An airstrike by Israeli helicopters killed Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of the militant group Hamas, as he left a mosque on Monday, March 22. Three missiles were fired as Yassin and his bodyguards, who along with another person in the area were killed. Other Hamas leaders denounced the attack and are calling for revenge against Israel. Yassin was targeted by Israel in a failed assassination attempt last September.
While campaigning for re-election, Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu were shot, Shui-bian in the stomach and Lu in the leg. The shooting came a day before the presidential election, which resulted in Shui-bian and Lu being reelected by a margin of less than one percent of the vote. There have been a number of protests in Taiwan demanding a recount of the election. A recount is supported by both candidates, Shui-bian and his opponent, Lien Chen.
The French rail company SNCF reported a device suspected to be a bomb has been recovered from a rail line between Paris and Basel, Switzerland. The discovery comes two weeks after a thorough investigation of all 19,800 miles of track in France, which turned up no traces of explosive. That search was in response to threats from a group claiming a bomb had been placed along one or more of the rail lines. France's Interior Ministry believes this bomb is not the work of that group, based on descriptions of the bomb. No one has claimed responsibility for planting this device.
Four U.S. embassies were closed on Wednesday, March 24, due to threats and demonstrations against U.S. interests. The embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Mauritius were closed following "specific and credible threat information directed at the embassy," according to a State Department spokesman. The closings come one day after the State Department issued a caution to U.S. citizens abroad, citing a "heightened threat of terrorist attacks" on the heels of the Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin.