• Read Andrew McFarlane’s story in the BBC Magazine to find out
• BBC Magazine

World Cup fever in Haiti

June 24th, 2010
Haitians are gripped by World Cup fever. As The World’s Amy Bracken reports, Haitians are watching on donated big screens that have been set up in the Port-au-Prince stadium.
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• photo gallery

US team triumphs

June 23rd, 2010
Jeb Sharp talks with a US fan who witnessed the last minute win over Algeria in Pretoria which launched the United States into the last 16 of the World Cup as group winner.
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French furious about their team

June 23rd, 2010
A day after France’s final loss in the World Cup, people in France are saying the their nation’s team represents everything that’s wrong with France today. Anita Elash has the story from Paris.
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French Fiasco

June 21st, 2010
French President Sarkozy and many in his country are not proud of their national team’s performance at the World Cup in South Africa – or their behavior. The problems began when the coach reportedly criticized the team’s star forward. Nicolas Anelka responded with a foul-mouthed outburst after which the coach sacked him. Marco Werman talks with Xavier Rivoire, editor of the weekly magazine “France Football” (flickr image: w0LD)
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• BBC coverage
• Le Monde story (French)

Slovenia or Slovakia?

June 17th, 2010
The United States plays its second game of the soccer World Cup on Friday – against Slovenia. Or is it Slovakia? No, it’s definitely Slovenia but some people are having trouble telling the difference. The World’s Alex Gallafent will try to sort it out for us. (flickr image: Jaime Silva)
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• Slovenia info
• Slovakia tourism portal

World Cup music with Nneka

June 16th, 2010
Nigerian singer Nneka, has been called the Afro-German princess writes political songs and also one about the World Cup.
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• Nneka’s website
• KCRW: World Cup Music

North Korea fan from England

June 16th, 2010
North Korea made a fine showing at the World Cup, although it’s the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. It lost to Brazil, but only 2-1, managing to keep the powerful Brazilians on their toes for 90 minutes. Bryan Clark from England was on hand for the game in Johannesburg and he was rooting for North Korea all the way.
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World Cup venues

June 16th, 2010
So North Korea fan Bryan Clark traveled to South Africa to watch the World Cup. He’s in Johannesburg which is home to two soccer stadiums. In the Geo Quiz we want you to name all of the cities hosting World Cup games.

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• Click here for the answer
• BBC interactive map

Japanese fans rooting for North Korea

June 14th, 2010
North Korea will begin its World Cup campaign against soccer superpower Brazil. Some of the Stalinist state’s most ardent fans have gone to South Africa to root for their team. But they’re not from North Korea – they’re from Japan. Akiko Fujito tells us what’s going on.
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• Follow Akiko Fujita on twitter

Sounding the vuvuzela

June 14th, 2010
Even though South Africa is experiencing winter, World Cup fever is officially spiking well over 98 degrees Fahrenheit. You can feel it, and you can hear it. If you can’t hear World Cup fever, you’re probably deaf. The love hate relationship with the vuvuzela on today’s show. (Photo: flickr.com/
south-african-tourism)
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• Vuvuzela Orchestra
• World Cup 2010: Organisers will not ban vuvuzelas
• Embrace vuvuzela say organisers

On the web

• BBC coverage of the World Cup
• World Cup results
• FIFA homepage
• KCRW: Music of the World Cup
• US soccer

World Cup fever in Liberia

June 11th, 2010
Liberia is not one of the six African nations competing in South Africa, but soccer fever is very palpable there, too, as Jason Margolis found out.
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• Jason’s photos from Liberia
• Ethiopian kids give their predictions

American fan in Africa

June 11th, 2010
Some Americans traveled all the way to South Africa to cheer for the US team and feel the excitement. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Chris Spacone who’s in Africa to root for the US.
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The new World Cup ball

June 10th, 2010
Adidas’ new ball for the World Cup is named after the isiZulu word for “celebrate” but goaltenders aren’t celebrating. They think that the soccer ball’s flight will be erratic, leading to more goals. Alex Gallafent checked it out.
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• World Cup balls 1970-2010

On the web

• ESPN coverage of the World Cup
• FIFA twitter feed
• The story of the 2006 World Cup
• US soccer
• The World Cup on twitter

Belgian turf in South Africa

June 10th, 2010
One country that didn’t qualify for this year’s World Cup is Belgium. The national team, known as the Red Devils, won’t be competing in South Africa. But just because the Belgians aren’t on the field doesn’t mean they aren’t in the field. Our technology correspondent Clark Boyd sent in this report. (Photo courtesy of Desso)
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• Watch a video of turf grass installation
• See photos of the Desso GrassMaster

World Cup excitement

June 10th, 2010
Marco Werman speaks with journalist Stephen Grootes in Johannesburg about the atmosphere there one day before of the beginning of the soccer World Cup.
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The language of soccer

June 9th, 2010
The US men’s soccer team will start its World Cup campaign on Saturday against England. It’s the first time the two teams will have met at a World Cup tournament since 1950. On that occasion, the US beat England 1-0 in a major upset. Now, as The World’s Alex Gallafent reports, the English are forced once again to confront the complexities of a special sporting relationship. (photo of Red Bulls fans: Alex Gallafent)
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World Cup history

June 9th, 2010
In How We Got Here Jeb Sharp talks with Duke history professor Laurent Dubois, the author of Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France.

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• Listen to the podcast
• book info
• ‘How We Got Here’ podcast

Confusing street signs

June 8th, 2010
Soccer fans for the World Cup might have a hard time finding their way to stadiums in South Africa’s nine host cities. There could be problems because many streets have been getting new names, as apartheid era symbols are replaced. Kyle G. Brown reports.
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World Cup teams hit by injuries

June 4th, 2010
Only days before the soccer World Cup starts in South Africa, one of the stars of the sport, Didier Drogba, has injured his arm and is expected to miss the tournament. Drogba, the captain of Ivory Coast, broke his arm in an exhibition match against Japan. Meanwhile, it’s been confirmed that the captain of the English team, Rio Ferdinand, will definitely miss the World Cup, after hurting his knee in training. William Troop has more:

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• Video of Drogba being fouled

Soccer loyalty in Argentina

June 4th, 2010
Argentina is one of the favorites at the World Cup. During the tournament, the team can count on unanimous support back home. Until then, most Argentines remain fiercely loyal to their local club teams. Choosing which one to support is serious business — as reporter Julia Kumari Drapkin found out after moving to Buenos Aires.

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World Cup Security

May 28th, 2010

On a day when the State Department issued a travel warning about visiting South Africa during next month’s soccer World Cup, Marco Werman speaks with Johan Burger at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa about what his country is doing to combat both potential external terrorist threats and the internal problem of crime. (photo: Laura Lynch)
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Paradinha

May 20th, 2010
The Geo Quiz looks at how soccer’s powers-that-be have been busy planning and changing the rules. In May, they banned a move called the paradinha. (Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/alexfrance)

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South Africa’s soccer burden

April 23rd, 2010

The World Cup soccer tournament opens in South Africa in seven weeks and South Africans are psyched. 360,000 foreign spectators are expected to bring their enthusiasm – and money – to South Africa. But some South Africans view the World Cup as a burden that has made their lives worse. (Photo: Laura Lynch)
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• Illustrated transcript
• Photo gallery

Talking Travel podcast

March 9th, 2010

Sports fans the world over are turning their attention to South Africa and this summer’s soccer blow-out, the 2010 World Cup. In this episode of Talking Travel, Lonely Planet’s Robert Reid and Tom Hall assess South Africa’s readiness to host soccer’s premiere event, and about the unique prism that sports provide for tourism in general.

• Download this episode of Talking Travel
• Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes
• Lonely Planet: South Africa

• Watch the BBC slideshow
• Hubble site

• Watch the slideshow here

• Listen to the interview on the PM page

• BBC online story with video

• BBC Audio slideshow: Long walk to freedom
• Archive video: Nelson Mandela freed after 27 years in prison

Speaking in Washington, he said despite Tehran’s denials, it was clear Iran was working to build nuclear weapons. His remarks came after Iranian state media reported that Iran had started the process of enriching uranium to 20% for use in a medical research reactor.

In an unexpected appearance in the White House briefing room, the President said the US was confident the international community was “unified around Iran’s misbehavior in this area”. He said the new push for sanctions on Iran was “moving along fairly quickly” and should be completed in the next few weeks.

Mr Obama also said he was pleased at Russia’s quick disapproval of Iran’s latest move. But he said it was unclear how China would respond to a new push at the UN Security Council for another round of sanctions against Iran. China, a UN Security Council member, has called for further talks over the issue. China and Russia have been reluctant in the past to support international sanctions against Iran.

President Ahmadinejad at the Natanz facility

Iran currently enriches uranium to a level of 3.5% but requires 20% enriched uranium for its research reactor, which is meant to produce medical isotopes. A bomb would require uranium enriched to at least 90%. The US and its Western allies say Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon – a charge Iran has repeatedly denied.

In October, a deal brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was thought to have been struck for Iran to send its uranium to Russia and France for enrichment. But last month, diplomats said Iran had told the IAEA that it did not accept the terms of the deal – though there have since been other, conflicting messages. Iran is already subject to three sets of UN sanctions for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

Missile tests

In December 2009 Iran successfully test-fired an improved version of a medium-range missile, state television has said. TV pictures showed the launch of the Sajjil-2 rocket, which experts say has the range to be able to hit Israel and US bases in the Gulf.

In September, Iran was heavily criticized after testing its Sajjil and Shahab missiles which could travel approximately 1,200 miles. Those tests came just weeks after Iran revealed the existence of a previously secret nuclear facility in the mountains near the city of Qom.

More info about Iran’s arsenal of missiles

On Dec 15th, 2009, Iran denied a report in The Times of London that it has been working on a key component of a nuclear bomb. A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, said the report had political aims and was part of a psychological war. The newspaper reported that it had obtained documents referring to a neutron source – uranium deuteride – that experts say can only relate to weapons research. Uranium deuteride can be used as a trigger for a nuclear chain reaction. However, Mr Mehmanparast said: “Some countries are angry that our people defend their nuclear rights.” He said that when Western powers wanted to put pressure on Iran, they “crafted such scenarios, which is unacceptable”. He said the report was “baseless”.

Read the story in the Times of London

In November, the head of Iran’s nuclear program has accused the West of provoking his country into launching a plan to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants. Ali Akbar Salehi said a UN demand for Iran to halt work on a recently revealed site had “prompted the government to approve the plan”. Iran’s proposed new plants would be of a similar size to its main existing enrichment plant at Natanz. Salehi, who is also vice-president of Iran, said: “We had no intention of building many facilities like the Natanz site but apparently the West doesn’t want to understand Iran’s peaceful message.” He accused foreign powers of pushing the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to rebuke Iran for covering up another uranium enrichment plant near the town of Qom. The IAEA demanded that Iran freeze the project immediately. The resolution, the first against Iran in nearly four years, was passed by a 25-3 margin with six abstentions on Nov 27.

On the World: Katy Clark on the censure vote
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Iran called the move “useless” but Washington said it showed time was running out for Iran to address key issues. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes, but the US and some of its western allies suspects Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons. In September, it emerged that as well as its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Iran had a second such facility near the town of Qom (satellite image).

The IAEA resolution was passed with rare Russian and Chinese backing. Only Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia voted against it. After the resolution, the US said Iran needed to address “the growing international deficit of confidence in its intentions”. “Our patience and that of the international community is limited, and time is running out,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called the IAEA vote “a theatrical move aimed at pressuring Iran” that would be “useless”, state news agency Irna reported.

The resolution came a day after the outgoing head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, expressed frustration at Iran’s refusal to accept an international proposal to end the dispute over its nuclear program. The plan envisages Iran’s low-enriched uranium being shipped overseas for processing into fuel. This is seen as a way for Iran to get the fuel it wants, while giving guarantees to the West that it will not be used for nuclear weapons.

On The World: Jeb Sharp speaks with Joseph Cirincione, a non-proliferation expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund in Washington about Iran’s nuclear ambitions (Oct 26).
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Qom facility

Tehran insists it has the right to develop nuclear energy, but the revelation of a second uranium-enrichment facility in September has once again raised fears that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran revealed its second nuclear plant on September 21st. The IAEA had requested “specific information and access to the facility as soon as possible” after receiving the letter from Tehran admitting to the existence of the plant. Iran has previously acknowledged it has one enrichment plant, at Natanz.

On The World: Katy Clark on Iran announcing the existence of a second enrichment facility (Sep 25):
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Iran insists that all its nuclear facilities are for peaceful energy purposes and rejects accusations from Washington and others that it is seeking a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials have denied that the latest plant was any kind of clandestine project. Iran says it does not need to inform the IAEA of any new site until 180 days before any nuclear material is placed in the facility. The existence of Iran’s first enrichment plant, at Natanz, was only confirmed after intelligence emerged from Iranian exile groups several years ago.

In July 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Iran and North Korea will face severe consequences if they do not abandon their nuclear ambitions. At a regional summit in Thailand, Secretary Clinton said the US was prepared to bolster the defense of Gulf allies if Iran developed nuclear weapons. An American Gulf “defense umbrella” would make it unlikely Iran would be stronger or safer with a weapon, Clinton said. She reiterated President Barack Obama’s policy that talks were still an option between Iran and the US, but that “crippling action” could also be considered.

On April 9th, Iran’s president opened the country’s first nuclear fuel production plant, making what correspondents say was a defiant speech. President Ahmadinejad said Iran was open to an offer of fresh talks with world powers, but only if they were based on “justice” and “respect”.

In a speech from Isfahan, Ahmadinejad said Iran had tested two new types of centrifuge with higher capacities at a uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. The newly-opened plant in Isfahan will produce pellets of uranium oxide to fuel a heavy-water reactor planned for completion by 2010, the Associated Press reported. This signals Iran has reached the final stage in the nuclear fuel cycle, analysts say.

In March 2009 President Barack Obama offered “a new beginning” of engagement with Tehran in an unprecedented direct video message to the Iranian people. “My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us,” Mr Obama said. Mr Obama’s message was released to coincide with the festival of Nowruz, when Iranians mark the arrival of spring. In it, President Obama said he wanted “to speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He said his administration was committed “to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community”.

Watch the President’s appeal to Iran

An advisor to Iran’s president welcomed Mr Obama’s message but said Washington had to fundamentally change policy. Relations between Iran and the U.S. have been strained over Tehran’s controversial nuclear activities.

In February Iranian and Russian nuclear officials began a test run of Iran’s first nuclear power plant. The test involves dummy rods that imitate the enriched uranium needed to run the Russian-built plant at Bushehr. The test further increased fears in the West about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. An Iranian official told journalists at Bushehr that Iran had increased the number of its centrifuges enriching uranium at another site to 6,000.

The reactor was first started by a German company under the Shah in 1975, but revolution and war stalled work there until the Russians took it on in 1995. Operations of the 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor have been long delayed, though it is expected to start generating power later this year.

Iran is currently defying Security Council resolutions ordering it to suspend the enrichment of uranium. It says it is simply doing what it is allowed to do under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The country has pledged not to break its obligations under the NPT and will not use the technology to make nuclear weapons.

However, the Iranian authorities hid their uranium enrichment program for 18 years, and the Security Council says they should stop enrichment and certain other nuclear activities until their peaceful intentions can be fully established.

On July 8th, 2008 the U.S. imposed new financial sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies suspected of involvement in the country’s nuclear program. A senior defense ministry scientist and several companies thought to be linked to Iran’s arms industry were among those placed on the restricted list. The move will ban American companies from trading with those on the list, who will also have their U.S. assets frozen.

It came as G8 leaders called for Iran to halt uranium enrichment work. In April, 2008 the IAEA said it believed Iran is still withholding information on its nuclear program. In a report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran’s alleged weapons development studies remain a matter of serious concern.

On March 3rd, 2008 the UN Security Council voted in favor of new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Fourteen of the council’s fifteen members voted in favor of measures including asset freezes and travel bans for Iranian officials. Indonesia abstained.

This third sanctions resolution adds to resolutions adopted in 2006 and 2007. It calls for the foreign assets of 13 Iranian companies to be frozen, and imposes travel bans on five Iranian officials. It imposes a ban on the sale to Iran of so-called dual-use items – which can have either a military or civilian purpose.

The five permanent, veto-wielding members of the council – the United States, France, Britain, China, and Russia – all supported the resolution. The non-permanent members – none of whom possesses the power of veto – all backed it, except Indonesia, which abstained, saying it remained to be convinced of the necessity of the sanctions.

In a statement before the vote, Iran’s envoy to the UN, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, described the resolution as politically motivated, illegal, and illegitimate. He insisted Iran’s nuclear program “has been, is, and will remain, absolutely peaceful”.

President George W. Bush said in December 2007 that Iran should reveal the full extent of its nuclear program, or risk further international isolation. The National Intelligence Estimate released on Dec. 3rd said that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. But Mr Bush said Iran still had “more to explain” about its past actions, and that it must cease uranium enrichment.

Click here to read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran (2007)

Iran’s nuclear program

Iran has been developping the technology of enriching uranium. This process involves converting uranium ore into a gas. The gas is then spun through centrifuges to separate the richer parts that can be used as fuel in a nuclear power station.

Western countries are concerned because this technology can also be used to get an even higher level of enrichment, and this highly enriched uranium can be used in the development of a nuclear bomb.

Iran hid important parts of its nuclear program for many years. In December 2002 satellite photography confirmed the existence of sites at Natanz (uranium enrichment plant) and Arak (heavy water plant). The United States has accused Tehran of “across-the-board pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.” Iran denies that, but it agreed to inspections by the IAEA.

The UN Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its enrichment activities while talks take place about its long-term plans.

Is Iran trying to build a nuclear weapon?

Iran says it is not. It says it is simply exercising its right under an international treaty on nuclear weapons known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The NPT bans Iran from developing a nuclear bomb but does allow the country to develop civilian nuclear power. That includes developing nuclear fuel needed to power nuclear stations.

What does the IAEA say about Iran?

The IAEA has Iran’s fuel enrichment plant under its surveillance and says in its latest report in February 2009 that Iran is continuing to enrich uranium, though IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei says this is not at such a high rate as earlier.

The IAEA also says that, following a detailed examination, it had found that Iran has accumulated more low-enriched uranium than had been thought – more than 1000 kilograms. This is regarded as enough basic material from which to make a nuclear device. However the uranium would have to be enriched further and the IAEA is watching. It says it has found no evidence that Iran has diverted material for weapons purposes.

The IAEA also reports that Iran is not cooperating with its request for an answer to questions about possible studies on nuclear warheads carried out in the past.

Jan 10, 2006: Iran removes UN seals at Natanz plant and resumes nuclear fuel research.

Feb 4, 2006: IAEA votes to report Iran to UN Security Council. Iran ends snap UN nuclear inspections the next day. Ten days later Iran restarts small-scale feeding of uranium gas into centrifuges at Natanz after a 2-1/2-year suspension.

Apr 28, 2006: IAEA report submitted to Security Council confirms Iran has disregarded UN demands to suspend enrichment.

Jul 31, 2006: Security Council demands Iran suspend its nuclear activities by Aug 31st. In a resolution, council makes legally binding demands on Iran and threatens sanctions.

Aug 26, 2006: Iran launches new phase in Arak heavy-water reactor project.

Aug 31, 2006: IAEA announces Iran has not met deadline to suspend its atomic fuel program and has resumed enriching small amounts of uranium.

Oct 6, 2006: Six world powers say they have agreed to discuss sanctions to punish Tehran for failing to halt uranium enrichment but are still open to negotiations.

Nov 14, 2006: A confidential IAEA report says that Iran is pushing ahead with uranium enrichment and still stonewalling agency investigations despite the risk of UN sanctions.

Dec 23, 2006: UN security council adopts sanctions against Iran, passed unanimously, which ban the supply of nuclear materials

Mar 24, 2007: UN security council widens sanctions against Iran, with new resolution.

Apr 9, 2007: Iran says it has “joined the nuclear club of nations and can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.”

May 23, 2007: IAEA report says Iran is continuing to defy UN demands to stop enriching uranium.

Dec 3, 2007: National Intelligence Estimate suggests that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003

Jan 22, 2008: Permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany agree new draft resolution of fresh sanctions against Iran

Mar 3, 2008: UN Security Council adopts a third round of sanctions against Iran

Sep 21, 2009: Iran reveals existence of a second uranium-enrichment facility at Qom

Nov 27, 2009: IAEA votes to censure Iran over its nuclear progam

Iran’s key nuclear sites

Qom – uranium enrichment plant
The facility is believed to be on a mountain on a former Iranian Revolutionary Guards missile site to the north-east of Qom on the Qom-Aliabad highway, Western diplomatic sources say. Construction on the secret facility started in earnest in mid-2006. It is believed that the plant is not yet operational. It is believed to have facility for 3,000 centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. Iran wrote to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying it intended to build a plant to enrich uranium to 5% – not enough for a weapon. It told the IAEA it was already under construction but provided few details.

Bushehr – nuclear power station
Iran’s nuclear program began in 1974 with plans to build a nuclear power station at Bushehr with German assistance.
The project was abandoned because of the Islamic revolution five years later, but revived in the 1990s when Tehran signed an agreement with Russia to resume work at the site. Moscow delayed completion on the project while the UN Security Council debated and then passed resolutions aimed at stopping uranium enrichment in Iran.

In December 2007, Moscow started delivering the canisters of enriched uranium the plant needs. Earlier in the same month, a US intelligence report said Iran was not currently running a military nuclear program. There are two pressurised water reactors at the site.

Isfahan – uranium conversion plant

Iran is building a plant here to convert uranium ore into three forms:
• Hexafluoride gas – used in gas centrifuges
• Uranium oxide – used to fuel reactors, but not the type Iran is constructing
• Metal – often used in the core of nuclear bombs. The IAEA is concerned about the metal’s use, as Iran’s reactors do not require it as fuel.

Natanz – uranium enrichment plant

Iran resumed uranium enrichment work at Natanz in July 2004, after a halt during negotiations with leading European powers over its programme. It announced in September 2007 that it had installed 3,000 centrifuges, the machines that do the enrichment.

This is the facility at the heart of Iran’s dispute with the United Nations Security Council. The Council is concerned because the technology used for producing fuel for nuclear power can be used to enrich the uranium to a much higher level to produce a nuclear explosion.

Arak – heavy water plant

The existence of a heavy water facility near the town of Arak first emerged with the publication of satellite images by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security in December 2002. Heavy water is used to moderate the nuclear fission chain reaction either in a certain type of reactor – albeit not the type that Iran is currently building – or produce plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb.

The final communique from the London summit said it welcomed Afghanistan’s goal of taking charge of the “majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years and taking responsibility for physical security within five years.” It said the international community would continue to improve the capabilities of the Afghan security forces, boosting the army to 171,600 and the police to 134,000 personnel by October 2011. The summit said the Afghan government had acknowledged that it had to tackle corruption.

Earlier this week, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan said increased troop levels could bring a negotiated peace with the Taliban. General Stanley McChrystal told the UK’s Financial Times newspaper that there had been “enough fighting”. He said a political solution in all conflicts was “inevitable”. His remarks came as the top UN envoy in Kabul said it was time to talk to the militants.

Afghan and Pakistani leaders are in Turkey to discuss tackling the Taliban-led insurgency in their countries. This is the fourth such meeting initiated by Turkey, which has offered to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, will attend an international conference on Afghanistan in London on Thursday.

Last week, Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers attacked buildings in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, setting off explosions and sparking gun battles. Fighting erupted near the Serena Hotel and the presidential palace, the Taliban said 20 of its fighters had taken part in the attacks. Two civilians and three security personnel have been killed plus 71 others wounded, officials say. Seven attackers had also been killed, Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said.

General McChrystal, praised the work of Afghan forces in quelling Monday’s attack. “Afghan National Security Forces effectively dealt with the situation and should be commended. We convey our heartfelt condolences to the innocent victims of this cowardly attack,” he said in a statement issued by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Taliban fighters were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, the ISAF statement said.

The World’s Matthew Bell on the implications of the brazen Taliban attack in Kabul (Jan 18)
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In December, General McChrystal told Congress that the United States will reverse Taliban momentum within a year and accomplish its mission in Afghanistan, but it will be “undeniably difficult” and costly. Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee a week after President Barack Obama announced his new Afghanistan strategy, McChrystal warned the mission would fail without more troops and praised President Obama’s decision to deploy more forces.

The World’s Katy Clark on the congressional hearing:
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On December 1st, President Barack Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to help battle the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban reacted to the President’s speech by saying they will step up their fight in Afghanistan. A Taliban commander told the BBC that if more US troops came, more would die.

Coverage of the President’s speech on The World

Prior to his speech at West Point, the President said it was his intention to “finish the job” in Afghanistan. Marco Werman talks with Andrew Bacevich of Boston University, Monica Toft at Harvard University, Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Peter Bergen of the New America Foundation about “finishing the job” in Afghanistan.
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Taliban fighters

Coverage on The World:

• Katy Clark on building up Afghanistan’s own forces
• Katy Clark on what if the US loses in Afghanistan
• Jeb Sharp on the mission in Afghanistan
• American Influence podcast: Tough Choices for US in Afghanistan
• Inside the Taliban
• Jeb Sharp’s award winning series ‘How Wars End’

Hamid Karzai remains president

On Nov 19, 2009, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghan president for a second elected term, saying he wants Afghan forces in charge of the nation within five years. In his inauguration speech, Mr Karzai announced a conference to tackle corruption and a national gathering to help bring peace to Afghanistan. He also invited his defeated rivals to join him in working for peace.

Kabul’s streets were almost empty as security forces set up numerous roadblocks ahead of the ceremony. The international airport was closed, a holiday was called and people were advised to stay indoors as part of the security lockdown. Dignitaries from about 40 countries were attending the ceremony, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband. The international community – including the US and Nato – congratulated Karzai on his inauguration, but warned that results were needed on tackling corruption and improving security.

Karzai was declared Afghan president after a second round run-off was called off when his sole remaining challenger pulled out, saying the vote could not be free and fair. Widespread fraud in the August 20 first round led to Mr Karzai being stripped of the outright win he appeared to have secured.

