The third year of the US' global "war on terror" saw a number of high-profile terrorist acts in a wide range of countries. The most prominent were the occupation of a school in southern Russia by Chechen terrorists and the bombing of two train stations in Madrid, Spain.
The Russian school crisis began with an undetermined number of heavily armed assailants storming a high school in Beslan, North Ossetia, taking hundreds of schoolchildren and their parents hostage.
The assailants rigged the school with explosives and began a tense standoff with Russian police and special forces. The standoff ended when a large group of hostages tried to run to safety, causing the authorities to storm the building when the Chechen assailants began firing at the fleeing children and adults.
At least 330 people, more than half of them children, were killed, according to figures released by the authorities when the tragedy ended.
Meanwhile, in Madrid, Islamic militants staged a coordinated attack using 10 separate bombs during rush hour on four commuter trains. The attacks occured on March 11, shortly before Spain held national elections. At least 193 people were confirmed dead.
The attacks were initially blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA, which denied any involvement. Later, the investigation made it clear that Islamic militants were to blame for the atrocity, and a group calling itself the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group was widely credited with the attack.
The fallout from the terrorists' action helped to bring down the conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar, who had been a staunch supporter of US President George W. Bush's war on terrorism.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
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