Free Republic

N Korea Defectors Detail Drug Rings (& Missile Export)21May03 The Herald Sun, AustraliaIn a dramatic confession to the US Congress, two men identified as high-ranking North Korean defectors today said they had been intimately involved in test-firing Pyongyang's missiles in Iran and a state-sponsored drugs ring. The men, led into a congressional hearing wearing black hoods, gave evidence behind a screen to conceal their identities. They currently live in South Korea, but were brought to the United States by two refugee advocacy groups. Their appearance came as the Bush administration tries to turn the spotlight on North Korea's alleged...

A French official was told bluntly by a White House official, "I have instructions to tell you that our relations have been degraded." Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made it crystal clear in a television interview on Tuesday night that France would suffer the consequences of its opposition to the American-led war. The French response is taking shape in fits and starts and in contradictory directions. It reflects both an acknowledgment of the need to be conciliatory in the face of threats of punishment from Washington and a fierce determination to maintain an active foreign policy that asserts France's...

In a recent cover story Business Week magazine observed (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/0305/b3818001.htm) that economists haven’t begun to fathom the implications ( http://www.townhall.com/columnists/paulcraigroberts/pcr20030226.shtml) of outsourcing for the U.S. economy. Economists don’t understand globalism because they don’t think about it. They simply assume globalism to be the beneficial workings of free trade. Most economists take for granted that the benefits of free trade offset its costs. For example, the lower prices consumers pay for imports give more benefit than the harm done to the workers who lose their jobs in inefficient domestic industries. Any questioning of globalism raises the specter of protection--the prevention of...

Another Bumper Crop for CIS StatesBy Aleksandras Budrys Reuters MTLower domestic prices have made Russian grain more competitive internationally. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, the top grain producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States, will have high harvests and large exportable surpluses for the second year in a row, analysts said. They will continue flooding their main export markets, mainly with wheat, but may also try tapping new ones such as Iran, where their interests may clash, they said. "All three countries will have good grain harvests, slightly lower than last year, but above the average," said Andrei Sizov of leading...

Dozens of companies pay government millions in fines for violating sanctions vs. foreign countries Wed Jul 3, 7:34 PM ET By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Dozens of companies have paid the government millions of dollars for alleged violations of embargoes against nations including Cuba, Iran and Iraq. Treasury Department ( news - web sites) documents provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday show there were 115 cases dating back to 1998 in which companies, banks and other organizations made payments to the government to settle allegations that they had violated the embargoes. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets...

Iran is planning to export unmanned planes in the future, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying on Wednesday. Iran is planning to export unmanned planes in the future, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying on Wednesday. Brigadier Hossein Alaei, head of Aviation Industries of Iran's Defense Ministry, stressed the need to develop the designing and production technology for unmanned planes to strengthen Iran's deterrence capability. Alaei said that the qualitative development of Iran's designing and production technology for unmanned planes, a major program of the Defence...

How Healthy is our Co-dependent Relationship with the Arab Nations? (my title)The U.S. has remained the top exporter of products and services to Arab states and the biggest recipient of their overseas investments although their political ties have been marred by the Middle East conflict, according to official figures.U.S. exports to the 21-nation Arab League stood at around $17.2 billion in 2001, a growth of nearly 5.7 per cent over the previous year and more than 15 percent over 1990.The 2001 exports accounted for nearly 15 per cent of combined Arab imports, which include mainly vehicles, machinery and equipment, aircraft,...