ASSASSINATION: The security council slammed a report saying the annual drill would simulate a Chinese attack targeting Ma Ying-jeou before his inauguration next month
By Ko Shu-ling
The National Security Council (NSC) yesterday attacked a report claiming that the scenario of this year’s military drill would be the government’s response to the assassination of president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

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Former US president Jimmy Carter rebuffed a call yesterday from an Israeli lawmaker to halt his contacts with Hamas, and senior leaders of the Islamic militant group rushed to Egypt in anticipation of a meeting with him.

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CNN said yesterday that commentator Jack Cafferty was referring to Chinese leaders — not the Chinese people — when he described them as a “bunch of goons and thugs,” and apologized to anyone who thought otherwise.

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US President George W. Bush had quite a birthday present for Pope Benedict XVI yesterday: at least 9,000 excited guests gathered on the White House’s South Lawn for a 21-gun salute, a famed soprano’s rendition of The Lord’s Prayer and an emotional presidential welcome.

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DR Congo flight: Most of the 79 passengers and six crew members on the plane were evacuated, but dozens of people on the ground were feared dead
UN peacekeepers and rescue workers searched through the smoldering rubble left after an airplane careened off a runway and crashed into a bustling market area in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 33 people and injuring more than 100.

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