1. Hollande vows to destroy IS after Paris attacks
French President Francois Hollande vowed to destroy the Islamic State group on Monday after its atrocities in Paris, promising tough new anti-terror measures at home and intensified bombing of Syria.
France and Belgium staged dozens of raids on suspected extremists as the manhunt continued for an eighth jihadist, including in a known radical hotspot in Brussels where some of the attackers are thought to have lived.
Describing the coordinated attacks that killed 129 people as "acts of war," Hollande urged a global fightback to crush IS and said he would hold talks with his US and Russian counterparts on a new offensive.
Hollande said the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to "triple our capacity to take action" against IS in Syria.
"We will continue the strikes in the weeks to come ... There will be no respite and no truce," he said.
On the domestic front, Hollande called for an extension of the state of emergency by three months and announced 8,500 new police and judicial jobs to help counter terrorism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a G20 conference in Turkey, said the attacks proved the need for an international anti-terror coalition.
"I spoke about this at the United Nations... and the tragic events that followed have confirmed that we were right," he said.
US President Barack Obama, also in Turkey, said a new deal had been agreed with France to speed up intelligence-sharing.
His secretary of state, John Kerry, landed in Paris late on Monday to discuss the attacks and described IS as "psychopathic monsters".
2. Turkey Shoots Down Russian Warplane
Turkey has shot down a Russian warplane, claiming it had violated Turkish
airspace and ignored repeated warnings.
Russia denies that the plane crossed the Syrian border into Turkish skies.
Russia's Defense Ministry says it is looking into the circumstances of the
crash
However, it stressed that the plane was over Syrian territory throughout the
flight.''
Russia says the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire, but Turkey claimed that
its F-16s fired on the Russian plane after it ignored several warnings.
The ministry said the pilots parachuted but added that Moscow had no further
contact with them.
3. Bomb Blast in Athens
Police say that a bomb has exploded outside the building of the Federation of
Greek Enterprises, near Parliament in central Athens, causing damage but no
injuries.
Police had cordoned off the area following warning telephone calls made in
Greek to two Athens daily newspapers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The blast smashed windows in several nearby buildings, including a hotel,
private apartments, and the Embassy of Cyprus. The government and opposition parties condemned the attack.
4. Cold front to move into north from tomorrow
The Central Weather Bureau says temperatures across the north are expected to
dip to as low as 13 degrees from tomorrow evening - due to the arrival of the
strongest cold air mass so far this autumn.
The bureau says the cold front will see temperatures in the north falling to
lows of between 15 and 13 degrees late Thursday and early Friday.
The weather is expected to warm up again by Saturday, with the return to
highs of around 25 degrees.
The cold air mass is not expected to affect the center and south.
5. ROC expresses condolences over Kim Young-sam's death
The government has expressed its condolences over the death of former South
Korean president - Kim Young-sam.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says President Ma Ying-jeou, Premier Mao
Chi-kuo and Foreign Minister David Lin have asked the R-O-C's representative
office in Seoul to convey their incere sympathy to the people of Korea.
Kim was South Korea's president from 1993-1998.
He died on Saturday.
After stepping down as president, Kim visited Taiwan five times and met with
numerous R-O-C dignitaries in South Korea.
The Ma administration says he greatly contributed to increasing bilateral
ties and promoted substantive relations between the two sides.
6. Counter-terrorism efforts to be stepped-up
The Cabinet says it will work with President Ma Ying-jeou to promote the
counter-terrorism efforts.
According to the government, the prevention of terror attacks involves
defense and foreign affairs issues, which all fall within the president's
powers.
Officials have said counter-terrorism measures already taken by the
government include heightened security at airport and the preparing of
emergency response plans for venues that are vulnerable to possible attacks.
The moves comes amid concern Taiwan could become a target for an attack by
the Islamic State after the R-O-C national flag appeared in a recent
propaganda video for the extremist group.
