EU foreign ministers yesterday called for “a clear and strong response” to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria last month blamed on the Damascus regime.
Speaking after the bloc’s 28 ministers held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said: “We want to see a clear and strong response.”
Europe has been sharply divided over how to respond to US calls for military action against Syria after the deadly Aug. 21 attack which Washington, Paris and London say was carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Photo: EPA
France is the sole EU nation currently willing to take part in a US-led intervention, with most of the bloc’s governments reluctant to offer even political backing for military action without at best a UN mandate, or at least until the release of a much-awaited UN probe on the attack.
Ashton said that EU ministers welcomed French President Francois Hollande’s decision to await the release of the UN investigation before taking action against Syria.
However, Kerry made clear to the EU ministers that Washington had not decided to postpone a decision on military action until the release of the UN report.
Asked to comment on reports by EU officials that Kerry had agreed to requests to put off a decision pending publication of the report, a US State Department official said: “Secretary Kerry made clear that he would report back to the national security team the recommendations of some members of the EU to wait for the results of the UN inspection, but he also made clear that the United States has not made the decision to wait.”
Germany announced it has signed on to a global statement urging “a strong response” to the chemical weapons attack.
That made Germany the fifth EU member to back the statement issued at a G20 summit in St Petersburg on Friday and signed by 11 countries — including the US, Britain, France, Italy and Spain.
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