To the Point

Talks End as North Korea Declares Itself Nuclear Power

Talks between the US and North Korea, mediated by China, came to an end yesterday in Beijing. Headlines said North Korea admitted it does have nuclear weapons and that it-s working on making more, but the details differed from report to report, producing confusion over what was said, or what was intended. Accounts agree on North Korea's admission of having nuclear weapons and concession that it might be making more, but there-s enough ambiguity to lead to different conclusions over what the US should do next. President Bush responded by saying that North Korea is -back to the old blackmail game.- Is it time for more talks, sanctions and isolation, or military action? We get perspective from a former Defense Department official, a specialist on US-Korean relations, a South Korean news commentator, and the implementation coordinator of the 1994 Agreed Framework. Making News: Documents Detail Iraqi Assassinations Oil is pumping again today in Northern Iraq and officials say proceeds will be used to help rebuild that country. There are also reports that a captured former Iraqi spy may know about links between Saddam and al Qaeda. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, John Daniszewski reports on a 6-page handbook discovered in Baghdad that details operations of an assassination program by the Mukhabarat, Iraq's feared intelligence service. Reporter's Notebook: Impact of Internet, E-Mail on Facts about SARS in China After trying to cover-up the outbreak of SARS, the government of China has lost credibility with its own people, its effort at secrecy done in by communications technology. Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China, a telecom and technology consulting and research firm based in China, reveals how technology undermined the government-s party line on SARS.