N. Korea prepares 2nd nuclear test
Satellite images indicate North Korea appears to be getting ready for a second nuclear test, officials said Tuesday, as the defiant communist regime held huge rallies and proclaimed that U.N. sanctions amount to a declaration of war.
China, the North’s longtime ally and biggest trading partner, warned Pyongyang not to aggravate tensions. The U.N. has condemned the Oct. 9 atomic blast, and U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill told reporters in Seoul on Tuesday that another nuclear explosion would be “a very belligerent answer” to the world.
As the White House acknowledged that the isolated nation might try a second test, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launched a diplomatic drive to persuade Asian allies and Russia to intensify North Korea’s isolation by enforcing sanctions that the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved on Saturday.
Concern over a second test stems partly from new satellite imagery showing increased activity around at least two other North Korean sites, a senior U.S. defense official said.
Washington
General knocks Afghan policies
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan failed to follow through as it should have after ousting the Taliban government in 2001, setting the stage for this year’s deadly resurgence, the NATO commander in the country said Tuesday.
The mistake consisted of adopting “a peacetime approach” too early, British Gen. David Richards told Pentagon reporters. He said the international community has six months to correct the problem before losing Afghan support, reiterating a warning he issued last week.
“The Taliban were defeated. … And it looked all pretty hunky-dory,” Richard said of the environment at the end of 2001. “We thought it was all done … and didn’t treat it as aggressively as … with the benefit of hindsight, we should have done.”
Progress on security, rebuilding and good government didn’t meet Afghan expectations, and this year the “Taliban exploited … this sense of frustration amongst the people,” Richards said in a televised conference from Afghanistan.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Iceland to resume hunting of whales
Iceland said Tuesday it would resume commercial whaling after a nearly two-decade moratorium, defying a worldwide ban on hunting the mammals for their meat.
Fisheries Minister Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson told Iceland’s parliament that his ministry would begin issuing licenses to hunt fin and minke whales. He said the ministry would permit the hunting of nine fin whales and 30 minke whales in the year ending Aug. 31, 2007.
The government said licenses could be issued as soon as today, and that ships could resume commercial whaling as early as this week.