With Pakistan's political future in doubt, the safety of the country's nuclear weapons is again up for debate. Washington has spent nearly US$100 million for highly classified programs to help boost Pakistan's nuclear security, reports The New York Times. The newspaper had withheld details for three years.
The money went to personnel training and equipment, including fences and night-vision goggles. The U.S. thought about offering "permissive action links," or PALS, a system that protects a warhead from detonating without proper codes. That debate ended because of concerns over technology transfer and deep suspicion in Pakistan about Washington's true intentions.
The gruesome slaughter of dolphins takes place every year. But only recently the Western media began taking notice. And those who want to protect dolphins and whales are just now exploring a new strategy--informing the Japanese people.
The Sydney Morning Herald today tells a story about how dolphins are scared into a tiny cove in Taiji, Japan, and then killed by drowning them. Nigel Barker, who documented the slaughter, describes a horrific death scene as the dolphins drown.
The death of 12-year-old Marianette Amper is sending shock waves through the Philippines, where religious leaders are calling on everyone to share the blame. Unable to afford school or the bus fare to get to school, the fifth-grader hanged herself in her family's shanty last Friday.
According to the Philippine Star, which spells her first name Marianeth, she foreshadowed the suicide in her diary, apparently the only place she talked about her misery. She wanted to continue with her studies and even contemplated asking a national television station for help.
They beg for alms, for sustenance on the streets of Burma. But the monks are even hungrier for democracy. Ashin Ven Kovida tells Spiegel magazine how he and others had hoped the military regime would relent under pressure. Instead he is now at a safe house in Thailand. An unknown number of monks and other protestors are in jail or dead.
In a country where Buddhist monks draw nearly universal respect, an officer had to slap soldiers in the front row to attack the protesting monks. Still the protestors were no match for military hardware.
The BBC Burmese service and the Norwegian-based Democratic Voice of Burma were instrumental in spreading the news about the government's attacks on monks. After hearing about the news, Ashin Ven Kovida organized several demonstrations.
Organizing protests is hard in Burma (Myanmar) where censorship comes so naturally to the aging military regime. But according to a comment posted on DVB, there may be an open Wi-Fi hot spot near the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon (Yangon). Regardless of the Internet's accessibility, television footage and photos continue to reach the outside world.
DVB's photos show a dead monk, a Japanese journalist who was shot dead, and a dozen others who were injured. The death of Kenji Nagai, the journalist for APF News, was caught on camera:
As powerful as the monks' peaceful protests were, the marches and deaths would have meant very little had they not been printed. To that end, continued engagement, not an embargo, is necessary, argues Richard Bernstein in The New York Times.
The airline calls it the "inner sanctum," the exclusive first class suite aboard the new A380. It's supposed to "meet your every need" except one. No sex is allowed on the double bed because the walls are not soundproof and the suites are not completely private. A return trip for two between Singapore and Sydney in mid-November in the A380 suite costs US$15,000, which doesn't include departure tax.
The South Korean intelligence has formally admitted kidnapping a dissident from Tokyo in 1973 with at least a "tacit approval" from then President Park Chung-Hee. The news has caused a firestorm in do-no-wrong Japan where the government is having a hard time burying this piece of history.
Japan is demanding an official apology from South Korea for kidnapping Mr. Kim from its soil and has refused Ambassador Yu Myung-Hwan's visit to express "regret," according to Yomiuri Shimbun.
On its face, the incident was an open and shut case. Japan agreed to Seoul's request to cover up the kidnapping and let a public investigation run its course. It eventually joined other cold cases. That is, until now.
China is preparing to establish a Communist Party branch in space. On the sidelines of the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China, Yang Liwei, the country's first taikonaut, as the astronauts are called there, is leading the way to fulfill requirements set forth by the CPC Constitution. The party requires a grassroots branch whenever there are three or more card-carrying CPC members. All 14 taikonauts are CPC members.
If established, the CPC branch in space would be the "highest" in the world, says Mr. Yang. Shades of Helen Caldicott's "Missile Envy." The 17th Congress is most notable for how frequently the words "democracy" and "democratic" appear in the official press. Even the conservative People's Daily had to feature President Hu Jintao's speech on the necessities of democracy.
Wii has done something a lot more than show a pretty picture.
Not everyone played nicely at this week's summit of North and South Korea. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Jang-Soo has confessed to engaging in a silent battle of will and pride with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
The defense minister, who towers over "Dear Leader," not only refused to bow when shaking hands with Kim Jong-Il, but he also held an impromptu battle of grip strength during the first handshake.
