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What the World is Reading

November 07, 2008 10:15 AM

By Clark Bentson, ABC News Rome

This week take a look at the press from New Delhi to Shanghai, Amsterdam to Addis Ababa to get a taste of what the rest of the world is reading.

 

The American election is over and President-elect Barack Obama and the press in the United States are starting to turn their attentions to the transition and how to put the global financial system back on track. But before the press moved on for good many world publications examined how relations with the United States and their home country would change under a President Obama. Der Speigel, a German publication, predicted that the more reserved style of a President Obama would match German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s low-key disposition.

Japanese politicians believe the “change” promised in the United States could sweep to Tokyo too.  Opposition Democratic Party of Japan Diet member Yutaka Banno was enthusiastic about the possibility of change. "The United States is in the middle of a regime change, I reckon Japan can do the same,” said the Mainichi newspaper.

Some allies, like the Dutch, are worried that the challenges facing an Obama administration will be too great. While “praising the end of an eight year neo-conservative nightmare” the DutchNews Web site also reported concerns from Holland’s politicians that the honeymoon would be over soon.   In the Amsterdam paper Parool, the city’s mayor, Job Cohen, expressed the generally held view that “it won't be long before there's a feeling of disappointment.” Alexander Pechtold, leader of the D66 Democratic Party agreed, telling the paper: “His plans are based on the financial situation of 18 months ago and he will not be able to make them a reality.”

It Is the Economy Everywhere, Stupid!

Yet it is the money crunch that has everyone’s attention around the world and there isn’t a world publication that doesn’t focus on some aspect of the crisis.  Later this month President Bush will host a summit with 20 of the leaders of the world’s biggest economies. But more bad news is reported daily. The business wires in Japan reported that Toyota had cut its earnings forecast by 68 percent, or down $7.1 billion. Skepticism and fear remain commonplace and in some countries that means doing and saying whatever it takes to keep fears low. In India, where recently the economy had been booming, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged the country’s top industrialists not to resort to massive layoffs to balance their books. “I hope there will be no knee-jerk reaction, such as large-scale layoffs, which may lead to a negative spiral. Industry must bear in mind its societal obligations in coping with the effects of this global crisis," Singh said in a story carried by the Asian Age newspaper.  NDTV, another Indian news site,  also quoted the prime minister as saying, “We hope that the Indian corporate sector will not let the global crisis shake its confidence. While every effort needs to be made to cut costs and raise productivity," he said.

But not all business news was gloomy. In China, despite press this week that was dominated by growing tainted food scandals and a slowing economy, there was also confirmation that the country would move forward in its plans to build a domestic aerospace industry, reports the Shanghai Daily. Commercial Aircraft Corp. announced that it plans to have a jumbo jet ready for international sale by 2020.  The civil aviation sector in China continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Plane makers in Europe, the United States and Brazil have been churning out planes for the Chinese. But soon, the airline industry will offer more “homemade” options.

Somalia, Bad to Worse

With pirates, famine and the continuing civil war; the news from Somalia is rarely good. This last week terrorists struck at multiple locations in the northern Somaliland region.  Hargaisa, the capital of the self-proclaimed republic, was the target, reported the Awdal News. “…Chaos and panic swept through the streets of Hargaisa as scores of innocent Somaliland citizens – more than 22 people – lost their lives because of the simultaneous suicide attacks detonated in the heart of the city. The targets included the presidential palace, the Ethiopian commercial office and the UNDP headquarters.

The presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia to back up the recognized international government is a contentious issue. Muslim Somalis resent the Christian Ethiopian troops and are trying to force them out. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, as the Ethiopian Press reported this week, said that Ethiopian troops would stay despite earlier suggestions that they would all be pulled back.  “Provided that the sacrifices we have to pay do not go beyond our capacity, we are ready to support the Somali peoples’ efforts and the peace-loving forces in that country to resolve their differences peacefully and ensure peace and stability in that country,” Meles said.

And many press organizations including SomaliNet reported the stoning to death of a 13-year-old Somali girl.  “The child's family members say the girl was going to visit her grandmother when three men seized her and raped her. After her family reported the attack to local Somali militia leaders, the child was accused of adultery and arrested before being sentenced to death-by-stoning by the local sharia (Islamic) court.”  The child was stoned to death by about 50 men, watched by a crowd of around 1,000 people in a stadium in the Somali port city of Kismayo. Amnesty International reported none of the rapists have been arrested.

Students Gone Bad

Again reporting from China, a recent string of teacher slayings by disgruntled students is being blamed on the lack of “ideological and moral education of the young,” reported ChinaMil.com, a news Web site associated with the People’s Liberation Army.  Three teachers have been killed in the last month.  “Particular care should be given to children and their growth as they are successors of the socialist cause," said Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Li said cultivating ideals and ethics among young people was "closely linked to the nation's future and fate, the public interests and social harmony.”

In Italy, sporadic demonstrations by students continue throughout the country in protest of the new education reform bill, although not as big as those from last week where there was sporadic violence.

“Armed with flyers, balloons, flags and banners, one million Romans came from every corner of the city to meet in Piazza del Popolo in protest against the education reform proposed, and passed, by Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini. Students from many schools and universities teamed with professors, teachers, janitors, and parents to invade the streets of Rome, “said the magazine Roman Forum. As ABCNews.com also reported, four people were hospitalized after students from opposing sides attacked each other in Rome’s famous Piazza Navona.

But as this story from Osaka, Japan, notes, it isn’t always the students who cause the trouble. Education is taken very seriously in Asia, but you might be surprised to read this story in the Yomiuri Shimbun from Japan. Four teachers were punished by the school board for drinking beer in a restaurant during lunch.

And if It Wasn’t Hard Enough for a Panda These Days

Take a look at what poor 20-year-old panda Qihao had to endure after surviving the May 12 Sichuan earthquake in China. Root canal!  The photo slideshow shows Qihao receiving a thorough physical examination after a root canal operation, in Fuzhou, southeastern China's Fujian province, Oct. 30, 2008. The panda was transferred to the southern province four months ago after the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in Sichuan, its home, was devastated by the earthquake. The photos were printed in China Daily.

Read more blogs from Clark Bentson

Read more blogs from the ABC News Staff

November 7, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (2)

User Comments

Posted by: Angel_Casa | Nov 7, 2008 2:26:46 PM

Posted by: Madiha | Nov 8, 2008 1:10:48 PM

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