Periscope

NORTH KOREA

How to Confront Kim?

For the Bush administration, the worsening nuclear crisis in North Korea is turning into an exercise in frustration. For years, conservatives inside the administration have longed to face down the Stalinist state. But now that they have a cast-iron case--satellite pictures show the North is moving its stockpile of nuclear fuel rods--they can only shrug their shoulders.

When North Korea took its first aggressive steps--by kicking out U.N. nuclear inspectors in December--the Bush administration decided to play it cool. They ruled out military strikes against the nuclear complex at Yongbyon, and instead of rushing to the United Nations for action, allowed the inspectors themselves to take the lead.

Now that go-slow approach is going even slower than the Bush administration wants. After a month of diplomacy, the United States has hit a brick wall. American officials tell NEWSWEEK that the Russian, Chinese and South Korean governments have effectively blocked the nuclear inspectors from taking North Korea to the U.N. Security Council, where the United States had hoped to bring the world together against North Korea.

A board meeting of the United Nations' nuclear inspection group, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was scheduled for this week. But South Korean officials requested yet another delay to allow for more diplomacy. The reality has been American exasperation while North Korea stages ever more aggressive moves. "We can't get the Russians and the Chinese to help us get the IAEA to live up to its mandate," complained one senior administration official.

U.S. officials say the Chinese government is deeply split over the issue, annoyed by the North Koreans but also fearful that the regime will collapse on its doorstep. The Russians, for their part, are suffering "bureaucratic inertia," according to the administration. In the meantime, the North Koreans are exploiting the crisis in Iraq to place added pressure on Washington. U.S. officials are waiting for the North to stage its next aggressive step in an attempt to shock Washington into agreeing to a big new aid package. "I anticipate a missile test probably five to eight days after we launch military strikes against Iraq," says one administration official.

Where North Korea is moving its fuel rods, nobody really knows. What U.S. officials do know is that the fuel rods--which were kept under seal since 1994--can be rapidly reprocessed into weapons-grade plutonium. North Korea, which already sells missiles to anyone who can pay hard cash, could soon go into full-scale production of nuclear weapons. That prospect--which once filled conservatives with horror--is now met with a giant question mark. "If a country is hellbent on developing nuclear weapons," says one official, "what can you do?"

AIDS

A Reason To Hope

When President George W. Bush unveiled a $15 billion AIDS relief package last week in his State of the Union, he showed a new enthusiasm for solving the epidemic--and a willingness to buck two of his key constituencies: the pharmaceutical industry and the religious right. Big Pharma has long resisted the idea of letting poor nations use generic AIDS drugs, contending that generics undermine their patents. But the new Bush plan relies on the lower-cost generics to make widespread treatment affordable. "The drug companies recognize AIDS drugs in Africa are a unique situation," says one senior administration official.

Many evangelical Christians agree that combating AIDS is "a moral imperative," as the aide puts it, but they shun a chief AIDS prevention tool: the condom. Believing condoms encourage promiscuity, they prefer abstinence-until-marriage education instead. The Bush plan, however, will rely on both. Bush's new policy won mostly glowing reviews from the global AIDS community. "The fact that he has said this is extraordinarily good news," says Sandra Thurman, president of the International AIDS Trust. "Now we have to ensure that the rhetoric becomes reality."

CAMBODIA

Anger Over Angkor

Sometimes, people actually listen to what actors have to say off-screen. That was the case last week in Cambodia, when two newspaper reports quoted Suwanan Kongying, a popular Thai TV actress, as allegedly saying that Cambodia had stolen the famous Angkor Wat temple from Thailand. Prime Minister Hun Sen quickly sprang to his nation's defense, declaring that Kongying was worth less than "grass." Hundreds of university students and street mobs responded, ransacking the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and several Thai properties. The carnage was a national embarrassment to Cambodia. Especially since Kongying denied making the comment in the first place.

In the aftermath, all sides involved--even the Cambodian government--agreed that the anti-Thai riots were orchestrated. But whodunit? Government critics, led by opposition leader Sam Rainsy, claim Hun Sen's ruling party organized them in order to incite confusion ahead of July's national elections. "If he can neutralize the opposition, it's very beneficial," says Rainsy. Events following the violence support the opposition leader's fears. As the riots died down, police shut down the country's only independent radio station and arrested its owner on charges of inciting rioters. Meanwhile, the two pro-government newspapers and a pro-Hun Sen radio station that spread the false stories about the Thai actress weren't even reprimanded. In addition, Cambodia's Interior Ministry is now focusing its investigation on an opposition parliamentarian from Rainsy's party, who one official says may have incited rioters. Arguing against this theory, several political analysts believe that Hun Sen may have hoped to attract voters by promoting Cambodian nationalism, not realizing the street protests would spiral out of control.

Regardless of who is to blame, Hun Sen's government will be waking up this week to the realization that it is in deep economic trouble. Thailand is one of Cambodia's largest foreign investors, but now its citizens are being encouraged not to go to Cambodia. Cambodia's recent tourist boom will undoubtedly suffer as travelers cancel plans to visit the country. And the Thai government is demanding reimbursement for the estimated $23 million in damages--about 3 percent of Cambodia's budget for 2003--despite accepting Hun Sen's apology late last week. Whether it was his plan or not, the aftershocks don't bode well for the Cambodian leader.

