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What the World is Reading

November 20, 2008 11:46 AM

By Clark Bentson, ABC News Rome

Caribbean Crime Spree: Sun, Surf, and Sadly, Murder

Crime was the story on the front pages of many Caribbean-based newspapers and Web sites this week. Tommy Turnquest, Bahamas’ national security minister, who spoke during a crime seminar in Nassau earlier this month, is quoted in the Nassau Guardian as saying, “‘Virtually all Caribbean nations are above the internationally accepted threshold for murder, set a five per 100,000 of the population.’ He added that the Bahamas is in the range of 22 to 24 per 100, 000,” according to the report.   While rape and armed robberies declined, the number of murders in the Bahamas increased. During a regional meeting of Anglican bishops in Nassau, church leaders expressed concern for “growing pervasive crime culture” in the region. The Bahamas Journal quoted from the bishops’ report in an article in its newspaper.  "We note that some of the causative considerations arise from social injustice and inequalities in the region, the drug culture and escalating gang warfare, all of which have produced fear and a sense of impotence and hopelessness in our communities." The rise in violent crime across the Caribbean has helped gain support for advocates of the death penalty in the region. Citizens from Trinidad and Tobago to St. Kitts and Nevis have urged their governments to support the death penalty. The B2B Bahamian Web site links to another  article outlining the crime statistics on the rise in many Caribbean island nations.  “Hit hardest is Jamaica, where 3 million people suffered more than 1,240 murders this year. But smaller resort islands are affected too. After two British honeymooners were shot dead in July in Antigua, the government proposed the gallows for crimes involving weapons, even if the victim is not killed.” “Apart from all the smoke screen that has been thrown up about whether the death penalty will reduce crime, the foremost principle is the ability of the state to carry out its laws,” said Elson Crick, a spokesman for the prime minister of St. Vincent, which is preparing to revise its constitution. In response to citizen demands, Crick said it will likely make executions easier.

Liberia: Reflection and Recollections

From The Analyst in Monrovia this week, a front-page story was a call from the labor minister to have the government dismantled.  Testifying before the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Minister Samuel Kofi Woods, who is a human rights lawyer and former student activist, told commissioners that what was now in place is a “caricature of a state and not a real state.” Woods demanded that the Liberian state be dismantled and reconceptualized, saying that the real Liberian state must emerge out of the proceedings of the commission.

Liberia suffered a bloody civil war that ended in 2003 when the rebel army forced then-President Charles Taylor out. Taylor is now in The Hague facing charges.  Liberians are getting an opportunity not only to try to reconcile through the efforts of the commission, but also to examine in detail the bloody period of their civil war. Also in the Analyst there was a story this week on the release of a documentary film titled “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.”   The article calls the film “an extraordinary story of a small band of Liberian women who came together in the midst of a bloody civil war, took on the violent warlords and corrupt Charles Taylor regime and won a long-awaited peace for their shattered country.” The Los Angeles Times reviewed the movie too.   It writes, “Leymah Gbowee, one of the movement's leaders [who] has now taken her work beyond Liberia to co-found Women Peace and Security Network Africa, considers the film a ‘call to action’ whose inspirational message translates to any culture. ‘I think women have the ability to mobilize around every and any issue, especially if that issue touches their heart.’”

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” has been shown to groups of women in other war-torn countries, including Zimbabwe and Kenya. At a recent screening in Khartoum, Sudan, the documentary sparked a plan by women in a peace studies program to get 1 million Sudanese women to sign a position paper on Darfur. The film has been submitted as a candidate for an Oscar nomination.

Afghanistan’s Panjshir Province Going ‘Green’

The Afghan Online Press web site website  this week linked to an article with some rare good news from Afghanistan. A wind farm opened in the Panjshir province with a capacity to produce 100 kilowatts of energy. The article, which originally appeared in American military publications  including emilitary.org, said that though it may not look like much, it is one component of an energy plan that will make the Panjshir province 100 percent powered by renewable resources. Quoting the article, “Beyond the wind farm, the area relies heavily on micro-hydro electric power plants. The power plants produce energy without the radical changes to the ecosystem that would result from a full-sized dam like the Dahla Dam in Kandahar province. As the nation’s electrical infrastructure grows, Panjshir will be in the position to export its power to less-gifted areas over a grid.”

