What We're Reading Now
Sep 01, 2011
IRANIranian nuclear bid could provoke attack: Sarkozy
AFP – August 31, 2011
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Wednesday that Iran's alleged attempts to build long-range missiles and nuclear weapons could lead unnamed countries to launch a pre-emptive attack. Few answers in murders of Iranian nuclear scientists
Jonathan Manthorpe, The Vancouver Sun – August 31, 2011
Someone is going to murderous lengths to disrupt Iran's nuclear development program. But the conviction and sentencing to death this week of a young Iranian, Majid Jamali Fashi, after he confessed to having been recruited by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to kill an Iranian scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, sheds little clear light on what is going on.
NORTH KOREA
Iran: Parliament speaker to visit North Korea
The Associated Press – August 31, 2011
Iran says the speaker of its parliament will visit North Korea to discuss "expansion of cooperation" with Pyongyang. The trip underlines the close ties between the two nations.
Suspected North Korean cyber attack highlights dangerous “mist and haze” affecting cyber security
Indiana University – August 31, 2011
Media reports of a suspected North Korean cyber attack against a South Korean bank raise fresh concerns about threats to cybersecurity. However, according to an Indiana University Maurer School of Law cybersecurity expert, reporting on this event reveals confusion and controversy about what such incidents mean in policy and legal terms, which heightens the growing dangers in this area.
What We're Reading Now
Aug 29, 2011
IRAN
Iran launches production of banned carbon fiber
Nasser Karimi, The Associated Press -- August 27, 2011
Iran has inaugurated its own production of carbon fiber, a material under U.N. embargo because of its potential use in the country's controversial nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported Saturday.
Iran starts mass production of anti-armor rockets
Xinhua -- August 29, 2011
Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi inaugurated on Monday a mass production line of anti-armor rockets used to destroy tanks, armored vehicles and enemy's ammunition depots, the English-language satellite Press TV reported.
NORTH KOREA
China-North Korean Leader Repeats Offer for Nuclear Talks
Edward Wong, New York Times -- August 26, 2011
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, reiterated Friday that he would return to the so-called six-party talks on his country’s nuclear program with no preconditions, Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, reported.
A test for North Korea's deals on wheels
Donald Kirk, Asia Times -- August 29, 2011
The greatest mystery surrounding Kim Jong-il's visits to Russia and China has nothing to do with secret deals on commerce or six-party talks on his nukes. It's what he brings with him and takes away in that 14-car train in which he travels whenever he crosses the border into those forbidding lands beyond.