2003.09.16

Nagoya-Hostage Fire (Kyodo) UPDATED Three dead, more than 40 injured when hostage-taking incident in Nagoya comes to an explosive end. There is some indication that the blast itself might have been sparked by firemen cutting a hole in a wall to let some fumes vent while surrender negotiations were ongoing. 2003.09.16

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N.Korea Complains U.S., Japan Hold Up UN Food Aid. N.Korea Complains U.S., Japan Hold Up UN Food Aid   From the Agonist: North Korea said on Monday the United States and Japan had put pressure on U.N. aid agencies to stop or delay food shipments to the impoverished communist state. Fewer than 20 aid agencies -- nongovernmental groups and those of the United Nations -- operate in North Korea, where the economy is all but dead and many rely on handouts. The official KCNA news agency quoted a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman as referring to "the recent unprecedented situation in which the approval of regular assistance projects for the DPRK are being delayed or shelved by some U.N. organizations due to the obstructive moves of unsavory forces." "This is attributable to the political attempt of the U.S., Japan and some other countries to use the U.N. organizations' assistance to the DPRK as a leverage," it said, referring to an international standoff with Pyongyang over its nuclear ambitions. DPRK are the initials of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. ed: here's a Reuters report from February on what can happen to food aid in NK. it also seems nk does not allow correct monitoring of international food aid. i've also seen a disturbing documentary on the discovery times channel documentary which talked about some of the abuses of food aid and showed them on secretly filmed video [The Agonist] 2003.09.16

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What drove a Korean farmer to kill himself in Cancun?. What drove a Korean farmer to kill himself in Cancun? Jonathan Watts reports on one man's struggle against the system. [Guardian Unlimited] 2003.09.16

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DPRK-Drug Trafficking The Bush administration on the DPRK is quickly shifting from the nuclear threat (legit) to drug trafficking. C'mon, if this were a top U.S. priority then the Marines would have invaded just about every country south of the Texas border and most of the major metropolitan urban areas of the United States. This will only further confuse what few Allies the United States has in the quest to neutralize the Kim Jong-il regime. 2003.09.16

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Japan-Quake Prediction (Scotsman)   A Scottish newspaper is the latest to do a story on the Tokyo-area quake prediction. 2003.09.16

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Happy 116th Birthday to Ms. Hongo (AP)   Kamato Hongo turns 116 today. Believed to be the world's oldest person, she lives in Kagoshima, Japan. 2003.09.16

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DPRK-U.S. KEDO (Reuters)   Looks like the Bush administration is continuing to get more wishy-washy on its policy towards North Korea. 2003.09.16

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Lake Biwa Drownings (Mainichi) UPDATE Seven people missing and presumed dead in the capsizing of a yacht on Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. 2003.09.16

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U.S. Reviews Food Donation to North Korea (AP). AP - The United States is reviewing whether or not to send North Korea the remaining 60,000 metric tons of food aid due this year out of concern the food might not get to people who need it, the State Department said Monday. [Yahoo! News - World] 2003.09.16

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Hanshin Tigers Pennant (CNN/SI)   Like many others, we believe the best aspect of the Hanshin Tigers' pennant is that the Yomiuri Giants did not win it. 2003.09.16

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DPRK Blames U-S, Japan for Lack of Food Aid (VOA)   Well another crack in the DPRK's Juche logic, which decrees that North Korea's Kim family dictatorship is the most enlightened form of government. Somehow blaming other countries for not feeding your children seems to suggest that perhaps Juche ideology is not superior, no? 2003.09.16

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