core group on Lebanon, which includes France, Britain, Lebanon, the EU, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the UN and the World Bank.
But Rice warned demands from many of those nations for an immediate ceasefire belonged in the "old" Middle East as they ignored what Washington said was the cause of the conflict, the proxy use of Hezbollah by Iran and Syria.
"A ceasefire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo," Rice said.
"This is a different Middle East. It's a new Middle East. It's hard, We're going through a very violent time," she said. "What we're seeing here ... are the birth pangs of a new Middle East and whatever we do, we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one."
Washington is increasingly mentioning its Arab allies as critical to ending the crisis, in the hope they can influence Syria and Iran.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary