I try to stay abreast of the news and generally only post news reports after I think they have a solid basis. Generally this means that I wait a few days after I read some snippets of things going on to assess whether the stories are substantive. But I very often get surprised, as was this story about action in the Security Council condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank. This report cam out of the blue and now you all get a chance to assess with me whether it develops into something more.
The less surprising news was the death of Kim Song-il in North Korea. We knew he had a stroke in 2008, and he appeared to have only partially recovered from it. But he died last Saturday, and the news was only released on Monday. It is unlikely that the external powers (the US, China, Russia, South Korea, or Japan) will take any action to destabilize the situation. We will have to see, however, how the North Korean military responds to the new 28 year old Dear Leader.
Violence in Cairo continues to escalate. Today there was massive protest by women, outraged at the treatment of female protesters at the hands of the Egyptian military. I can’t figure out what the military objectives might be–there is no clear end game to trying to repress the protests. We will have to see if the military backs off from this strategy and decides to become more conciliatory to the liberal elements of the protest movement.
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