CHINA: An Unhappy New Year

At maternity wards across China, expecting mothers were trying to squeeze out their babies before the stroke of midnight last Friday to avoid having their children in the Year of the Sheep. The reason? Babies born in this new lunar year are supposedly followers rather than leaders, in addition to being timid and, well, sheepish. There is one benefit to being a Sheep, however. With the population dip that is currently being predicted, it should be easier for babies born this year to get into good universities since they'll have fewer classmates to compete against. Of course, whether they'll be assertive enough to apply is another question.

ENVIRONMENT

Suing Over Sewage

It seems the conflict in the Middle East is sinking to new lows--right down to the cesspool. An Egyptian environmental NGO and a slew of officials are accusing Israel of dumping raw sewage into the Mediterranean, sullying Gaza and nearby Egyptian beaches. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's had enough to worry about with the unceasing conflict in the region, not to mention recent corruption charges. Now he's being sued for nearly $11 million by Egypt's Rafah-based Organization for Environmental Protection in compensation for the health hazards caused by the alleged pollution.

But as with every dispute in the region, this story has two sides. While the Egyptian Ministry of Environment says that Israeli dumping--an alleged average of 140 to 170 cubic meters of untreated sewage at surface level each day since 1993--has contaminated waters with unsafe levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, Israeli environmentalists are passing the buck. They claim the sewage pipes can clearly be seen from the border, and that they are under Palestinian control.

Although Greenpeace stopped off in Israel in December and deemed it "notorious in the region for holding back international regulations to protect the Mediterranean Sea," international observers have yet to investigate the claims of either side. Until that happens, Egypt--which is hardly the world's most environmentally friendly nation itself--will likely press on with its lawsuit. And Palestinian sympathizers will maintain their demand that Israel disarm its weapons of mass defecation.

MOVIES

The New Australia

Hollywood's as trendy about film locations as it is about velour tracksuits. And the latest hot spot turning heads? New Zealand. Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow are filming their respective movies there, "The Last Samurai" and "Ted and Sylvia," and it's Disney's and CBS's pick for some upcoming American TV movies. Studio execs were wowed by the variety of stunning landscapes they saw in "Lord of the Rings"--beaches, mountains, glaciers, farmland--all of which are close to cosmo-politan cities. And what really appeals to U.S. studios is the low cost of filming there, with the dollar going nearly twice as far. So now the buzz is that when it comes to a location that's both cheap and chic, New Zealand is the new Australia (which, coincidentally, used to be the new Canada). But Kiwis beware: in Hollywood, last year's trend is often this year's fad.

CRIME

Don't Date On Drugs

In recent weeks U.S. newspapers have been preoccupied with two sensational cases involving gamma hydroxybutyrate acid (GHB). Use of the so-called date-rape drug, which knocks out its victims for several hours, has been growing for almost a decade. As recently as 1994 there were only 56 GHB-related emergency-room visits nationwide. By 2001 that number had spiked to 3,340, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Doctors, advocates for rape victims and toxicologists recently called in to testify in sex-assault cases say they've seen a large surge in reports of GHB-fueled sex assaults. The liquid drug is colorless, odorless and frighteningly easy to use, and exits the body within six to 12 hours. Without toxicological evidence, it can be difficult to prove that the rape victim didn't willingly consent to sex. Most victims wake up hours later with little or no memory of what has happened.

Alarmed, U.S. colleges are taking an active role in protecting women. More than 40 universities and thousands of bars have ordered coasters that detect the drug by turning blue when exposed to GHB (women splash their drink onto "test spots"). But activists are already warning women not to rely solely on the coasters, since they don't test for increasingly popular, easy-to-obtain--and still legal--GHB knockoffs like GBL and 1,4BD. The DEA is so concerned about the rise in GHB-facilitated sexual assaults that officials have been meeting with representatives from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network to heighten awareness of GHB and other "predatory" drugs--an unusual move for an agency typically focused on interdiction. The DEA plans to double the number of its predatory-drug investigations.

WORLD BUZZ

By A. L. Bardach

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN: As the Venezuelan meltdown continues, each day in Caracas unfolds like an episode in a telenovela with an increasingly bizarre cast of characters. Embattled President Hugo Chavez has grown more eccentric and erratic, according to several former close friends. "He sleeps four hours a day and spends half his time with Dr. Chang," his personal Chinese acupuncturist, one former Chavista noted recently. "He never goes out without his Cuban security detail--and usually brings Dr. Chang along." Worse, Chavez's ties with Fidel Castro have deepened along with his woes, complains another former ally. "Chavez picked up Fidel in Havana in his jet en route to Lula's inauguration," he says of the new Brazilian president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, "just so they could spend even more time together. That's when they cooked up their Axis of Good routine." And when he's not chatting it up with Castro? "He's consulting with his babalaos [Santeria priests], whom he flies in from Havana," says the ex-Chavista. Of course, the opposition have their own babalaos, and Chavez fans accuse his opponents of selfishly hijacking the country with a national strike.

Chavez seems intent on demonstrating the perks of power. According to reports, "he kept Lula waiting an hour [in Brazil] because he overslept," says Ana Julia Jatar, a Venezuelan scholar at Harvard. Nobelist Jimmy Carter, seeking to negotiate a resolution to the crisis, also got the two-step recently. After his four-hour meeting with Chavez, he looked forward to a scheduled dinner that night. But an hour before their 8:30 appointment, Chavez called to cancel. An unflappable diplomat and optimist, Carter declined to comment on the supper snub.