Ascension Island: Goodbye Freddy, Welcome Zayla

In the most remote corners of the world, the priority of what is news may be a bit different than what most of us are reading but it is still as important in the minds of the local readers. There is no “permanent” or indigenous population on Ascension Island, located in the South Atlantic. Visitors need pre-approval to travel there and access is by either by British Royal Mail boats or by a Royal Air Force flight from England. So the news of an arrival and departure of even one resident is big news in the capital of Georgetown. The Islander writes that Freddy Bennett is leaving Ascension on the next boat out.  He spent 42 years on the island and raised his family there. But as one goes, there is another to replace him; this time the newest arrival, Zayla Henry, born Nov. 1.  Best of luck to both of them and their families.

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November 20, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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.

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November 13, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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.

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November 7, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

What the World Is Reading

October 31, 2008 9:17 AM

By CLARK BENTSON, ABC News Rome

The countdown to the historic U.S. election filled newspapers and dominated Web sites again this week. One might wonder what everyone will write about after Tuesday. Read on. Click the links to various foreign publications to see what is making news in other parts of the world.

Changing Faces in Chile

Chile’s CIPER, a Spanish-language investigative journalism Web site, published a lengthy article on a 1985 meeting between Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Republican candidate John McCain. The Santiago Times called the meeting between Pinochet, “a dictator and …one of the world’s most notorious violators of human rights,” and McCain a contradiction of his campaign pledge that he wouldn’t sit down with dictators without preconditions.

Chileans are seeking change in big numbers, the Santiago Times reports in the same edition. One in three Chileans would like to have plastic surgery and nearly one in 10 have already undergone a procedure.

Medvedev the Mediator: Remember Nagorno-Karabakh?

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili shook up his Cabinet this week, designating a little-known diplomat named Grigol Mgaloblishvili to be the next prime minister. This was just days after the European Union had pledged $4.5 billion to help strengthen the Georgian economy after its war with Russia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, according to Georgia Today newspaper.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ignored the criticism by the United States and other Western countries for what the West saw as Russian aggression in the region. The Russian parliament approved friendship pacts with the two disputed regions, the Kommersant paper reported, paving the way for permanent Russian military bases in the two territories.

Yet, during a recent state visit to Armenia, Medvedev declared that all territorial disputes in the Caucuses region should be resolved diplomatically. The recent Russian military conflict with Georgia has shown the need to settle territorial disputes through negotiation, he added. Putting words to action Medvedev announced he will host diplomatic talks between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. More than 30,000 people were killed when fighting erupted after the breakup of the old Soviet Union. A fragile cease-fire took hold in 1994.  The chances of progress will be tough. The AzerNews agency had little to report on the meetings, leaving it to a British analyst to assess the chances of success.

Armtown, the Armenian news site, carried brief comments by Armenia’s president saying the opportunity for success depended completely on the Azeris. “Resolution of the conflict is possible if Azerbaijan recognizes the right of Nagorno-Karabakh people to self-determination,” said Serzh Sargsyan.

As for the Karabakh press (referred to as the Garabagh by the Azeris) they had a prominent story in the Artsakhtert newspaper site about the celebration of a mass wedding of 700 ethnic Armenian couples and the need to repopulate Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenians because the war killed a great number of its reproducing age population nearly 20 years ago. The editor says that the conflict has left the region with a demographic concern – calling it a national security issue to protect Karabakh from returning to Azerbaijan’s control. Medvedev is going to have to prove his diplomatic skills.

Attitude in the Arab World; I Think You Misunderstand Me…

In the Middle East headlines this week there were condemnations of the United States for its cross border attack into Syria, speculation on Israel’s political fortunes now that an election has been asked for, and more on the U.S. presidential elections.

But there were also headlines about changing attitudes in the Arab community regarding the treatment of women and how attitudes need to be changed where ignorance prevails.

Cairo Now, on Internet news service, had a breaking news story on its home page about a man who was sentenced to three years in jail for sexually harassing a woman on the streets. In Egypt, where many women don’t cover themselves as more conservative Muslim women do, leering and jeering men have been a daily obstacle that women to date have had to endure.

The home page of the Bahrain Tribune carried a story about the presentation of a book from American academic Mary Coons titled “Culturally Speaking: Promoting Cross-Cultural Awareness in a Post-9/11 World. Coons interviewed Bahrainis and Americans about their knowledge and attitudes of the other’s culture in an effort to promote dialogue through understanding. The findings of the author, as the headline of the article suggests, is that Americans remain ignorant of Arab culture.

Can’t Go Home/Chagos Islanders' Home Considered Too Strategic

The weekly Mauritius Times carries a blog about the disappointment of the residents of the Chagos Islands after losing their legal battle for the right to return home. The British government resettled all of the Chagos residents in the 1970s before leasing the main island of Diego Garcia to the United States where the Americans maintain a highly restricted naval facility. Planes have used Diego Garcia as a base during bombing runs over Iraq and Afghanistan. The British foreign office says since Sept. 11 the base has been regarded by the United States as a "defense facility of the highest importance.” Many of the Chagossians were resettled in Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Despite the ruling by the Lords in favor of the British government, the residents vowed to continue their efforts to return home. Lord Hoffman noted that the government had said it was acting "in the interests of the defense of the realm, diplomatic relations with the U.S. and the use of public funds in supporting any settlement on the islands." A full review of the Law Lords decision and the arguments were presented in the L’Express, another Mauritius-based publication.

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October 31, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Man Most Wanted By 'The Godfathers'

October 30, 2008 12:55 PM

By CLARK BENTSON, ABC News Rome

Roberto Saviano is a household name in Italy. As an author of a best-selling book that has now been made into an acclaimed international film, Saviano, at the age of 28, is probably at the height of his career. But instead of red carpets and book tours, Saviano can only celebrate his success in hiding, under 24 hour police protection, since his book "Gomorrah" was published two years ago.

"Gomorrah" is the story of organized crime in Saviano’s native city of Naples, Italy. Known locally as the Camorra -- a loose group of families whose hands are found in all aspects of life in Naples and the surrounding towns in the southern province of Campania -- the book and film starkly portray its actions as a cancer slowly destroying the community.

The book was not the first on the Camorra or other organized crime syndicates, such as  the Mafia in Sicily, but this story has touched a chord with Italians, and now also with an international audience. It has also touched a nerve with the Camorra.

Saviano never sleeps in the same bed two nights in a row. Instead, he rotates from one local police precinct bunkhouse to another. All his movements must be relayed in advance for security purposes. Interviews to promote the book and film are conducted in safe locations.

Recently, a plot by the Casalesi clan to blow up Saviano sometime before Christmas was alleged by a police informant. And while the plot has now been denied, it harkens back to the assassination of two anti-Mafia crusades killed in a similar fashion in Sicily that shocked the nation.

A leading newspaper in Rome, La Repubblica has launched a petition drive urging Italians to rally the state to crack down on organized crime and safeguard Saviano’s rights as a journalist. Many Nobel laureates have signed the petition and civic and student organizations have expressed solidarity. But after two years on the run from death threats, the strain is beginning to wear on Saviano. He has started to speak of seeking a new identity and life in the United States.

The film  "Gomorrah" is the Italian candidate in this year’s Oscar candidates for best foreign film. The book has been translated into English and is now available in the United States. Perhaps Roberto Saviano will become a household name in America too -- but only for the reason that he is a good journalist and author.

Enrico Caria, an author and film director, like Roberto Saviano, a native of Naples. Caria’s film, "See Naples and Then Die (Vedi Napoli e Poi Muori,"   looked at the resurgence of the Camorra. Caria offered this perspective to ABC News on what makes Roberto Saviano’s character, why Saviano’s  "Gomorrah"  has made such an impact on Italians, and why it has so infuriated the Camorra crime families.


By Enrico Caria


I didn’t know Roberto Saviano, and I didn’t want to interview him.

It was autumn 2005, and neither he nor I could presume that the book he was editing then would sell more than a few thousand copies. That is the usual f fate for essays about the Camorra, even if they are novels.

I was about to finish the shooting of a documentary movie about Camorra, and I wanted to interview Chiara Marasca, a young, good-looking editor of a local newspaper there on the frontlines against crime. But Chiara is shy, so she showed up with this skinny young man with two large eyes who wrote for a biweekly magazine telling me that he knew more about the Camorra than Maradona (the revered Argentine soccer player) knows about soccer balls.

I was sceptical. I had been convinced that Chiara would have a good onscreen presence while this nearly bald freelance journalist with a beard wouldn’t. 

But I conceded. I said, “Action!” The camera started rolling and Roberto stopped smiling. He started talking about the nature of the people usually perceived as local petty criminals. He talked about the degree of their penetration inside the financial and industrial world at the national level; their trafficking and money laundering from France to Germany, from Scotland to Canada and Sweden. It was a very detailed and astonishing description. Then he started rattling off names and surnames of the Camorra bosses, and his eyes lit up with rage. It was at this point he came alive on the screen.

Never before had specific names been stated for the record on-camera,  not to mention in such a challenging tone.  Never before had a book been able to explain Camorra and at the same time tell such a great story.

"Gomorrah" is not investigative journalism because none of the facts in the narration were previously unknown to judges, police or politicians. It is not a novel because nothing in the book is fiction. It has the rhythm of a news report, but it is not an “instant-book.” Its appeal and its power come from the first person  narration. Saviano clashes with the Camorra bosses with his head first; insulting them, provoking them with a language that melds dialect and slang in a breathtaking one-on-one fight.

According to the sociologist Amato Lamberti, founder of the Observatory on the Camorra, there are two ways for a journalist to become the target of a Camorra boss: Reveal unknown plans (as Giancarlo Siani, who was killed by the Camorra in 1985 at the age of 26 -- the same age as Saviano when he wrote "Gomorrah" -- did), or treat them with derision. 

The bosses can tolerate criminal trials, wire-tapping, confiscation of their finances, or hard time in jail; none of these things diminish their stature in front of their followers. Nothing does -- except public and unpunished insults.

Saviano, who understood Lamberti’s theories, didn’t listen. While his book was a becoming a literary phenomenon, selling more than 20,000 copies, Saviano wanted to present it publicly in the main square of Casal di Principe, the hometown of the very bosses whom he challenged in the book. He started screaming from the podium, “Schiavone, Jovine, Zagaria, you are nothing; you are not worth anything; and you must leave this land.”

The next day the fugitive godfathers, the most ferocious of bosses who know how to express their wishes through the local press made their first move. A small, disreputable daily, The Corriere di Caserta, wrote that there were bosses on the square asking around to find out the names of each  and every person who had been cheering loudly. The same paper described the speech as “daring” and retorted that not everyone had been impressed by Saviano’s insults.

Next, the telephone calls at all hours of the night began with no one on the other end.

The feeling of isolation began -- waiters would tell him that you are not welcome, the shopkeepers he had always frequented began murmuring “Why do you shop here for your bread?” -- not to mention the initial dismissal by the local government. Even the most prominent leaders criticized him, such as the mayor of Naples, Rosa Russo Iervolino, who said of Saviano immediately after the speech -- in an interview with L'Espresso  -- that “he has a cross-eyed obsession.” 

Saviano, on the contrary, demonstrated that he can see and  can make people see; he can understand and make people understand. That is because in this book there is his life, the heart of his generation, people who are often forced to choose between crime and immigration. Casal di Principle, besides being Camorra’s capital, is Saviano’s hometown where he was born and raised. This is where he shared experiences at the school, on the soccer fields, at the bar, at the playground with these Camorra bosses’ children.

But there is more in Saviano’s history, in his rage, in his challenge. There are wounds and ghosts that seem to come from an epic Greek tragedy. As he writes in his book, Saviano’s father is a doctor who taught him from childhood how to shoot and gave him the idea that only a man with a university diploma and a gun is a real man. This is the same father who when his son Roberto was given a round-the-clock armed security escort turned his back on him and no longer acknowledges him.

The rest of the story is known. By selling millions of copies, Saviano has put the spotlight on the Casalesi family boss and the Spartacus criminal trials that prosecuted them. He showed up at the trials and cheered loudly when the Casalesi clan members were convicted to multiple life sentences. This earned Saviano even more explicit death threats. These threats have made "Gomorrah" a better-selling book all over the world and sustain the continuing success of the movie, which, with the book, continues the vicious, terrible circle.

The Nouvel Observateur journalist Marcelle Padovani (who wrote the biography of the assassinated judge Giovanni Falcone) told me her impression of Saviano, after meeting him. “He is like Falcone, who was able to fight the mafia because he grew up among them and spoke their same language.” And then she revealed, “You know what he told me? That he would like to marry a good girl and raise a family. He would like to marry a virgin.”

Is this the heritage of a chauvinist culture that Saviano grew out of? Is it a subconscious ghost of a misogynist mentality that is based on respect, honor and abuse of power that explains why he is fighting to risk his own life? Probably none of this. Probably in the fantasy of an ideal for “untouched” love Saviano nourishes the dream of a life that he would have wanted: without the past.

October 30, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Italian Students Stage Noisy Protests

October 29, 2008 11:53 AM

By CLARK BENTSON and PHOEBE NATANSON, ABC News Rome

Opposing student groups faced each other down in Rome’s famous central Piazza Navonna as protests continued after parliamentary approval today of a controversial education reform bill. The usually packed restaurants that border the square were empty of tourists. Waiters were cleaning up broken glass and debris or, in some cases, guarding shuttered cafe doors among overturned tables.

Three students and one policeman were injured after they battled with sticks and with chairs and tables from the cafes. Fourteen students are being held by police, all from "blocco sudentesco," a student movement associated with right-wing political organizations.

The students, who had been holding an all-night sit-in outside the Senate in torrential rain, moved into the square early this morning. Graffiti and banners covered the scaffolding where restoration work on the famous Four Rivers fountain continued despite the unruly crowds.

High school and university students have been marching and holding impromptu sit-ins across Italy for two weeks now to protest against the raft of educational reform measures approved today. In addition to cutting costs, the reform package, driven by the governing majority, mandates a return to a single-teacher system for most subjects in elementary schools, and, in an effort to stop bullying, to grading the behavior of secondary school students.

At the university level, reforms include a reduction of degree offerings and a plan to open schools to private investment by allowing them to become foundations. Opposition politicians claim the package is only motivated by the need to cut costs rather than a true commitment to reform. They argue that the new bill will ruin the current, well-regarded elementary school system.

The protests seem to be supported by a cross section of Italian society, including parents, university professors and teachers. Lessons have been staged outdoor in the historic squares in Rome, Naples, Bari and Florence with curious onlookers and supporters following class. Loud, colourful and rambunctious marches by students have disrupted traffic in Milan, Rome, Palermo and Potenza.

Two days ago, as a provocation, unknown students put two of Rome's Universities - La Sapienza and Tor Vergata - on eBay for a modest price of one euro. Included in the price for the university building and grounds were "the professors, students AND their future, ample parking, classrooms laboratories, and bar."

Education Minister Maria Stella Gelmini has stood firm on the government reforms and played down the protests, saying that only a few thousand of Italy's nine 9 million students were protesting.

An anti-protest backlash started several days after Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared that those who wished to study should have the right to do so and the government would not tolerate sit-ins in schools and universities. Some students fear that they will not be ready to take exams or graduate this year. Groups calling themselves "I Want To Study" and "Have a Sit-In at Your House" have appeared on Facebook, while in Florence 10,000 postcards were printed to be sent to the local university dean asking that lectures resume.

An official nationwide protest has been called and is set to take place tomorrow. Students and teachers are expected to crowd the streets in every major city by the thousands.    

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October 29, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

What the World is Reading

October 24, 2008 9:01 AM

By CLARK BENTSON, ABC News Rome

Some Familiar and Not-so-familiar Stories From the World’s Newspapers

Open any newspaper or log on to any news Web site and you will find on the front page and home page articles about the global financial crisis. It obviously affects everyone no matter what country or what kind of economy; although the effect on commodity prices for Africans may not have been felt as sharply and suddenly as the collapse of banks or those losing their jobs in Iceland and the United States.

For others the presidential election results in the United States could be just as important and it too is front-page material around the world. From Australia to Brazil, the U.S. elections and the trials and tribulations from the campaign train are reported as top stories.

Radio listeners around the world heard on the BBC’s “World Service” that Barack Obama is going to be in Hawaii visiting the grandmother who raised him. The New Zealand Herald has covered the ups and downs of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, including an article today, “Republicans spend $253,000 (NZ$) on Palin’s wardrobe.” The Milan, Italy-based Correire della Serra headline offers “Dictionary: The (US) elections A to Z.” 

