Helicopter Rescues Taiwan Miners as Earthquake Injuries Cross 1,000 

Government personnel inspect the exterior of a partially collapsed residential building following the 03 April magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan, 04 April 2024. (EPA)
Government personnel inspect the exterior of a partially collapsed residential building following the 03 April magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan, 04 April 2024. (EPA)
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Helicopter Rescues Taiwan Miners as Earthquake Injuries Cross 1,000 

Government personnel inspect the exterior of a partially collapsed residential building following the 03 April magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan, 04 April 2024. (EPA)
Government personnel inspect the exterior of a partially collapsed residential building following the 03 April magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan, 04 April 2024. (EPA)

A helicopter plucked to safety on Thursday six people stranded in a mining area after Taiwan's worst earthquake in 25 years, while hundreds of aftershocks rocking the eastern region near its epicenter drove scores more to seek shelter outdoors. 

The death toll from Wednesday's 7.2-magnitude quake rose to 10, with the tally of injured at 1,067, authorities said, while most of the roughly 50 hotel workers marooned on a highway as they headed to a resort in a national park were located. 

But 660 people were still trapped, most of them in hotels in the park, after the road was cut off, the fire department said, as the discovery of a dead body on a hiking trail near the entrance to a gorge took the total deaths to ten. 

A helicopter ferried to safety six miners trapped on a cliff in a dramatic rescue after the quake cut off the roads into Hualien's soaring mountains, in footage shown by the department. 

The agriculture ministry urged people to keep away from the mountains because of the risk of falling rocks and the formation of "barrier lakes" as water pools behind unstable debris. 

Thursday was the start of a long-weekend holiday for the tomb-sweeping festival, when families traditionally return home to attend to ancestral graves, though others will also visit tourist attractions. 

People in largely rural and sparsely populated Hualien county were readying to go to work and school when the earthquake struck offshore on Wednesday. 

Buildings also shuddered violently in Taipei, but the capital suffered minimal damage and disruption. 

All those trapped in buildings in the worst-hit city of Hualien have been rescued, but many residents unnerved by more than 300 aftershocks spent the night outdoors. 

"The aftershocks were terrifying," said Yu, a 52-year-old woman, who gave only her family name. "It's non-stop. I do not dare to sleep in the house." 

Too scared to return to her apartment, which she described as being in a "mess", she slept in a tent on a sports ground being used for temporary shelter. 

Dozens of residents queued outside one badly damaged 10-storey building, waiting to go in and retrieve belongings. 

Clad in helmets and accompanied by government personnel, each was given 10 minutes to collect valuables in huge garbage bags, though some saved time by throwing items out of windows into the street below. 

"This building is no longer livable," said Tian Liang-si, who lived on the fifth floor, as she scrambled to gather her laptop, family photographs and other crucial items. 

She recalled the moment the quake struck, sending the building lurching and furniture sliding, while she rushed to save the four puppies she keeps as pets. 

"I'm a Hualien native," she told Reuters. "I'm not supposed to fear earthquakes. But this is an earthquake that frightened us." 



Macron’s Message to Trump: ‘You Can’t Be Weak in the Face of Putin’ 

French President Emmanuel Macron waits for the arrival of guests for a second meeting on Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron waits for the arrival of guests for a second meeting on Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Macron’s Message to Trump: ‘You Can’t Be Weak in the Face of Putin’ 

French President Emmanuel Macron waits for the arrival of guests for a second meeting on Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron waits for the arrival of guests for a second meeting on Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 19, 2025. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron said he intends to tell Donald Trump that it's in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to “be weak” in the face of Russia's Vladimir Putin amid US-led negotiations to end the almost three-year war in Ukraine.

Macron is to travel to Washington to meet with Trump on Monday, the White House said.

In a one-hour question and answer session on his social media Thursday, Macron said he'll tell Trump: “You can’t be weak in the face of President Putin. It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest. How can you then be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?”

Trump's recent statements that echo Putin's narrative and plans to have direct negotiations with Moscow have left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried. But Macron suggested Trump's strategy to create “uncertainty” in talks with Russia could actually make Western allies stronger in these talks.

Putin “doesn’t know what he (Trump) is going to do, he thinks (Trump) is capable of anything,” Macron said. “This uncertainty is good for us and for Ukraine.”

Macron added he would seek to persuade Trump that US interests and Europeans’ interests are the same, telling him: “If you let Russia take over Ukraine, it would be unstoppable.”

That means any peace deal must be negotiated with Ukrainians and Europeans around the table, Macron reaffirmed.

"We want peace, but we don’t want a ceasefire that means Ukraine surrendering, because that’s dangerous. And we know that would lead to Russia going further. We’ve already experienced it," he said.

Macron also appeared ready to answer Trump's call to boost defense spending. “Us, Europeans, we must increase our war effort,” he said.

Asked about whether he's considering sending French troops to Ukraine, he said he would not send soldiers to fight in Ukraine but rather a security force meant to bring “guarantees” once a peace deal is achieved.

“We don't rule out, within a framework planned with our allies, the possibility of having forces which, once peace has been negotiated, could contribute to guaranteeing Ukraine’s security,” he said.