The international chemical weapons watchdog was yesterday examining an initial accounting from Syria of its chemical arsenal, as part of a deal that headed off military action against Damascus.
The deal, spearheaded by the US and Russia, is to be enshrined in a UN resolution, but envoys are struggling to agree on the wording and were to meet for further talks on the text.
On the ground, a monitoring group said regime forces had killed 15 people, including women and a child, in a Sunni Muslim village in central Syria.
Photo: Reuters
The Syrian opposition, which has been skeptical of the US-Russia deal, rejected an offer by Iran to broker talks, saying regime ally Tehran “lacked political credibility.”
Under the deal, yesterday was the tentative deadline for Syria to hand over details of its arsenal.
On the eve of the deadline, the The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is tasked with dismantling the arsenal, said it had received “an initial disclosure from the Syrian government of its chemical weapons program.”
A UN diplomat said the OPCW had received the Syrian declaration on Thursday.
The OPCW has postponed a meeting of its Executive Council set for today that had been due to discuss how to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons program.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
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