"Shaking hands for the first time, I held his hand and saw that his grip strength was significantly strong," said the defense minister of his arch-enemy.
Support for political Islam in Indonesia has steadily decreased, hinting at the rising strength of secular political values, a survey by Lembaga Survei Indonesia has shown. Disapproval of a woman president has fallen to 30 percent in 2007 from 41 percent in 2005. More importantly active involvement in hard-line Islamic political parties in the world's largest Muslim country remains marginal at best.
Does Sinophobia in U.S. Congress stop Chinese military hackers or China's continued march to gain access to sensitive U.S. technologies? Probably not. The buyout of 3Com Corporation by Bain Capital Partners (83.5 percent) and Huawei Technologies (16.5 percent) will likely go through despite concerns that the People's Liberation Army will virtually invade the Pentagon.
Aside from congressional kneejerk reactions against China, TippingPoint, a 3Com division that makes network Intrusion Prevention Systems, could become a sticking point in the US$2.2 billion deal. But Bain, according to the Financial Times this morning, is expected to divest the division if the deal is approved.
China's attempts to hack into or attack the Pentagon network have been partially successful in recent years, raising questions about how good TippingPoint hardware really is. The Pentagon itself apparently is not concerned about the deal.
Huawei, however, does not have a good track record.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is making some alarming moves to consolidate her power.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo owes her meteoric rise to power to the Armed Forces of the Philippines [AFP] that helped oust her predecessor Joseph Estrada. And when the going gets tough she turns to the military for help or assumes the post of Secretary of National Defense.
This places Mrs. Arroyo in the perfect position to not only root out agitators itching for a coup, but also consolidate her power. She has gone even further to pack her cabinet with retired officers to protect herself from detractors of "Con-Ass" and others who simply dislike her.
The result is likely to produce a constitutional crisis, violence in the streets and a quasi-dictator with enormous power over other branches of the government.
China is cracking down on Internet pornography suppliers.
Chinese authorities made an example out of Chen Hui, the 28-year-old Internet porn king, and sentenced him to life in prison. Eight others who were connected to Mr. Chen's venture were given jail terms ranging from 13 months to 10 years.
The authorities would have made Chairman Mao proud. Pornography, along with prostitution, drugs and extramarital sex, was a vice he wanted erased from Chinese society. Yet he enjoyed the perks of being a dictator. In "The New Emperors," he is described also as a porn collector, a drug addict and a "sex maniac" who had women at the ready to pleasure him.
While the rich and the almighty party apparatchiki indulge in sex, drugs and rock and roll, the law applies differently to less important, ordinary Chinese.
Like opium that brought 19th Century China to its knees, the Internet should scare the Party, and not because of subversive contents. But how does Beijing monitor 111 million users?
PlayStation3 deserves its own category in economics where supply and demand involves robbery, assault and opportunists.
The launch of PlayStation3 was exciting, sad and appalling all at the same time. The craze has generated an incredible demand beyond the needs of an ordinary gamer.
The shortage is not entirely due to Sony's marketing machine. It is partially the fault of the difficulty in mass-manufacturing the next generation blue laser used in the console.
But is it worth the money, time and life? Here is a quick look at the ruthless supply-and-demand economics behind PlayStation3.
$245,000 (PDF) is the starting bid for this PlayStation3 system and delivery anywhere in the world in person. This auctioneer has also offered to play a game or two with the buyer. If anyone buys, flying around the world wouldn't be a problem. The 60 gigabyte premium version is being auctioned on eBay for over US$1,000.
£3,299 (US$6,254) (PDF) is the price for a PS3 being offered on Craig's List to buyers in Europe, where the console does not go on sale until March 2007.
US$499.99 & US$599.99: Retail prices for Playstation3 20 GB and 60GB editions, respectively.
US$240 & US$307: the amount of money Sony is losing with the premium and regular versions, respectively.
CDN$549.99 & CDN$659.99 are signs that while the Canadian dollar has been gaining against its U.S. counterpart, the price of a PS3 is still cheaper in Canada by about US$19.
€599.00 (US$769) is the retail price in Germany for the 60 GB version.
400,000 PS3 units had been scheduled to ship to the U.S. for the November 17 launch. But far fewer actually made it. Analysts believe Sony will miss the goal of shipping a million consoles by the year's end due to a shortage of laser used in the Blu-ray DVD unit.
US$12,500 in Taco Bell Bucks will go to the first person to "donate" a PS3, which Taco Bell Foundation will give to a teen center. To Taco Bell Corp. $12,500 equals lifetime supply of food at the restaurant.
¥200 billion (US$1.7 billion) is the amount Sony's gaming division will lose this year from selling PS3 consoles. The sale does not immediately offset the high research cost.