American Influence podcast: Tough Choices for US in Afghanistan

US Marines in Helmand

In July, US forces launched a major offensive in the southern province of Helmand. US Marines said Operation Khanjar, or ‘Strike of the Sword’, was intended to seize the lower Helmand River valley. More than 700 UK troops also launched a major offensive against insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan. The province of Helmand is considered to be the heartland of the Taliban insurgency. Operation “Strike of the Sword” is the first large-scale operation since President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of 17,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan, as part of a new strategy for winning the conflict. Many of them have been redeployed from operations in Iraq.

June 24, 2009: A BBC investigation into the treatment of former prisoners at a US detention center in Afghanistan uncovered allegations of physical and emotional abuse. Inmates held at the Bagram military base between 2002 and 2008 said they’d been beaten, deprived of sleep, threatened with firearms or dogs and hung from the ceiling.

The Pentagon has denied the charges and insisted that all inmates in the facility are treated humanely.

The Taliban in Pakistan

Throughout 2009 Pakistan has been hit by a string of attacks blamed on the country’s Taliban movement. The wave of attacks has left hundreds of people dead or injured:

Dec 15: At least 22 people have been killed in a bomb attack in a market in central Pakistan, officials say. About 50 others were wounded in the blast in Dera Ghazi Khan, which badly damaged a number of buildings.

Dera Ghazi Khan attack (12/15/2009)

Dec 7: Two bomb blasts ripped through a busy market in the center of Pakistan’s second largest city, Lahore, killing at least 30 people, police and medics say. The attack, which injured some 100 people, sparked a huge blaze at the city’s Moon Market. The blasts came just hours after a suicide bomber on a rickshaw killed at least 10 people in Peshawar when he blew himself up near the courthouse.

Dec 4: Militants are said to have killed at least 35 people, including 17 children, at a mosque near the Pakistani army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi. At least four attackers opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers attended by many military staff in the garrison city. Security forces fought back in an hour-long gun battle before three attackers blew themselves up, reports say. The Pakistan Taliban later said they had carried out the strike.

Oct 28th: More than 90 people were killed after a huge car bomb ripped through a busy market in Peshawar, Pakistan. The attack, which injured at least 200 others, was the deadliest to hit Pakistan this year. Similar attacks killed more than 200 people in previous weeks, as the army carried out operations against Taliban militants in South Waziristan. The attack in October came as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began a visit to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Mrs Clinton told a news conference the US was “standing shoulder to shoulder” with Pakistan in its fight against “brutal extremist groups”.

Oct 15th: A series of attacks on security forces in Pakistan killed at least 38 people. The violence began in Lahore – Pakistan’s second-largest city. It was long spared the brunt of Pakistan’s unrest but has seen a number of attacks since the start of the year. Militants attacked offices of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), as well as two police training centers.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is under pressure to flush out militants as President Barack Obama is sending more troops to neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistani government forces launched an offensive earlier this year to crush a Taliban-led uprising in the Swat valley aimed at enforcing Sharia law. Taliban leaders promised to launch revenge attacks on major Pakistani cities.

Taliban in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been declared the primary focus of American military operations. On May 6th, 2009 President Barack Obama vowed to “defeat al-Qaeda” and its allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghan police and soldiers, as well as American and other foreign troops belonging to the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), are frequent targets of Taliban attacks. Southern Afghanistan is the main battlefront between the insurgents and Afghan and foreign forces, but there have been attacks elsewhere in the country, notably in eastern areas and also in the capital, Kabul. In April, President Barack Obama urged better use of NATO resources in Afghanistan, saying al-Qaeda is a greater threat to Europe than to the U.S. Speaking before a NATO summit co-hosted by France and Germany, he said the U.S. wanted to see a stronger Europe. However, NATO’s secretary general said members would be reluctant to send more troops if Afghanistan adopted a new law seen as violating the rights of women. In March President Obama confirmed a fundamental rethink of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat an “increasingly perilous” situation. He said growing radical forces in the area posed the greatest threat to the American people and the world. He said an extra 4,000 U.S. personnel would train and bolster the Afghan army and police, and he would also provide support for civilian development. Pakistan would also be a focus, with a $7.5 billion program of “direct support”. But he said this support would not come as a “blank check”, and Pakistan would have to demonstrate its own commitment to rooting out al-Qaeda and associated forces. President Obama said his “comprehensive new strategy” was an outcome of a “careful policy review” which had consulted military commanders and diplomats, regional governments, partners, NATO allies, NGOs and aid organizations. The President painted a bleak picture of the situation, with insurgents increasing their control of territory in the region and attacks rising. He said American strategy must relate directly to the threat posed to the Americans by al-Qaeda and its allies – who, he reminded his listeners, were behind the 9/11 attacks on American soil eight years ago.

Most of the fighting in the volatile southern provinces is being done by troops from the U.S., UK, Canada and the Netherlands. Many U.S. allies, including Germany, France, Spain, Turkey and Italy, have refused to send significant numbers of combat forces there. The United States has more troops in Afghanistan than the other NATO nations combined. But not all of the U.S. forces are part of the 64,500-strong NATO-led ISAF command (see map below) – a large number of U.S. troops are on separate missions to hunt down al-Qaeda fighters as part of Operation “Enduring Freedom.” Most of the casualties suffered by troops serving with NATO troops have involved just four countries: the United States, Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands. Germany, Spain, and Italy all have troops in Afghanistan but due to “national caveats” – or restrictions – they are confined to more peaceful areas.

ISAF deployment map

According to NATO (Oct 2009) there are approximately 67,700 NATO-led troops operating in Afghanistan; the main troop contributors are: US (31,855), UK (9,000), Germany (4,245), Canada (2,830), France (3,070), Italy (2,795), Netherlands (2,160), Poland (2,025), Australia (1,200), Spain (1,000), Romania (990), Turkey (820), Denmark (700), and Norway (600). NATO assumed control of all allied military operations across the whole of Afghanistan on October 5th, 2006.

Taliban history


The Taliban emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. A predominantly Pashtun movement, the Taliban came to prominence in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1994. It is commonly believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries – mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia – which preached a hard line form of Sunni Islam. The Taliban’s promise – in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan – was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power. In both countries they introduced or supported Islamic punishments – such as public executions of convicted murderers and adulterers and amputations of those found guilty of theft. Men were required to grow beards and women had to wear the all-covering burka. The Taliban showed a similar disdain for television, music and cinema and disapproved of girls aged 10 and over from going to school. Pakistan has repeatedly denied that it is the architect of the Taliban enterprise. But there is little doubt that many Afghans who initially joined the movement were educated in madrassas (religious schools) in Pakistan. Pakistan was also one of only three countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which recognized the Taliban when they were in power in Afghanistan from the mid-1990s until 2001. It was also the last country to break diplomatic ties with the Taliban. The attention of the world was drawn to the Taliban in Afghanistan following the attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001. The Taliban in Afghanistan was accused of providing a sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda movement who were blamed for the attacks. Soon after 9/11 the Taliban were driven from power in Afghanistan by a US-led coalition, although their leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was not captured, neither was Osama Bin Laden. In recent years the Taliban has re-emerged in Afghanistan and grown far stronger in Pakistan, where observers say there is loose co-ordination between different Taliban factions and militant groups. The main Pakistani faction is led by Baitullah Mehsud, whose Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is blamed for dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks. Observers warn against over-stating the existence of one unified insurgency against the Pakistani state, however. The Taliban in Afghanistan are still believed to be led by Mullah Omar, a village clergyman who lost his right eye fighting the occupying forces of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Afghans, weary of the mujahideen’s excesses and infighting after the Soviets were driven out, generally welcomed the Taliban when they first appeared on the scene. Their early popularity was largely due to their success in stamping out corruption, curbing lawlessness and making the roads and the areas under their control safe for commerce to flourish. From south-western Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly extended their influence. They captured the province of Herat, bordering Iran, in September 1995. Exactly one year later, they captured the Afghan capital, Kabul, after overthrowing the regime of President Burhanuddin Rabbani and his defense minister, Ahmed Shah Masood. By 1998, they were in control of almost 90% of Afghanistan. They were soon accused of various human rights and cultural abuses. One example was in 2001, when the Taliban went ahead with the destruction of the famous Bamiyan Buddha statues, despite international outrage.

US invasion


On October 7, 2001, a US-led military coalition invaded Afghanistan and by the first week of December the Taliban regime had collapsed. However, Mullah Omar and most of the other senior Taliban leaders, along with Bin Laden and some of his senior al-Qaeda associates, survived the American onslaught. Mullah Omar and most of his comrades have evaded capture despite one of the largest manhunts in the world and are believed to be guiding the resurgent Taliban. Since then they have re-grouped in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, but are now under pressure in both countries, from the Pakistani army and NATO respectively. But Mullah Omar and most of his comrades have evaded capture despite one of the largest manhunts in the world and violence in Afghanistan has returned to levels not seen since 2001. Despite ever higher numbers of foreign troops, the Taliban have steadily extended their influence, rendering vast tracts of Afghanistan insecure. Their retreat earlier this decade enabled them to limit their human and material losses and return with a vengeance.

