In The News

North Korea Suspends Nuclear Moratorium

Kim Min-bai December 12, 2002
Already the focus of nations worried about the proliferation of nuclear and conventional weapons, North Korea announced Thursday that it will resume development of nuclear power facilities to meet its energy needs. The communist country and the United States had agreed in 1994 that if North Korea stopped its nuclear programs, the US would supply it with enough oil to meet its needs until a safer...

Police Arrest Key Mcdonald's Bomb Suspect

December 11, 2002
Finding more ties to the terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah, Indonesian police arrested a key suspect in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant last week. Although it is still unclear whether the restaurant bombing was tied to the bombing in Bali that killed about 200 people in October, such a link remains a strong possibility, as both the restaurant and the nightclub destroyed in Bali are...

Yemen Protests Seizure of North Korean Ship; Says Scuds Were Bound for Its Army

Thom Shanker December 11, 2002
With the US and other world powers on high alert due to the tension in Iraq, arms shipments into and out of the Middle East are an extremely sensitive topic. As reported today in the New York Times, "Yemen said today that Scud missiles found on a North Korean ship were destined for its army, and issued formal protests over the vessel's seizure to the United States and Spain."...

Indonesia Backgrounder: How the Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist Network Operates

December 11, 2002
How do multinational terrorist organizations maintain communication, plan violent attacks, and find people of similar thinking to grow their ranks? This background report from the International Crisis Group describes how Southeast Asia's fiercest terrorist organization – the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) – motivates, recruits, and carries out violent attacks. The investigators who authored the...

When Nike Speaks

December 10, 2002
The debate over sweatshops and corporate responsibility for factory working conditions has again made its way to American courts. When Nike issued misleading statements about its third-world labor policies, consumer groups took the company to court, charging Nike with false advertising. In May 2002, the California Supreme Court sided against Nike, allowing lawsuits against the company and...

After the Serial Blasts

December 10, 2002
The recent surge of terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia, like in Indonesia and Bangladesh, is putting pressure on politicians and local authorities to crack down on terrorism. Unlike the US, however, poor countries with internal political divisions are having a harder time fighting battles in the war on terrorism. An internal government feud in Bangladesh erupted after a series of bombs exploded...

A Jurisdictional Tangle

December 10, 2002
A high-court ruling in Australia may make it possible to sue a publication for libel from halfway around the world. An Australian businessman sued the Dow Jones Company using the libel laws in his home state of Victoria, claiming that because he could access the Wall Street Journal website from Victoria, any libelous material on that website could be prosecuted under Victoria’s jurisdiction....