Petaflops: Molecular researchers at Stanford University plan to conduct more than 1,015 trillion floating point operations per second -- far more than a super computer -- by using individual PS3's across the world. Processing power donated by individual users in the Cure@PS3 project will help find cures to protein-folding diseases.
1: the number of PlayStation3 that was purchased for the specific purpose of smashing it with a hammer in Toronto, Canada. The event probably generated more revenue for his Web sites than the price of a PS3.
Migrant workers and homeless people, most of them Chinese, were paid to stand in line for the Japanese launch of PS3. They turned over the PS3 to a boss who probably sold them online.
US$6.50 is the subscription fee for receiving an e-mail when a PS3 becomes available at an online retailer in Canada and the United States.
Wal-Mart to former Senator John Edwards: It's payback time for undermining us. We will deride you and shame you publicly for trying to use your position to obtain a PS3 when "the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line."
Robberies: Shoppers have been assaulted and robbed of their PS3's across the United States.
Demand Exceeds Supply: While Nebraska is not known for much demand for anything, most consumers did not get to buy a PS3 even after waiting in line for it for days.
Eight is the number of PS3's received by Wal-Mart in Rapid City, South Dakota.
North Korea claims it conducted a nuclear test and is proud to join the club. Now that everyone's paying attention, the North knows no one will stop them.
Maybe because it might have been fake. And not really because the international community remains powerless.
From the start, the underground test was not easily detectable. It was not a hoax because something did explode. But if it was not a nuclear blast, then everyone fell for a perfectly disguised smokescreen.
Six days before the purported "test," K.C.N.A. sends out a brief communiqué that had everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Three days before the test, Kim Jong-Il's skilled international spokesman talks up how a nuclear North Korea would benefit the region and deter U.S. military threats.
Just 20 minutes before the blast, North Korea informs Beijing of the test. Then Pak Gil-Yon, the North Korean ambassador to the U.N., tells The Associated Press that the U.N. should "congratulate" North Korea for accomplishing such a huge task.
A day later, the U.S. intelligence cast doubt on the validity of North Korea's claim. Bill Gertz, at The Washington Times, reports that, it might have been the blast from conventional explosives set to trigger a chain reaction in a Plutonium-based device. The blast readings fell short of a typical nuclear blast.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service [NIS] believes the North might conduct more underground tests using bigger bombs, according to Chosun Daily.
It may have been a really small nuclear weapon. Given North Korea's history of grandstanding, it should not be that hard to believe it might have been a device so crude a high school kid could have rigged it.
To the world, it seemed to matter little. They felt blinded and thought it was confirmation of what the White House has been guessing publicly for years. It was vindication for the hawks in the administration.
Condemnations rained down on Pyongyang. Strong reactions included words and phrases like "resolute opposition," "unacceptable," "brazen" and 'intolerable.' But that also indicated that the world was powerless to stop North Korea short of an all-out regional war. North Korea already faces justifiably severe sanctions. A few more would not make the factions in the country change their minds.
It matters very little whether President Bush calls the North Korean test "unacceptable" since neither he nor anyone else is doing anything about it other than condemning strongly or regretting deeply, very deeply.
But now, North Korea knows that it can conduct more tests without much backlash.
[N.I.S. has issued a slightly revised coordinates for the center of seismic activities. See previous post below.]
North Korea is expected to face a round of condemnation, "regrets" and even "deep regrets" from around the world when its underground nuclear test is confirmed. Here's the quick and dirty rundown of events.
Three Days Before Test: North Korea will bring war to U.S. soil and unseat the U.S. from its position as the sole superpower, Kim Myong-Chol, Kim Jong-Il's foreign mouthpiece, wrote in Asia Times.
He threatened to turn U.S. cities into "towering infernos," called nuclear test a "legitimate exercise of North Korea's sovereign right," knocked President Bush for refusing to sign a peace treaty, assured that a nuclear weapon is the common property of North and South Korea and promised to abide by N.P.T. as a good nuclear state should do.
K.C.N.A.: "Our scientific research department has successfully conducted an underground nuclear test on October 9, 2006."
"It has been confirmed that there was no danger of any radiation leak from the carefully, scientifically calculated test."
"The nuclear test proceeded based 100 percent on our own wisdom and technology."
"This is a historic event that gave our military and people great inspiration and joy."
"The nuclear test will contribute to safe-guarding the peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula and to nearby countries."