But maybe more surprising is that in some places there is no news on the election. Though I tried, I could not find any articles in the Mongolian press or anything more recent than July in the Vietnam papers.

These stories have mostly overshadowed much of the rest of the news that is made day to day, pushing it to the back pages. The crucial Status of Forces agreement for Iraq was not on the front pages of many of the world press sites in English that I surfed through this week -- except of course some excellent reporting from ABC's Baghdad bureau and Kirit Radia -- and there was not much top-of-the-fold on sending more NATO troops into Afghanistan. We know that the headlines will obviously pay particular attention to local news. Sometimes that local news can have an international connection to the United States but often it is just an interesting story that offers a snapshot on how others live and what others prioritize in their lives. Occasionally, ABC News likes to bring you a few of those articles.

Bosnia: Threat of War?

It has been 13 years since the Dayton Peace Accords were signed bringing an end to the deadly Bosnian Civil War. Federal elections held earlier this month, including for the tripartite presidency, were peaceful. However, due to Bosnian law the official results will only be known around the same time Americans find out who their new president is. But this week the EU Observer reports that European leaders are expressing “serious concern” about the lack of reform in the country and two experts on the situation, including Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the architect of the Dayton accords, warned the country is on the “verge of collapse.” Holbrooke and Lord Paddy Ashdown, once the international administrator of the country, urged that the international community needs to “pay attention” and that the United States needs to engage itself to put things back on track. On the same day that the Holbrooke-Ashdown statement was made public, Holbrooke was one of the participants in a briefing for Barack Obama on national security issues.

U.S. and Russian Generals Meeting: Oh So Secret!

Relations with Russia, badly damaged after Moscow ordered troops to battle with Georgian soldiers in the disputed South Ossetia and Abkhazia provinces in August, have been on the national security agenda this week during secret meetings between Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Michael Mullen and his Russian counterpart Gen. Nikolai Makarov. Details of the meeting continue to come out, with  Kosovo, Iran, Georgia and the Baltics among the topics discussed. The United States reiterated to Russia that as NATO members the Baltics would be defended. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stated that the break of the Soviet Union was a folly. Former Soviet states, like the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Ukraine have felt more vulnerable since the Georgian war. Finland played host to the meetings, repeating a role it had many times during the height of the Cold War. This time the planning for the meetings was so close-lipped that even the prime minister of Finland didn’t know they were taking place until he heard about it on the news, says the Helsinki paper Helsingen Sanomat.

U.S. Welcomes More Visitors Visa Free, but Only if Pre-Approved

President Bush has announced that beginning Nov. 13, seven new countries --- including the Baltics --- will be allowed to participate in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. Citizens from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and South Korea will no longer need to apply for visas before arriving. The Korean Herald proclaimed that Korea’s participation in the program would save the country $80 million a year as well as increase bilateral trade.

The Travel Industry Association of the United States praised the initiative. In a statement from its president it said, the “expansion of the Visa Waiver Program is a momentous leap forward for the American economy and proof that we can simultaneously strengthen America's security and welcome additional visitors." But as the Prague Post points outs all citizens included in the program will need to have biometric passports and will have to register online for pre-approval to travel with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security before they travel starting Jan. 12.

This Is the Way We Wash Our Hands, Your Majesty

In Bhutan this week the newspapers were focused on more pressing issues – the coronation of their king and celebration of Global Handwashing Day. “By washing hands with soap, families and communities can help reduce child morbidity rates from diarrhoeal diseases by almost 50 percent,” said a press release from UNICEF, and 19 percent of deaths of children younger than the age of 5 in Bhutan are related to diarrhea.

While America is preparing to celebrate the election of its new president, the Bhutan papers are already filled with details of the weeklong celebration the country is preparing for the coronation. The prime minister will also address the tens of thousands expected to gather; the Kuensel newspaper reports that “his message to the people of Bhutan was that everyone can contribute to the generation of positive energy, emotions and goodwill, that will strengthen the harmony among the people and unity in country as an expression of love, respect, devotion to His Majesty the King and the institution of Monarchy.” 

October 24, 2008 in Clark Bentson | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)