The US committed more aircraft to the Gulf as Afghanistan snubbed a demand from President George W. Bush to turn over Osama bin Laden and others blamed for last week's death and awesome destruction.
"This is not the time for negotiations or discussions," Bush's spokesman warned.
One day after Bush delivered a nationally televised message of reassurance and resolve came a freshly sobering warning about more terrorist attacks.
"Everybody knows that if you take a look at this group and Osama bin Laden that there will be a next attack. ... It's not a matter of if, but when," said Senator Pat Roberts, emerging from an FBI briefing.
Bush plans to sign an executive order naming terrorist organizations and specific terrorists around the world and freezing their US assets, said a senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The economy suffered further aftershocks from the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center's twin towers and damaged the Pentagon. The stock market fell sharply, nearing the end of one of the gloomiest weeks in Wall Street history.
The airline industry was buffeted by fresh layoffs -- a total of well over 100,000 since the attacks -- and Congress hastened to provide billions in relief. The administration debated internally whether to seek fresh economic stimulus legislation in Congress. Aides involved in one meeting during the day said a consensus seemed to emerge to heed Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan's advice and wait a week or two before acting.
There were determined expressions of optimism as the nation sought to rally from 10 days of anxiety and sadness.
"We will rebuild New York. It's our nature. It's our spirit," said the top US law enforcement official, Attorney General John Ashcroft, touring the still-smoking ruins of the World Trade Center.
Members of the New York Mets baseball team and their manager and coaches all agreed to donate their wages for the day to the relief effort, US$450,000 in all. And a long roster of stars volunteered for a morale-boosting nationally broadcast entertainment program.
For the first time since the attacks, Bush did not speak in public, working instead in private meetings with his national security advisers, representatives of the insurance industry and others. Dozens of flag-waving White House aides sent the president off to the presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland as he boarded his helicopter at mid-afternoon.
Halfway around the world, Pakistan stood as a prime example of the complexities behind Bush's efforts to rally all nations to the anti-terrorism banner. The president was burned in effigy during the day as thousands of Muslims protested their government's decision to cooperate with America.
At the same time, several sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the administration had notified Congress it was moving to ease sanctions on Pakistan that have been in place for several years in an attempt to curtail weapons programs.
"We have to give something to them, and I think the sanctions have outlived their usefulness," said Representative Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan refused Bush's demand that bin Laden and others be turned over. If America has proof, "we are ready for the trial of Osama bin Laden in light of the evidence," said Abdul Salam Zaeef. Asked if the ruling Taliban were ready to hand him over otherwise, he said: "No," a refusal amended by his translator to say, "No, not without evidence."
To Bush's demand, the ambassador added a warning of his own: "It has angered Muslims of the world and can plunge the whole region into a crisis."
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