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What the World Is Reading

November 13, 2008 10:32 AM

By CLARK BENTSON, ABC News Rome

This week takes a look at stories from Colombo to the Cook Islands, Windhoek to Male, as we glance at some of the news making the front pages in other parts of the world.

Sri Lanka’s Long War: Winding Down or Not?

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as the Tamil Tigers, are believed to be responsible for a bomb at a railway station in the center of Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. Fourteen people were killed, including six baseball players and their coach. One player was an ethnic Tamil.

For months the government of Sri Lanka has stepped up its efforts against the separatist Tamils -- a war that has been ongoing for 25 years. But recent gains have the government encouraged that it can soon drive the Tamil leaders from their strongholds. Air Force supersonic fighter jets pounded a Tamil Tigers administration and operations coordinating center in Keewelikulam the Daily News reported.

The Tamil Guardian also reported the government’s advances. “The Sri Lankan army claims it is now within just over a kilometer of Kilinochchi, the LTTE’s [The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s] de-facto capital, and the island's ethnic war is now reaching a decisive showdown. As its troops push eastward into the interiors of LTTE-held territory in Vanni, determined to crush the Tigers, the government is leaving no stone unturned to win this war that has simmered for a quarter century.”

But an editorial from the Tamil Guardian says the war is long from being won. “Despite its assurances of imminent victory, Colombo is girding for protracted war. Little wonder then that even the staunchest backers of Colombo’s brutal war in the Tamil homeland are wavering. This week the United States’ Ambassador, Robert O’ Blake, insisted that a military solution was not possible.”

President-Elect Obama’s Stepmother Speaks of His Father

The Standard of Kenya interviewed Grace Keziah Obama, 67, about her life with Barack Obama Sr. and similarities with his son. “He also spoke his mind and liked the truth.” The paper report continues as she describes how they met at a dance. She was only 16 and attending school then and had no idea that the young man courting her would one day father the future president of the most powerful nation on earth.

Keziah says Obama Senior was so handsome and stylish that she could not resist his advances that Christmas night in 1956. "He asked to dance with me during the party and I could not turn him down. He picked me from several girls present. A few days later, I married him." "He paid 14 cows as dowry which were delivered in two batches. This was because he loved me greatly," she says.

Transition: Not Only at the Executive Mansion but Maybe for the Whole Nation

There was an extraordinary executive transition from one president to another in the Maldives, an island nation of 370,000 people in the Indian Ocean. After six terms in office, an assassination attempt last year and numerous critics who never thought he would go willingly, President Maumoon Adbul Gayoom handed over rule gracefully but also apologetically.

“In a farewell speech, the President said on Monday said he was sorry for any wrongdoing over the last 30 years and asked for ‘forgiveness’ from the public. ‘I deeply regret any actions on my part – whether through an implemented policy, an executive decision or plain negligence on my part,’” the Minivan News reported.

But his successor, Mohammed Nasheed Anni, created more of a stir in the international media when he said his government was going to start putting money away to buy a new homeland for his people. The Maldives islands are no more than 3 feet above sea level and are threatened by rising sea levels. The Indian Economic Times quotes, “We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere," said the new President, a former political prisoner who took power Tuesday after a swearing-in ceremony in the Maldivian capital. "It's an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome. After all, the Israelis (began by buying) land in Palestine,’ he said.”

Transitions: Not So Graceful in Africa but Hope for Mbeki

The Namibian writes this week on expectations for the new American president, but also laments the role model ex-African presidents play in promoting democratic societies. “Where are these expresidents? Here are some: two each in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, and one each in Namibia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Ethiopia. The last two, however, are not available - Charles Taylor is behind bars in The Hague and Mengisto Haile Meriam under Robert Mugabe's protection but wanted for crimes he committed when he was President.” One hopeful exception according to the Namibian journalist is Thabo Mbeki. “…Here is a man who did the most un-African thing - to step down because he lost his party support. Though an acceptable practice in advanced democracy, it's not so in Africa.”

Tourism Down: Is It Ecologically Wrong to Visit Eco-Destinations?

Climate change, which is threatening the Maldives, obviously affects the whole world. A concerted environmental and political movement to address the problems to the environment has been most vocal from Europe. Environmental groups are discouraging tourists from making intercontinental flights and encouraging people to take their vacations locally. But Afrol News, which covers news related to the African continent, reports this week that good-meaning intentions by environmentalists are hurting developing African economies that “are investing massively in their nascent tourism industry and as Africa is surfacing as a modern and exciting travel destination in most Western markets…. At the same time, African destinations like Seychelles are demonized as anti-environmental by European experts.”

The Cook Islands, in the South Pacific, are also worried about its tourism business. The Cook Island Herald reported recently that the “Government in this latest update confirms that the visitor numbers have been in the minus for the last four months compared to the corresponding period last year,” on its Web site. Environmental pressures not to visit hurt these tourism economies and cash-strapped visitors because of the global economic situation, which compounds the situation.

Read more blogs from Clark Bentson

November 13, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (2)

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Posted by: May Martinez | Nov 13, 2008 10:57:59 AM

Posted by: Hassan kazeem | Nov 14, 2008 4:17:05 AM

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