Word: fact
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...first term in office, the two sides entered into the Agreed Framework, the first time Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear-weapons program in return for a range of economic benefits, including the construction of two light water nuclear reactors to generate electricity for the impoverished country. In fact, it was pursuit of that agreement that set the precedent for Clinton's current trip: at a moment when it seemed as if a deal might be falling apart, Clinton dispatched former President Jimmy Carter to meet with Kim Il Sung, father of Kim Jong Il. (See pictures of North Korea...
...Internally, the North will portray Clinton's visit as a great victory. It will probably say the former President's trip showed that the Dear Leader brought Washington to its knees to beg for the release of the two journalists. In fact, it shows that the diplomatic reset button is about to be hit - yet again - in Pyongyang and in Washington. Clinton almost certainly bore a message that Washington wants to talk again, in some forum. And while the U.S. might not want to "buy the same horse" now, who knows what it might be in the diplomatic market...
Even if their numbers are dramatically reduced from the hundreds of thousands that first marched to cry fraud in the days immediately after June 12, the very fact that protesters are still taking to the streets - as hundreds did on Aug. 3, while Khamenei was formally confirming Ahmadinejad - is, in itself, remarkable. After all, to protest now is to risk a cracked head, or far worse; for all the mixed signals from Iran's top echelons of power, the security forces have exhibited few qualms about doing whatever it takes to quiet the streets, including the imprisoning of an estimated...
Equally remarkable is the fact that many of the protests that continue in defiance of Khamenei's dire warnings weeks ago that those who continue to demonstrate would be treated as enemies of the Islamic Republic are still joined by such notable establishment figures as former President Mohammed Khatami, reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate. Khamenei's red lines have been ignored by the opposition, and his own legitimacy has been questioned as never before, whether by street protesters breaking a taboo by shouting slogans against him, or by key regime figures like former...
...First and most obviously, photos from the meeting show a grinning Kim, the ailing dictator, looking much better physically - surprisingly so, in fact - than he has since suffering a stroke last August. The South Korean press had reported earlier this summer that Kim might be suffering form pancreatic cancer, and recent photos showed him looking haggard and not well. In recent weeks, intelligence agencies had been scrambling to nail down reports that a succession struggle was under way in Pyongyang and that Kim might not be long for the world. Foreign Ministries and intelligence agencies in East Asia - Japanese, South...