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to the third generation of Kim family ruler. Such protests are not unusual in South Korea and this one likely gave the North a pretext to react negatively to calls for joining in dialogue with its neighbors than an actual cause for retaliation.
• The North's statement said it would refuse any offers of talks with the South until it apologized for the "monstrous criminal act." North Korea often denounces such protests, but rarely in the name of the Supreme Command, which is headed by Kim Il Sung's grandson and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.
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All-cloaking Afghan burqa faces challenge on two fronts: Western dress codes, Chinese imports
• KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The homespun Afghan burqa is under siege from east and west these days -- cut-price competition from China, and Western influences that are leading many urban women to exchange the full-body cloak for a simple headscarf.
• The decline is most noticeable in Kabul, the capital, where women began joining the work force and adopting Western dress soon after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the puritanical Taliban. Demand for burqas appears strongest in the provinces, where family pressures and the power of conservative warlords continue to enforce a stricter Islamic code.
• Alim Nazery, who has traded in burqas in Kabul for 27 years, remembers selling at least 50 burqas a day when the Taliban were in charge. Now he says he sells 20 a day, mostly to women from the provinces.
• On one wall of his store in the Old Town market hang Afghan-made burqas costing from 1,000 to 3,000 Afghanis (about $20-$60), and on the other wall Chinese-made robes for 500-800 Afghanis ($10-$15).
• "We are selling more Chinese burqas because they are cheaper and people can buy more of them," Nazery said, taking a break from haggling with a burqa-clad pregnant woman as her husband waited outside. Another woman emerged from a fitting room screened off by a row of burqas, asking for something with less embroidery.
(Continued on page 25)
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