This month marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Salvador Allende, the popularly-elected Socialist president of Chile, who was murdered by the Chilean military (with CIA help) in 1973, along with over 3,000 labor leaders, activists, and supporters. Scores of demonstrations to commemorate Allende's death are scheduled in Chile for the whole of September; the main theme will be to bring Augosto Pinochet and his henchmen to trial. Gen. Pinochet, now enjoying his role as "Senator-For-Life," ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973 until his recent retirement; he has so far escaped all responsibility for the human rights abuses of his reign. One Chilean judge and a magistrate in Spain are trying to change that, however, and are attempting to bring murder charges against Pinochet.--Maria Tomchick

Two recent North Korean "nuke scares" reported in the U.S. press have proven to be grossly exaggerated. The first, reported by New York Times on Aug. 17th, breathlessly disclosed CIA satellite images of North Korea's "huge secret underground complex." In fact, North Korean foreign ministry officials had publicly announced in May (and it was reported all over the Asian press) that they were reopening the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and giving up on the 1994 nuclear freeze agreement with the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. The Wall Street Journal described the complex as a "nuclear weapons facility," even though Yongbyon contains no plutonium reprocessing facilities to make weapons-grade material. Neither the NY Times nor the WS Journal bothered to reported why North Korea had given up on the nuclear pact: because the U.S., Japan, and South Korea have not upheld their end of the deal. North Korea was to give up the Yongbyon plant and any nuclear weapons program it was working on in exchange for two non-military, light-water reactors to generate electricity. The reactors were to be constructed by Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. In the interim, before the light-water reactors were finished, the U.S. was to provide 500,000 tons of fuel oil to North Korea per year, to help it meet its energy needs. After the collapse of South Korea's economy in December and Japan's economic crisis, both countries withdrew their support for the plan, and the U.S. Congress has yet to approve the money for North Korea's fuel oil.

The second "nuke scare" involved North Korea supposedly launching and testing missiles over Japan's territory on Aug 31. This was widely reported in the U.S. press as a test of nuclear weapons technology. But on Sept 14, the U.S. State Department said it had erred: North Korea had been trying to launch a satellite into space instead. Relations between the U.S. and North Korea--and between North and South Korea--would be a lot smoother if U.S. "intelligence" agencies spent their time gathering data, instead of manufacturing it after the fact...and if the U.S. press would only do a little fact-checking now and then.--M.T.

Speaking of nukes and scary, there was a nice little bit of hypocrisy from U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during her visit to New Zealand last month. Albright was hounded by anti-nuclear protesters at every stop, and made a point of criticizing the New Zealand government for its ban on nuclear warships (including U.S. warships) in its waters. Albright, of course, also spent the summer ripping the governments of India and Pakistan for embracing nuclear weaponry. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.--Geov Parrish

And India's new nuclear status--which isn't that new, as India had a covert nuclear program for over two decades before this year's tests--took another step forward, according to a recent report in Jane's Defense Weekly India's going into the business of nuclear submarines, with the first keel to be laid in 2002 and launch in 2007. Military contrators of the world, rejoice!--G.P.

In a creative response to the construction of an obnoxious new highway near Birmingham, England, a local vicar discovered an old law which holds that clergy cannot be interrupted while preaching. Anti-road protesters subsequently resisted eviction with a spirited, and long, reading of the Bible. All of it.--G.P.