Matalon: The village of El Sabinal in the remote Chihuahuan desert of northern Mexico looks like something out of another era. The houses are simple one-floor structures, vintage hand-made farm tools are still in use – and most people here get around in horse-drawn carriages.

More pictures of Chihuahuan Mennonites

Matalon: El Sabinal is an orthodox Mennonite community – meaning its 600 people generally avoid modern contraptions like cars, electricity, modern music, and telephones. They also speak a German dialect to communicate with each other. But when it comes to speaking with outsiders — Spanish is the language of choice.

Genter: “Tenemos esa religion que no que como Jesus antes ha trabajado sin tractor, sin trocas”

Matalon: 17-year-old Jacobo Genter says his religion guides him to work the land without modern tractors and trucks – like in the time of Jesus.

Genter would stand out almost anywhere else in Mexico. He’s blond and blue-eyed. He also sports a hand-made wide-brimmed straw hat and a dark blue sash around his baggy white trousers. He’s a descendant of Mennonites who first came to Mexico in 1922 – from Canada. They came by the thousands after the government invited them to farm the land here in the years after the Mexican revolution. Almost nine decades later – they’re still here, farming in Chihuahua. Some Mennonite farmers – like Genter – are forsaking modern tools. Others are embracing them.

Henry Reimer: 'This is a cotton field, one of mine…'

Matalon: Henry Reimer lives in Valle Grande, 2 hours & a world away from El Sabinal. The 34-year-old grows cotton, corn and wheat using state-of-the-art tractors and four by fours to get around his fields. He also uses electric power to process his crops, and the internet to sell to buyers from China and Mexico. Reimer doesn’t think modern tools and conveniences compromise his Mennonite faith.

Reimer: “I just feel that that is not a Biblical principle. There’s nothing that you find in the Bible in that.”

Matalon: But like Mennonites in El Sabinal, whom he calls his brothers and sisters, Reimer has an apparently unshakeable religious faith.

Reimer: “I am a Christian, and I believe that’s the security that I have. I just believe that God will protect us and that if I treat my neighbor the way I want to be treated then I’m fine. Sometimes when they have a hard day they will email me or call me and say, ‘Hey could you pray for me. I always feel a great blessing that comes back to me when I do that. For me that is the essence of Mennonite life, especially in this harsh environment.”

Matalon: It’s not just the desert he’s talking about. Drug-related violence is common in Chihuahua – the state that includes the border city of Juarez. And crime in the state has soared in recent years – as is the case in many parts of Mexico. Reimer says Mennonites – like all Mexicans – are cautious when it comes to personal safety. But that doesn’t mean crime hasn’t touched the community.

Simple, single-floor dwellings and storage houses typify the architecture at El Sabinal

Matalon: 35-year-old Corni Giesbruch can attest to that. He says he was driving back to El Sabinal from Juarez back in 2003 – when the cartel violence in Chihuahua was starting to get out of control. As night fell over a mountain pass, he stopped to move a gate that was blocking the road. He thought it was a cattle-crossing. But it was an ambush. He was robbed, shot in the back and left for dead. He survived. But he’s paralyzed from the waist down. Giesbruch admits that the thought of leaving Chihuahua has crossed his mind. But he says “this is home and we trust God will help us through these difficult times.” That’s a sentiment many non-Mennonite Mexicans can relate to.

For The World, I’m Lorne Matalon in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Lorne Matalon’s other Mexico stories

Mexico’s drug war comes to Guatemala

February 10th, 2011
Mexican drug traffickers have worked their way south into Guatemala. The Guatemalan army has been trying to beat them back. But some Guatemalans there feel loyal to the drug cartels. Which have provided services – even security – that the Guatemalan government hasn’t delivered.
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Colorado River water rights

April 9th, 2010
Under a longstanding treaty, the Colorado River irrigates 3 million acres of farmland and supplies water to 30 million people in the United States and Mexico. Between population growth and a decade long drought, the Colorado is under such stress that Western states – desperate to maintain water supplies – want to purify agricultural runoff currently diverted into Mexico. But as The World’s Lorne Matalon reports, Mexico covets that water, because it has given birth to a productive wetland.
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Saving a river along the US-Mexico border

Feb 22nd, 2010
Arizona and the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora are two regions divided by an international border but united by a common need: water. Both are dry, and getting drier. Water has been a source of squabbling across the US-Mexico border for generations. But on one river that flows across the border, people are starting to work together to restore parts of the river.
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Photo gallery: Saving a river

Mexican Mennonites

Dec 23rd, 2009
Chihuahua is by far Mexico’s most violent state, riven by almost daily murders linked to Mexico’s drug trade. But Christian Mennonites, who above all are pacifists, are also a part of the state’s tapestry. The World’s Lorne Matalon traveled to Chihuahua to meet some of them.
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Mix of politics and drugs

June 30th, 2009
A mayoral candidate in Mexico has said publicly what just about every Mexican knows to be true — the drug cartels have thoroughly contaminated Mexican politics. But this candidate is caught on tape.

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Before the election

June 29th, 2009
Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon will be watching his country’s upcoming local elections very carefully. That’s because his conservative party is trying to win Congressional seats and Calderon wants to make sure he has enough support to fight the country’s rampant drug problem.

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Collateral damage in the drug war

June 23rd, 2009
Complaints about human rights abuses by the military are on the rise. Civilians are getting caught in the crossfire as the Mexican army battles drug lords.

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Fighting corruption

June 12th, 2009
Lorne Matalon reports on the Mexican government’s battle against drug traffickers and official corruption in the central state of Michoacan.

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Photos from Michoacan

Drug cartels still in action

May 28th, 2009
Mexico’s violent drug cartels didn’t simply pack up and go home when the H1N1flu arrived. In fact they’re just as active as before. The World’s Lorne Matalon reports that the government has once again stepped up its attempts to beat back the cartels.

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Flu politics

May 4th, 2009
Lorne Matalon reports on some of the political fallout from the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. Some opposition politicians are criticizing the government for not reacting fast enough to the outbreak, or for overreacting. President Felipe Calderon has defended his government’s actions as swift and appropriate.

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A doctor’s day in Mexico City

April 30th, 2009
The World’s Lorne Matalon profiles a pediatrician in one of Mexico City’s hospitals. The doctor is struggling to care for his young patients and protect his own health amidst the swine flu outbreak.

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Swine flu concern grows

April 28th, 2009
Many parts of the world are concerned about the same thing: swine flu. The World’s Lorne Matalon has the latest from the hardest-hit country so far — Mexico.

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Drastic measures in Mexico City

April 27th, 2009
The World’s Lorne Matalon has the latest from Mexico City on the swine flu outbreak there. Mexico’s capital has essentially closed down, as authorities try to stop the spread of the swine flu virus.

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Lorne’s photos from Mexico

Outbreak of swine flu

April 24th, 2009
At least 16 people in Mexico have died from what officials there say is a strain of influenza that originally came from pigs. Meanwhile, swine flu is also being reported in the southern United States. Anchor Katy Clark speaks with The World’s Lorne Matalon in Mexico City.

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NAFTA stays as it is

April 21st, 2009
Lorne Matalon reports on how Mexico is reacting to the Obama Administration’s decision not to seek a renegotiation of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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Mexican cartels active in Panama

April 16th, 2009
Mexico’s drug cartels have already expanded their operations into the United States. Now they’re also expanding south into Central America. From Panama, The World’s Lorne Matalon reports.

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Obama visit to Mexico

April 15th, 2009
President Obama is visiting Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderón before they both take off to attend the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad & Tobago. The World’s Lorne Matalon reports.

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Juarez border war

March 17, 2009
Juarez, Mexico, a stone’s throw from El Paso, Texas represents an important business center for the United States, supplying dozens of U.S. companies with auto parts, electronics and other manufactured goods. But the city is under siege, a fact acknowledged by the Obama Administration, which is crafting contingency plans to send the National Guard to the border if conditions deteriorate further.



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Audio slideshow: Buddhism in Mexico

March 14th, 2009
Lorne Matalon visits a touring display of ancient Tibetan relics in Mexico City and tells us how Buddhism is gaining popularity in mostly-Catholic Mexico. Narration and all photos: Lorne Matalon.
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Audio slideshow: Saint of Death

March 22nd, 2009
Mexico is experiencing a horrifying wave of violence. So it’s not surprising that the religious cult, Santa Muerte – or the Saint of Death – has gained a following. Narration and all photos: Lorne Matalon.
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Mexico City dries up

Feb 11th, 2009
Lorne Matalon reports that Mexico City is running out of water. Experts say the only solution is to change the water use habits of the area’s 20 million residents.

