Astonishing terrorist strikes in the US quickly reached a global audience yesterday, with many around the world watching live coverage as both World Trade Center towers collapsed.
Audiences were transfixed by the awful images from New York and Washington.
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (
Kuo Yao-chi (
Chen instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately extend his condolences to the victims and their families.
Taiwan's National Security Council was convened yesterday evening and Deputy Prime Minister Lai In-jaw (賴英照) announced that the TAIEX would not open today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the American people over the terrorist attacks, calling them "terrible tragedies," the Kremlin press service said.
"This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today," said Prime Minister Tony Blair, who canceled a speech at a trade union conference. "It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we the democracies of this world are going to have to come together and fight it together."
President Jacques Chirac of France, in a nationally televised statement, called the attacks in the US "monstrous" and expressed his solidarity with the American people.
"France has just learned of these monstrous attacks, there is no other word for it, that have hit America," Chirac said from Rennes, in the western region of Brittany.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set.
"I send my condolences to the president, the government and the people for this terrible incident," said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable."
The leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction, denied yesterday that his group was behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"We are not responsible for this type of terror attack. We are against it," said Qais Abdel Rahim, the head of the DFLP in the West Bank.
In Berlin, Foreign Ministry officials huddled in a crisis meeting.
Virtually all German TV channels switched to live coverage. "This is pure mass murder," one commentator said.
"My government condemns these terrorist attacks to the utmost," said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
"Italy is at the side of the United States," Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi told Bush in a telegram. "The international community must respond together to this abhorrent act."
In Thailand, Suranand Vejjajiva, a spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said they were watching the news in disbelief.
The world on alert
US
The Federal Aviation Administration diverted transatlantic flights headed for the US to Canada after an earlier grounding of all flights.
The government closed its border to Mexico.
Canada
The transport ministry shut down all airports in the country except those to allow planes diverted from the US to land.
UK
Security was tightened at London’s three main airports.
France
Interior ministry put the country under general security alert.
Belgium
The nation’s security forces were put on high alert around hey installations. The country is host to NATO and SHAPE, the supreme headquarters for allied forces in Europe.
Israel
Local radio reported that the government ordered the immediate evacuation of all its embassies and public facilities worldwide. The nation’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
Israeli army rescue teams were preparing to head to the US to help rescue efforts.
Japan
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered police to tighten security outside US bases across the country.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
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