Wednesday, December 3, 2003

* A United Nations panel has warned that UN member nations are not doing enough
to curb terrorism. As a result, Al-Qaeda’s power and reach are rising, particularly
in Asia. All that is stopping Al-Qaeda terrorists from carrying out a chemical
or biological attack is a lack of technical expertise, said a report released
on Monday by the UN’s monitoring committee of experts. They expressed concern
that 108 out of 191 member nations have failed to report their actions in freezing
the assets and reporting the names of suspected terrorists. Panel members are
so frustrated that they say they may call for a Security Council resolution
with ‘more teeth’ to force compliance from member states. ‘The Al-Qaeda ideology
has continued to spread, raising the spectre of further terrorist attacks and
further threats to international peace and security,’ they said in the report.
The experts warn that terrorists are attempting to build a ‘dirty bomb’ or another
weapon of mass destruction but admits that they have as yet no hard evidence.
Diplomats say that is one reason why it is so important for nations, particularly
those with suspected Al-Qaeda members, to file their assessments, which were
due in October. Those reports ask governments to enumerate counter-terrorism
steps taken, such as legislation to make banking records more transparent, identify
terrorist suspects, and halt shipments of weapons and dangerous chemicals. Singapore,
for example, has filed its report, but the monitoring group was disappointed
that it and a dozen other countries did not include information about frozen
bank accounts – likely in keeping, they said, with national privacy laws. ‘I’m
still hopeful we’ll have more cooperation by the end of the year’, said Mr Munoz,
‘I think we’ll have to cooperate on a stronger resolution, give more teeth to
the sanctions.’

* The Supreme Court in the United States has agreed to review a lower court
ruling on whether people working for the government could covertly arrest suspects
in other countries. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had
been critical of such law enforcement actions, which the government says are
key to its terror-fighting powers. In its appeal, the Bush administration said
the kidnapping of suspects in uncooperative countries was rare but sometimes
needed to ensure justice and protect national security. Solicitor-General Theodore
Olson said on Monday that if the ruling was allowed to stand, it would jeopardise
efforts ‘to apprehend individuals who may be abroad, plotting other illegal
attacks’ in the US. For example, he said, federal agents could not bring Osama
bin Laden to America from his presumed hideout near the Pakistan-Afghanistan
frontier to face charges in the Sept 11 attacks. Last month, the government
agreed to consider whether foreigners held at the US Navy base in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, should have access to American courts.

* After several years of reduced support because of government corruption,
the World Bank has decided to increase its loans to Indonesia even though the
bank says corruption is still rampant. It said Indonesia had too many people
in poverty and the money would ‘spur the momentum of reforms’. The new loans,
some depending on measurable declines in government corruption, were approved
by the bank’s board last week. In return, Jakarta would have to set up an anti-corruption
commission and improve government procurement methods. Critics dismiss the measures
as window-dressing, saying they lack enforcement power to have much effect.
Under the new plan, the World Bank expects to lend a minimum of about US$580
million (S$1 billion) this year.

*****

Tuck School of Business (of Dartmouth) Bridge Program Info Session
Bond, 12:30p.m.

Elizabeth Durden Lecture
Kohlberg 228, 2:00 p.m.

Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs Information Session
Lang Center (at the train station), 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Foreign Study Predeparture Meeting
Science Center 101, 7:00 p.m.

Swarthmore College Baroque Ensemble, with Director Richard Stone
Lang Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.

College Democrats Presidential Candidate Debate
Scheuer Room, 8:30 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

In a Centennial Conference game that was decided in the last 5 minutes, the
Garnet Tide beat Ursinus 61-51.

Ursinus sprang to a 51-48 lead with 5:12 left and held it until 3:30 when Swat
jumped back with a spectacular baskets by Katie Robinson ’04, Ali Wolff ’05,
Radiance Walters ’06, and an amazing finish in the last 1:11 by Zoey Adams-Deutch
’06.

Adams-Deutch shot 9 of 10 free throws, Wolff scored a career high of 16 points,
and Robinson hit 12. Swat’s current stats are 3-1, 1-1.

*****

Today:
Men’s basketball at Lehigh, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There’s nothing wrong with being shallow as long as you’re insightful
about it.”
— Dennis Miller

*****

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