Time and Place: A horizontal tunnel inside a 360-meter mountain located about 30 kilometers east of Hamgyung North Province, Gil-Ju County, Poong-Gae Village; not too far from the Dae-Po-Dong II missile launch site in Hwadae County, Moo-Soo-Dan Village. Time: 10:35-10:36 a.m. local time (GMT+0900), 9 October 2006.
[Update on 10 October 2006: South Korean National Intelligence Service resolved the center of the seismic activity to 41° 18' 39.6" N, 129° 6' 50.4" E.]
KIGAM: Man-made seismic activity detected at Longitude 40° 48' 36" N, Latitude 129° 6' 0" E, about 15.4 kilometers toward Gil-Ju County from Hwa-Dae County in Hamgyung North Province; explosion equivalent of 550 tons of T.N.T.
Seismic Signs:U.S. Geological Survey says Magnitude 4.2, South Korean intelligence says Magnitude 3.58 to 3.7. Japan says it was close to M4.9.
Malaysia is cracking down on Manglish (Malaysian + English), which the culture minister says is polluting the official language. Like with Denglisch and Franglais, Manglish is deeply entrenched in the country. Undoing it will probably be impossible.
Still, billboards, advertisement and other writing that appears in public must be in the official Bahasa Malaysia (Bahasa Melayu) or the perpetrator will be fined RM 1,000 (Malaysian ringgit; US$271).
In a country where bastardized forms of English and Malay and a mix of the two are popular among youths, advertisers may have a tough time reaching the hip crowd. Even the Malaysian government uses Bahasa rojak (mixed Bahasa) which would be illegal under the new law.
Presidents Pervez Mushrraf and George W. Bush shake hands in the Oval Office in 2004.
General Pervez Musharraf couldn't have picked a worse time to introduce the Women Protection Bill of 2006 or deal with the killing of Balochi leader Sardar Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti.
At least there is hope from North Waziristan, where tribal leaders and the military have agreed to lay down their arms.
It is amazing what negotiations, instead of shooting, can do to resolve conflicts of cultures. Gen. Musharraf would be wise to sit down with Balochi representatives before the country becomes even more destabilized.
After all, he does not need another embarrassing moment.
In Phulbari, Bangladesh, an international firm will develop an open-pit coal mine with the government's blessings. The development will force 40,000 residents to relocate -- the largest of its kind in country.
The company chalks it up as part of the "development cycle in any developing country." Is it?
Residents and some politicians are demanding the company to leave the country and asking the government to withdraw the permit for the coal mine.
Their efforts are unlikely to pay off because resistance will likely be futile.
China's trade with Africa quadrupules in five years to US$40 billion. (Photo: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South African President Thabo Mbeki shake hands in June 2006)
China is positioning itself to become Africa's newest imperial power, expanding its presence on the continent exponentially just in the last few years. Unlike the West, China does not attach 'patronizing and demeaning' conditions to its trade and appears to offer practical help instead of lectures on democracy.
Trade is inherently selfish. And China is no different when it comes to African trade that approached US$40 billion last year. Beijing has successfully targeted Africa's minerals and petroleum in addition to opening a market for cheap exports.
An Australian city will be completely out of water in four months. Another is looking into recycled sewage water. Politicians have largely ignored the issue and admit in private that they are scared to lose their jobs for supporting recycled sewage water.
Overzealous Korean parents are driving their children insane by forcing English down their throats, Chosun Ilbo reports. While this craze is not new, there is now a medical term associated with the nervous breakdown the kids suffer as a result.
English Fatigue Syndrome! Yes, really. And this starts at a very early age. And the parents are to blame.
How fast can a glimmer of hope disappear? (Photo: U.S. Department of State)
Iran has been receiving much attention, including a proposal for détente, from the Europeans and the U.S. Envious of that kind of play, "Dear Leader" declared he was going ballistic!
After decades of practice, North Korea is skilled at producing statements that are sure to ruffle feathers and grab attention. To an untrained ear, these belligerent words sound like air raid sirens. But he is not suicidal. And all he wants is some T.L.C., phone calls and peace and quiet in his backyard.
There are some things the U.S. can do to overcome this largely political hurdle.
This paradise could go up in flames again without long-term international help. (Photo: Courtesy Timor-Leste Tourism Ministry)
East Timor is another lesson for the United Nations as well as Australia that stability and democracy do not develop overnight -- even in this paradise.
Kofi Annan wants U.N. peacekeepers to get back in there at East Timor's request. But Australia, like the United States, told the world body to stay out of its backyard and to concentrate on only humanitarian and development projects.
A new study calls for an end to this horrible practice that puts young girls women and their babies at risk. The World Health Organization-sponsored study on Female Genital Mutilation [FGM] deplores the "medicalization" (when done by trained physicians) of this ritual.