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Audio slideshow: Mexico’s thriving art scene

November 7th, 2008
Lorne Matalon explores Mexico’s thriving art scene which has been attracting more and more foreign-born artists. Narration and all photos: Lorne Matalon.
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Audio slideshow: Mexico kidnapping

October 16th, 2008
With an escalating war between Mexico’s drug cartels and the government, security is the number one issue as Mexico prepares for midterm elections next year. But adding to fears expressed by many Mexicans is a recent surge in kidnapping with victims from all social classes. Narration and all photos: Lorne Matalon.
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Update: In December 2008 the Mexican authorities told the family featured in this slideshow that they’ve positively identified remains found recently in the Mexico City area as those of abducted Silvia Vargas Escaleras.

Mexican view of the U.S. elections

October 21st, 2008
Mexicans watched the U.S. presidential race closely, with polls showing a split along socio-economic lines that mirrors that of Mexican society itself. But the vast majority of Mexicans surveyed say they support the Democratic Party.
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Patrolling the border

May 8th, 2008
In 2007 the United States deported a record number of undocumented Mexicans, but authorities along the U.S.-Mexico border say Mexicans seeking jobs continue to cross into the United States every day. People from other countries including Russia, Bangladesh and South Africa have also been caught trying to get into the U.S illegally. Lorne Matalon accompanied a patrol in southern Texas.
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The drug war in Juarez

May 5th, 2008
The border area between the United States and Mexico has become so violent that the State Department issued a travel alert in April 2008. The warning says, “A war between criminal organizations for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the border. Foreign visitors, including Americans, have been among the victims.” It’s one thing for visitors to avoid the border cities or at least to be alert to their surroundings. It’s another thing for the folks who live there.
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On patrol with the Mexican army

March 13th, 2008
President Felipe Calderon made the fight against drug cartels a national priority. He’s ordered the Mexican Army to spear-head the effort. That means soldiers are heading into drug cartel territory to track down traffickers and destroy illegal crops. Lorne Matalon rode along on one such mission, in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa.
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Press freedom on trial

February 7th, 2008
Mexico is not the most dangerous country for journalists, other nations compete for that dubious distinction. But Mexican reporters do risk their lives when they cover the nation’s drug traffickers. And some of them face intimidation from government officials unhappy with their work. The World’s Lorne Matalon reports on one case in the latter category that could end up before the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
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Mexico’s Other Immigration Problem

January 31st, 2008
Mexican President Felipe Calderon is in the United States this week. His trip comes at a delicate moment. U.S. presidential contenders are calibrating their positions on illegal immigration. Calderon accuses the candidates of using Mexican migrants as “symbolic hostages.” He condemns the persecution of Mexicans here. But some accuse Calderon of being hypocritical. They say the way Mexico treats Central American immigrants is nothing to be proud of either.
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Mexico’s corn farmers

January 15th, 2008
It’s been 14 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect. Farm trade between the United States and Mexico immediately soared. It’s now four times what it was the year before NAFTA was signed. Two weeks ago, the few remaining trade restrictions on farm goods were dropped. U.S. officials is calling the move a win for farmers in both countries. But the reaction south of the border is quite different. Mexican farmers are taking to the streets in protest. The World’s Lorne Matalon reports from Xochimilco, Mexico.
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North Korea walked away from six-party nuclear talks earlier this year, but then said it could return.
These discussions – involving the US, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas – are aimed at getting rid of the North’s nuclear capabilities.

The forum reached deals in 2005 and 2007, under which the North shut down its plants at Yongbyon and began disabling them in return for aid and security guarantees. But the last talks were in December 2008, and in April this year North Korea said the negotiations were over for good, following widespread condemnation of its long-range missile launch. A month later, tensions rose still further when the North conducted an underground nuclear test.

New sanctions

In June, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose tougher sanctions on communist North Korea following the nuclear test carried by Pyongyang in defiance of previous UN resolutions.

The sanctions include the inspection of North Korean ships, a wider ban on arms sales and other financial measures. The U.S. deputy ambassador at the UN, Rosemary DiCarlo, said the new vote was a strong and united response to North Korea’s “unacceptable behavior”.

The Chinese ambassador, Zhang Yesui, said the resolution showed the “firm opposition” of the world to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. “We strongly urge the DPRK (North Korea) to honor its commitment to denuclearization, stop any moves that may further worsen the situation, and return to the six-party talks,” the ambassador said. North Korea carried out a nuclear test – its second – on May 25th. It then launched a number of short-range missiles.

President Barack Obama described the North Korean action in May as a threat to international peace. President Obama on North Korea

On May 27th, North Korea announced it is abandoning the truce that ended the Korean war, amid rising tension in the region. It blamed its decision on South Korea joining a US-led initiative to search ships for nuclear weapons. It said the South’s actions were a “declaration of war”, and pledged to attack if its ships were stopped. The move is part of an increasingly hard line being taken by North Korea, and came two days after it conducted an underground nuclear test.

North Korea abandons international talks

North Korea's "satellite" launch

In April North Korea walked out on international talks to end its nuclear program, and said it would restore its disabled nuclear reactor. The unusually strong statement followed criticism by the UN Security Council of a recent rocket launch, which critics say was a long-range missile test. North Korea said the launch in April was part of a peaceful space program, designed to put a satellite into orbit. China and Russia have appealed for the North to return to negotiations.

Pyongyang also ordered UN nuclear inspectors to leave the country and told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove seals and equipment from the Yongbyon reactor and said that it would reactivate all its nuclear facilities, the watchdog said.

Pyongyang said it launched a satellite on April 5 but its neighbors said it was testing missile technology. The U.S., South Korea and Japan have all condemned the launch from the Musudan-ri base in the north-east of the communist country. They say it violates a UN Security Council resolution adopted in October 2006 which bans North Korea from carrying out ballistic missile activity. Susan Rice, the American envoy to the UN, called Pyongyang’s move a “clear-cut violation of [resolution] 1718″, while her Japanese counterpart said Tokyo was seeking a “clear, firm and unified” response.

Undated North Korean missile test

When North Korea tested its Taepodong-1 missile in 1998, it claimed to have put a satellite in orbit. In July 2006 it test-fired the three-stage long-range Taepodong-2, but the missile failed shortly after launch. North Korea’s move comes amid heightened tensions with South Korea, and with Pyongyang pushing for a top spot on the agenda of the new U.S. administration.

American nuclear inspector in North Korea

In October 2008, the Washington finally removed North Korea from a terrorism blacklist, and in return Pyongyang agreed to provide full access to its nuclear program. The two sides now differ on the terms of verification that were agreed as part of the deal. North Korea insists it never said samples of atomic material could be taken away for examination, but the U.S. asserts that the North did consent to the procedure.

For years, the North has been locked in discussions over its nuclear ambitions with five other nations – the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. In June 2008 the regime blew up the cooling tower of its Yongbyon facility in a symbolic gesture of its commitment to the process.
Video: Demolition of Yongbyon cooling tower

Also in June 2008 North Korea handed over a long-awaited account of its nuclear program to China. President George W Bush cautiously welcomed the move at the time but said the U.S. still had “serious concerns” about Pyongyang. North Korea had previoulsy blamed the deadlocked nuclear talks on the U.S., accusing it of raising “unjust demands”.

North Korea successfully tested a nuclear device on October 9th, 2006, and analysts believe it may have any a number of atomic bombs ranging from one to eight or more. However, it is not believed that the country has yet succeeded in building a nuclear weapon that could be fitted on to a missile.

North Korean missiles

Despite the nuclear agreement Pyongyang tested another ballistic missile in June 2007. The White House said it was “deeply troubled” by the move, which happened at a “delicate time” in international negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear decommissioning.

In May 2007 North Korea conducted a series of missile test after previously having test-fired missiles in July 2006. World powers have condemned the North Korean tests – the test in 2006 is believed to have included a long-range Taepodong-2, but according to U.S. assessments at the time, that missile failed shortly after take-off.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons program along with its missile development, has been a major source of concern in the region. North Korea is estimated to have more than 800 ballistic missiles. The communist regime first obtained tactical missiles from the Soviet Union, as early as 1969, but its first Scuds reportedly came via Egypt in 1976.

These are the key weapons of its missile program:

Taepodong-2 (long range)

Taepodong 2

Taepodong-1 (intermediate range)

The Taepodong-1 is a two-stage missile comprising Nodong and Scud parts and has a estimated range of 1,300 miles (2,200km). It could reach US bases in Okinawa, Japan. North Korea tested a Taepodong-1 in August 1998, firing a missile over northern Japan. But it is said to be even less accurate than the Nodong (see below) and it must be fired from a fixed location and has a long preparation time. That means potential launches could be detected relatively early on.

Another Taepodong missile, the Taepodong-X, is also said to be under development but has not yet been tested. Based on a Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missile, it is a land-based missile, thought to have a range of up to 2,400 miles (4,000km), able to reach US bases on Guam. Unlike the Taepodong-1, it could be fired from mobile launch systems hidden from view.

Nodong Missile (medium range)

The Nodong missile is thought to have a range of around 600 miles (1,000km) and could potentially carry a nuclear warhead. But it too is not very accurate. The Nodong could strike most of Japan but not with any accuracy. If it were fired on a military target, its inaccuracy could lead to high levels of civilian casualties. The missile was test fired in May 1993.

