Full excerpts, links up now at
http://www.zianet.com/insightanalyticalTomorrow at Buzzflash.com
You have to wonder...is Judith Miller involved in this NY Times report somehow?????? Just wondering!!!!
WORLD MEDIA WATCH For July 21, 2003
1//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--SEOUL SKEPTICAL OF NEW REPROCESSING PLANT(The government on Sunday responded skeptically to the recent New York Times report that North Korea may have secretly built a second facility for reprocessing spent fuel rods. "The information is unconfirmed," a Cheong Wa Dae official said…"Japan and Russia also convert used fuel rods from nuclear development plants," the Cheong Wa Dae official said, "so the krypton 85 that was collected may make us suspicious, but it cannot be scientifically proven that it came from North Korea, so no one can say for sure.")
2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong—JIM LOBE COMMENTARY: WILL THE UN BAIL OUT BUSH? (Come September, these deep throats are likely to be singing publicly in hearings on Capitol Hill, unless something changes radically…"It's getting more and more obvious that the
Council's leverage is increasing," said one source who noted the growing sense in the US capital that the optimistic predictions of the hawks had put the president in serious peril. The question is, what will be the UN's price for bailing the administration out, and will Bush be willing to pay it?)
3//The Jordan Times, Jordan--WORLD BANK WARNS OF TOUGH TIMES IN IRAQ (Iraq will have a difficult transition to a market economy after a decade of economic sanctions and must make social reforms to protect the most vulnerable members of society, the World Bank and United Nations warned Saturday…UN special representative to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello warned that corruption and other vices of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime could flourish in Iraq's transition to a market economy and lead to “greater injustice.” “There is a real danger that corruption, a weak legal/judiciary system leading to a lack of accountability, in-built distortions and vices of the previous system, (such as) unfair privileges, economic and social discrimination, would not only persist but flourish” during the transition. “What kind of democracy would that be in which political and economic transformation leads to greater injustice?” Vieira de Mello asked.)
4//The Moscow Times, Russia--4 YUKOS MURDER PROBES OPENED (Stepping up the pressure on Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Prosecutor General's Office said Friday that it has opened four new investigations into his oil giant Yukos -- and they all involve murder or attempted murder in 1998…With the four new cases, the Prosecutor General's Office has opened a total of seven investigations into Yukos…The probes are widely seen as a political attack on Khodorkovsky for his increased involvement in big politics ahead of December's State Duma elections. He is thought to be trying to put together a pro-Yukos faction in the Duma.)
5//The Independent, UK--PUBLIC SPENDING FEARS DEEPEN GLOOM (The British economy is languishing "in the doldrums" a leading business organisation warned today as fears mounted that the Government is about impose a clampdown on public spending. The British Chambers of Commerce said further cuts in interest rates were needed to boost the economy unless the global recovery rebounded soon…"There is no sign of a sustainable recovery," said David Frost, its director general…he acknowledged the state of the public finances - which last week showed a cumulative £14bn deficit this year - meant it was unlikely the Government would be able to cut taxes.)