Amnesty International estimates that 135 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected one of three levels of genital mutilation. It is practiced in at least 28 countries in Africa; in Egypt, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East and North Africa; and by some Muslims in Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. But it has also been reported in industrialized countries like Britain and the United States primarily among immigrants from countries where it is still common practice.
Unicef estimates that more than two million girls are at risk each year of having their genitals cut or mutilated. (WHO calls it "FGM," but Unicef calls it "FGM/C" to include cutting.) WHO defines three levels of genital mutilation:
Type I (FGM 1) - excision of the prepuce, with or without excision of part or all of the clitoris
Type II (FGM II) - excision of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minora;
Type III (FGM III) - excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening (infibulation).
The study appears in the June issue of The Lancet.
Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej celebrates the 60th anniversary of his rule. (Photo: Courtesy Royal Thai Government)
Few world leaders are as loved and respected as the 78-year-old Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej who celebrated his 60th year on the throne. One million Thais wearing yellow in honor of the king flooded Bangkok to see the monarch, who is largely a figurehead but definitely the defining symbol of the country. To mark the diamond jubilee, Thai fishermen pledged not to catch the endangered the giant Mekong catfish anymore. It sounds like North Korea except it wasn't stage-managed and no one was hanged. Imagine this much love for Tony Blair, George Bush or Queen Elizabeth!
The Philippine military is using psychological warfare to stoke paranoia inside the New People's Army [NPA] by claiming that army agents have infiltrated the communist rebel group. Whether true or not today, the U.S., led by the late Colonel James Nicholas Rowe, did infiltrate the N.P.A. in the 1980s. The military blames N.P.A. purges for most of the 123 deaths of leftist leaders and sympathizers. But a National Police task force is taking a more diplomatic approach by saying that the military and paramilitary groups as well as the communist rebels themselves may have had a part in the killings.
There are few coincidences at Foggy Bottom. The sudden departure of Reno L. Harnish III, U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, from Baku today is no different. Local and regional media are rife with speculations over the human smuggling ring that trafficked young Azeri women to be sex slaves in Florida. The F.B.I. suspects an inside job. Replacing the tarnished Mr. Harnish is Anne Elizabeth Derse, a career foreign service officer who has held the rank of minister-counselor. And neither President Bush nor the State Department mentioned the dirty business, for which there is a high demand in the Sunshine State.
Information is power -- and something the Chinese government fears. In the hands of disenchanted masses, information can undermine the legitimacy of the C.P.C. or destabilize the country. (Some 87,000 protests over corruption and poverty shook China in 2005.) To survive, the government jails dissidents and uses the Great Firewall of China. Google agreed to that censorship and rebranded itself as Gu-Ger, 'Valley Song' or 'Harvest Song,' with one eye on a freer future. China's painfully long march to a free society must be homegrown. And Google can help.
In a report issued just days before national elections, the United Nations has urged Thailand to raise the number of women in politics and civil service, chastising the country's "cultural and traditional prejudices of a male-dominated society." Thailand will fail to meet its own ambitious goal to double the proportion of women in government. The report blames unflinching attitudes of men for the lack of progress. Gender equality is third on the list of U.N. Millennium Development Goals. In some places, however, married women are just now being allowed to own land, female fetuses are aborted and women do not get maternity leave.
The Chinese government should be very scared about now, if it isn't already, as the horrible beating death of a grassroots activist was not only witnessed but also printed -- in the international media. Deadly was a freelance journalist's road to Taishi, a small village in Guangdong where an organized democracy movement is pitted against ruthless, unrepentant government thugs. It cost People's Representative Lu Banglie's life -- a cost he knew he would pay eventually and one that he was willing to pay for Benjamin Joffe-Walt's story. This event highlights a potentially dangerous trend in China: the peasant democracy movement is developing faster than the state is able or willing to implement political reform.
The U.S. has been following North Korea's money trail as a way to break up its international network of money laundering operations, counterfeit currency distribution and supply of nuclear weapons parts. That money trail led U.S. officials to a prominent, well-connected bank in a former Portuguese colony and also to North Korean operations inside the United States. Seng Heng Bank, its owner Stanley Ho, Banco Delta Asia, its owner Stanle Au, and the Bank of China (Hong Kong) are all under close watch.
North Korea's money laundering operation came under renewed scrutiny after the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network {FinCEN} blacklisted Banco Delta Asia SARL as a Section 311 "primary money laundering concern" for various North Korean front companies. Also under close watch is Stanley Ho, a billionaire who mingles with the world's powerful and has a casino operation in Pyongyang.
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