Short Range Missiles

North Korea has a variety of short-range missiles. The KN-02 is thought to be the most accurate, but its range – around 60 miles – is the shortest. The Scud-B and C have ranges of 200 and 300 miles respectively, while the Scud-D is believed to have a range of over 400 miles. It is thought that these missiles could deliver conventional warheads. The Scud-B, C and D have all been tested and deployed. These missiles would enable North Korea to strike any area in South Korea. The KN-02 missile, currently in the testing stage, could be aimed at key targets in South Korea such as military installations south of the border.

Musudan-ri launch site

Musudan-ri is the main launch site in the country’s North Hamgyong province, on the country’s northeastern coast. The area was formerly known as Taepodong, which gave the Taepodong rockets their name. Since 1984 Hwasong, Nodong and Taepodong rockets have been launched from the site. The facilities at Musudan-ri are reported to be modest, consisting of a launch pad, an engine test stand, a missile assembly building, and a missile control center. In 1998, North Korean media reported the successful launch of a satellite by a Taepodong rocket from Musudan-ri. North Korea says the satellite successfully reached orbit, but no independent sources have confirmed this.

In the first part of the series, Miranda Kennedy looks at why not many Indian Muslims have become radicalized.

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The Taj Mahal Hotel was one of the sites attacked by gunmen

Although India’s Muslims have largely not been radicalized, the security forces have not refrained from targeting suspected homegrown terrorists.

In the second part of her series, Miranda Kennedy reports on the growing alienation of Mumbai’s Muslims.

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Hameedia Mosque in Mumbai

Emraan Hashmi

• BBC coverage of Mumbai attacks

Miranda Kennedy’s stories from India were funded by a grant from the International Reporting Project.

The Palestinian Authority initially backed deferring a vote, but changed its position after domestic criticism. Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed in the 22-day conflict that ended in January, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.

Earlier this month Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged UN members to “come to their senses” and reject the Goldstone report. He said UN endorsement of the strong criticism of Israel would deal “a fatal blow” to peace efforts. He said, it would legitimize “terrorists who hide behind civilians” by laying the blame on victims of terror who act in self-defense. He also said UN prestige would be adversely affected and the body would become irrelevant like “the darkest days where absurd decisions were passed”.

In September, the UN human rights report said both the Israeli army and Palestinian militants committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the fighting in January. Reacting to the report, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said, the report “was flawed from A-to-Z”, the UN panel was “biased” and some of its findings “ludicrous.”

The report calls for fresh war crimes inquiries under international scrutiny. It said said Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead”, launched in response to militant rocket fire, used disproportionate firepower against the densely populated Gaza Strip and disregarded the likelihood of civilian deaths. The militant group Hamas criticized parts of the report alleging it fired rockets at Israel without distinguishing between military targets and the civilian population.

Sep 14: Linda Gradstein reports that conditions in the Gaza Strip have not improved as much as aid donors would have liked:
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On Sep 9th, an Israeli human rights group said many more Palestinian civilians were killed in the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza than the army admits. B’Tselem said detailed research with careful cross-checking showed 1,387 Palestinians died, over half of them civilians and 252 of them children. This contradicts an Israeli army report stating fewer than 300 civilians died in fighting in December and January.

Earlier this year the Israeli army said that 1,166 Gazans were killed in the conflict, a quarter of whom were civilians. Its figures indicated that the toll included 709 militants from Hamas and other groups, and 295 non-combatants. According to B’Tselem, 1,387 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military, including 773 civilians, 330 combatants and 248 civilian police – whom Israeli officials classify as militants.

Israel launched the assault to halt rocket attacks from Hamas-run Gaza. The overall B’Tselem total broadly tallies with the official Palestinian death toll and the findings of other non-governmental organisations, although the proportion of civilians it identifies is lower.

In July, a group of soldiers who took part in Israel’s assault in Gaza said widespread abuses were committed against civilians under “permissive” rules of engagement. The troops said they had been urged to fire on any building or person that seemed suspicious and said Palestinians were sometimes used as human shields.

Breaking the Silence, a campaign group made up of Israeli soldiers, gathered anonymous accounts from 26 soldiers. Israel denies breaking the laws of war and dismissed the report as hearsay. The report says testimonies show “the massive and unprecedented blow to the infrastructure and civilians” was a result of Israeli military policy, articulated by the rules of engagement, and encouraged by a belief “the reality of war requires them to shoot and not to ask questions”.

Amnesty report on Israeli operation “Cast Lead.”

In May, a United Nations inquiry into attacks by Israeli forces on UN property during the Gaza conflict heavily criticized Israel’s army. It found Israel to blame in six out of nine incidents when death or injury were caused to people sheltering at UN property and UN buildings were damaged. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, rejected the report, saying it was biased. “We have the most moral army in the world,” he said. “IDF (Israel Defense Forces) commanders and soldiers made every effort to avoid hurting uninvolved civilians.”

In April, the Israeli military said internal investigations showed it acted according to international law during its operations in Gaza. A small number of errors did take place, it admits, such as the deaths of 21 people in a wrongly targeted house, but it claims these were “unavoidable”. The military said Gaza militants had used civilian sites for cover.

Human rights group have raised concerns about war crimes and say a wider, external investigation is needed. Israel faced widespread accusations of operating in a disproportionate and heavy-handed way during three-week conflict in January. Palestinians say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed, of whom more than two-thirds were civilians. Israel puts the figure lower, at 1,166 dead, of whom it says about two-thirds were fighters.

In March international donors pledged almost $4.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians, chiefly to rebuild Gaza after the Israeli offensive. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would donate $900 million, and vigorously seek to advance peace.

Palestinian disunity

In June 2007, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new emergency government that excluded his Islamist rivals, Hamas, who had seized control of Gaza after intense fighting between the rival factions. Abbas also issued decrees enabling new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to rule without parliamentary approval and outlawing all of Hamas’s armed forces. Fayyad’s predecessor, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called the new government illegal, while the United States and the European Union declared their support for the emergency government.

The collapsed Palestinian unity government which included Hamas had only been agreed in February 2007 after several months of fighting between the factions but mistrust between Hamas and Fatah continued. Armed clashes in Gaza in December 2006 and January 2007 had already brought the Palestinian rivals to the brink of civil war. Only after crisis talks hosted by Saudi Arabia did Hamas and Fatah agree to form the unity government.

Hamas patrol in the Gaza strip in 2007 (AP photo)

However Western nations continued their aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority at the time because the Hamas movement refuses to renounce violence against Israel. The United States, the UN, the European Union and Russia – the so-called Quartet – repeatedly said that Hamas must meet three conditions before the financial blockade can be lifted: renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

Key Players in the Conflict:

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya

Haniya had been Palestinian prime minister since March 29th, 2006, after his militant Hamas movement won a clear majority in the parliamentary election in January 2006. In March 2007 he became the prime minister of a government of national unity which included Fatah members. After gun battles in Gaza, the unity government collapsed in June 2007 and President Abbas appointed a new prime minister, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal, describing the new emergency government as “illegal”.

Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant Islamist movement, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Israel, all of which have refused to deal directly with Hamas officials.

Hamas pursues the long-term aim of establishing an Islamic state on all of historic Palestine – most of which has been contained within Israel’s borders since its creation in 1948. The grass-roots organization – with a political and a military wing – has an unknown number of active members but tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.

The decision to stand in Palestinian elections was a major departure for Hamas at the time. Top figures say it reflects the importance of the movement and the need for it to play a role in a failing Palestinian political sphere rife with corruption, inefficiency and lost credibility. But Hamas’ armed wing remains the epitome of the “terrorist infrastructure” which the Palestinian Authority is called on to dismantle under the international peace plan known as the roadmap.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal

Meshaal was named Hamas leader following Israeli’s killing of the group’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in March 2004. The organization’s covert structure means it is unclear what authority he wields, but from his exile in the Syrian capital, Damascus, he has played an important role since the group won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections.

Meshaal survived an Israeli assassination attempt on his life back in 1997 and he has always supported Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Like many Palestinians, he believes that such attacks are a legitimate act of resisting the Israeli occupation.

Israel has accused Meshaal and the Syrian-based leadership of Hamas of being behind the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Cpl Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid by militants in June 2006, sparking an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

New Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud)

Following the Israeli election on Feb 10th, 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-of-center Likud party, was asked to form Israel’s next government. He became prime minister at the end of March after having previously served in that position between June 1996 and July 1999. Netanyahu is also a former foreign and finance minister of Israel. The centrist Kadima of former prime minister Ehud Olmert narrowly defeated Likud in the February election, but Netanyahu has the support of the religious and right-wing parties which make up more than half of Israel’s parliament.