7. Ma admin. seeking to build ties with BF's new government
The government says it is looking forward to working with Burkina Faso's new
leader to advance bilateral ties in the wake of the country's presidential
election.
The ballot was held on November 29-th after months of political unrest.
Former prime minister Roch Marc Christian Kabor was elected president, after
he emerged the clear winner.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has congratulated the people of Burkina Faso
on opening a new chapter in the country's democracy and said Taiwan hopes to
work with the new leader to strengthen the bilateral ties.
8. Trump’s Muslim ban call 'endangers US security'
Donald Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric undermines US national security by boosting the Islamic State (IS) group, the Pentagon has warned.
The leading Republican presidential candidate has said Muslims should be banned from entering the US, in the wake of the deadly California attacks.
But Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said such talk "bolsters Isil's narrative", referring to IS.
There has been a global outcry since Mr Trump made his remarks.
US Secretary of State John Kerry joined the onslaught of condemnation on Tuesday afternoon when he said they were "not constructive" in the fight against IS.
The IS militants are the target of a US-led bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq.
Mr Trump announced his plan days after an attack in California raised US fears about homegrown terrorism. A Muslim couple, believed to have been radicalised, opened fire and killed 14 people at a health centre in San Bernardino.
One of the two perpetrators, Tashfeen Malik, reportedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State on the day of the tragedy.
9. TEPA minister returns from U.N. climate conference
Wei Kuo-yen, the head of Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), returned to the country today from Paris, where he had taken part in activities related to a United Nations conference on climate change.
The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, concluded Friday in the French capital.
Although Taiwan is not a party to the UNFCCC, it had a 50-member delegation attending COP21 activities as part of a non-governmental organization under the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Wei was Taiwan's first EPA head to take part in a COP activity.
10. Ma admin. launches climate change initiative at COP21
Environment Minister Wei Guo-yen has launched the Pan Pacific Adaptation on Climate Change on the sidelines of world climate talks in Paris.
Speaking at the launch Sunday, Wei said the initiative is aimed at helping the region deal with the effects of global warming using technology developed in Taiwan.
Wei is in Paris for the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Taiwan is not a party to the convention, but Wei is the first E-P-A minister from Taiwan to take part in events on the sidelines of the Paris summit.
He is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with environmental protection
officials from other countries during his visit.
11. Taipei hold anti-terror drill
The Taipei Joint Bus System and the Taipei City Police Department are scheduled to stage an anti-terror drill simulating an attack on the bus system next Friday.
According to the head of Metropolitan Transport Corporation, the drill has been organized in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris
City transport officials say the drill will include simulations of trying to
placate passengers, negotiating with terrorists and carrying out a
counter-terrorism raid.
Extra
12. Euphoria as landmark Paris climate deal goes through
LE BOURGET, France --Cheering envoys from 195 nations on Saturday approved a historic accord in Paris to stop global warming, offering hope that humanity can avert catastrophic climate change and usher in an energy revolution.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius ended nearly a fortnight of grueling U.N. negotiations on the outskirts of Paris with the bang of a gavel, marking consensus among the ministers, who stood for several minutes to clap and shout their joy, with some shedding tears of relief.
"I see the room, I see the reaction is positive, I hear no objection. The Paris climate accord is adopted," declared Fabius, the president of the talks.
The post-2020 Paris Agreement ends decades-long rows between rich and poor nations over how to carry out what will be a multi-trillion-dollar campaign to cap global warming and cope with the impact of a shifting climate.
With 2015 forecast to be the hottest year on record, world leaders and scientists had said the accord was vital for capping rising temperatures and averting the most calamitous effects of climate change.
Without urgent action, they warned, mankind faced increasingly severe droughts, floods and storms, and rising seas that would engulf islands and coastal areas populated by hundreds of millions of people.
'Met the moment'
"The Paris agreement establishes the enduring framework the world needs to solve the climate crisis," U.S. President Barack Obama said.
"We