The new Israeli government is not expected to make concessions to the Palestinians. There would be strong pressures from within such a coalition to go full steam ahead on settlement-building on the West Bank. Therefore Netanyahu’s government could easily find itself on a collision course with the Obama administration in Washington.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (FATAH)

Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) is the leader of the Fatah Party and was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, to succeed the late Yasser Arafat. Then President George W. Bush praised the election of the moderate PLO leader as a tribute to the power and appeal of democracy and an “inspiration” to the region. In May 2005 Abbas became the first Palestinian leader to be given the red carpet treatment in Washington during the Bush presidency.

Abbas’ position as Palestinian leader became very complicated after the rival Hamas movement defeated his Fatah party in the parliamentary election on January 25th, 2006 and formed a cabinet without the participation of Fatah. The secular nationalist Fatah movement founded by Arafat in the 1950s had dominated Palestinian politics for many decades.

In December 2006 the tensions between Fatah and Hamas escalated into armed clashes in the Gaza Strip, further heavy fighting in June 2007 resulted in Hamas taking over the entire Gaza strip and ejecting Fatah. Abbas declared a state of emergency, appointed Salam Fayyad prime minister and fired Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal.

More on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians

Magistad: Walk into a Chinese classroom, and you’re likely to hear students reciting their lessons together.

Classroom in Sichuan province

Magistad: They memorize them at home. If they have questions, it’s to get the right answer, not to raise their own ideas. Lushi Li was born in China and spent her early childhood here. Li’s family moved to the United States when she was in grade school. Lushi Li came back here to Beijing last year, to take classes at one of China’s top universities, Tsinghua. She also spent a month sitting in on 10th grade classes in a Beijing high school, for an thesis she’s doing at Harvard. Lushi Li says one thing struck her about the students at the high school and at the University:

Lushi Li: “They don’t have much opportunity to voice their opinions. The teachers try to engage the students, but mostly what they do is to ask yes or no questions or they will ask questions with a definite answer. ..so there is very, very little opportunity for students to voice, to answer open ended questions.”

Magistad: Li says, the students aren’t encouraged to learn how to analyze, or argue or think for themselves. They are taught to absorb vast amounts of material, and prepare for the next exam. – in the case of the high school kids, for the college entrance exam. Li says this is how one teacher would get her students ready for the next exam:

Lushi Li: “If you ever encounter a test question on this topic, this is how you should answer it. And she would outline exactly how you should answer it and even to the point where at the end she would say oh if you run out of things to say you could always just praise the Communist Party. And this is how you praise them.”

Magistad: Actor Nick Li says he had much the same experience growing up in China. He says that experience wasn’t exactly fertile soil for the seed of innovation to grow:

Nick Li: “The seed is the instinct, the willingness to want to create… and the soil is education and your history of the nation or something. The temperature and moisture is probably the opportunity. So the bottom is line is whether the seed is healthy or not. Through the years if you just don’t take good care of it, eventually you don’t even know how to be creative.”

Magistad: Nick Li is one of many Chinese of his generation whose creativity thrived only when they transplanted themselves into more fertile soil. Many such Chinese became Silicon Valley success stories. Nick Li went into film. He remembers his first experience at an American university being a bit of a shock:

Nick Li: “I don’t really remember what the topic was. But the teacher just like, just sat there and listened. And we had all these different opinions and after class I said, I just asked the teacher are you going to give us some standard answer or something? Or final answer? And he looked at me and was just like, I am so weird. So what do you think about the topic? And I said each person have their own, you know, good part, but ridiculous part, and he said yeah, that’s my answer too. Whatever you think. And I just felt like, wow, this is really freedom to let you think instead of boom, give you the right answer.”

Magistad: Nick Li believes that kind of approach encourages creative thinking. And that’s one reason he and his American wife decided to put their daughter into a new kind of school in Beijing.

Magistad: It’s a bilingual school called Kinstar. It has Chinese and Western teachers and students. It aims to combine the discipline and rigor of the Chinese approach to education, with the creativity of the Western approach. Li’s daughter Tea, a bubbly 4th grader, says it works for her:

Tea: “The Chinese teachers teach a good way…they don’t yell at you, like that strict, it’s just good strict.”
Magistad: “And how is that different from how the English language teachers teach?”
Tea: “ Well, the English teachers do more fun stuff.”

Magistad: Fun stuff isn’t all that common in most classrooms in China. One of the Kinstar school’s founders is Hui Jin. She was raised in Shanghai, and got her PhD in neuroscience in the US:

Hui Jin: “I was raised and educated in the Chinese system ….so, of course I have a very firm foundation, skills and knowledge of all the basic knowledge. But later I found that when I was in graduate school, doing research in workplace, one thing I found was lacking from my traditional education is self-confidence…When I encounter new difficulties, new things I always want to know whether I can do it or not…This seems to be very common among people educated in China than educated overseas. So self-confidence, creativity and willing to speak out your ideas and create new ideas, this is … not quite strong as compared to Western peers.”

Magistad: So at the Kinstar, the English-language teachers in particular encourage students to give their ideas. This teacher got his fourth-grade class to come up with rules the class will abide by – like, be considerate, and be neat. The kids then divide into teams, and compete to show who can do these things best. The classes taught by Chinese teachers are more orderly, and sound more like what you’d find in a Chinese school, with exceptions.

The teacher, Meng Qin Fen, encourages the kids to express their thoughts, here, on the images in ancient poetry. Meng says this is quite different from how she has taught in traditional Chinese schools

Teacher Meng (right) in the classroom

She says in those schools, students sit in neat rows, listen to the teacher, and memorize what the teacher says. Here, it’s more casual – and a little hard for her to get used to. She says, she worries that if a teacher teaches 10 things here, the kids really learn only six. But Meng says she likes the fact that here, there’s more interaction between teacher and student, more getting students to think for themselves.

China’s Ministry of Education is trying to move more of China’s public schools in this direction. It’s part of the government’s effort over the past decade to transform China into a more innovative nation, one that can create its own processes and products, rather than just manufacturing those of other countries. Shen Baiyu heads the Ministry of Education’s division of curriculum development for basic education:

Shen Baiyu: “We need excellent teachers who interact with the students, and we need to find a way to assess not just what students learn but also whether they’ve learned how to learn. We need to change the college entrance exam so it measures these other abilities, and not just how well a student can memorize.”

Magistad: That kind of exam has been part of the Chinese tradition for centuries. It used to pick out the best scholars, to serve the emperor. Now, it picks out the best students, to go to universities. Competition is fierce, so parents resist changes in the classroom that might encourage creativity at the cost of memorization of the right answers for the exam. The result is that Chinese schools are not yet graduating innovators, including scientists and engineers, at a pace the government would like. Bill Kirby heads the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University:

Kirby: “Chinese engineers, the critique goes, are too often trained in the last best technology. They are not trained to be critical thinkers. They are not trained to solve the problems that have not yet been posed. It’s one reason, perhaps, why they have a much higher unemployment rate than some who have graduated from other disciplines in China.”

Magistad: Kirby says that’s one reason an increasingly number of Chinese universities are moving away from having students concentrate on one narrow field. Instead, they’re starting to offer a broader range of classes, including history, philosophy and the arts. Kirby says Chinese universities used to be very strong in those areas – before the Communist Party took over:

Kirby: “The gearing of institutions of higher education from the 1950s onward to the interests of the state, the dimunition of the humanities, really the near-extermination of the teaching of the humanities, took place during the Maoist period. And really, it’s just in the last decade that you again see the belief that the study of philosophy, the study of literature, the study of history, and the successes and failures of human beings in different times and places, is as essential to one’s long-term education as the study of mathematics, of technology, of engineering.”

Magistad: Do you think the Party’s really ready to have a nation of independent, critical thinkers who’ll be coming out of this kind of general liberal arts education?

Kirby: “That’s the key question, of course….The Party understands, and the leadership of higher education, from the Minister of Education on down, understand that China does need a new generation of critical thinkers. The question to be posed, at the end of the day, is whether a liberal education, a truly liberal education, is really possible in an illiberal society.

Magistad: What the Communist Party seems to want is simply engineers who can come up with the next great idea, not a nation of critical thinkers who could challenge the Party. It may be hard to have one without the other, to get people to innovate in the sciences, without using the same habits of mind to rethink Chinese politics or history. Already, the explosion of internet use in China has led to tens of millions of blogs and chat sites – and some can be pretty edgy. So can other writings – in journalism and academia, literature and film. The Party tries hard to silence the most critical voices. It censors the websites, and takes down critical messages from chat sites within seconds. It huts down offending publications and jails journalists, bloggers, lawyers and intellectuals.

The Party counters the critics with its own messages. To celebrate 60 years in power, the Party brought many of China’s top actors and directors together to make a film called “The Founding of a Republic.” It’s now playing in pretty much every major cinema.

Among the famous faces here are actress Zhang Ziyi from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and internationally recognized directors Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. Zhang Yimou has also choreographed the festivities that will mark tomorrow’s 60th anniversary of the rise to power of the Communist Party. All this sends a message, not unlike what the kids get in school — if you want to be creative and make money from it, it doesn’t hurt to do it in the Party’s embrace.

For The World, I’m Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing.