NORTHERN IRELAND: ‘HOPE FOR A LASTING PEACE’
The biggest story in my area is Northern Ireland: For the first time in 30 years, there is hope for a lasting peace. But the first months of the New Year will be a testing time for the peace agreement, and there’s always a chance it could come apart. That seems a remote possibility, however: Too many people have a stake in making this agreement work.
Europe is also moving toward the creation of a rapid-reaction military force. Such a force would mean Europe isn’t so dependent on the U.S. for dealing with Kosovo-type situations. But it may be years away from becoming reality.
– Ray Moseley
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COLOMBIA: `DANGEROUS AND FRUSTRATING’ TIME
South America is fast moving away from a past linked to dictators and guerrillas. But Colombia is one nation where things are still getting worse. Powerful leftist guerrillas linked to drug traffickers control about 40 percent of Colombia, which produces 80 percent of the world’s cocaine. Kidnappings are rampant, and just this year an entire Roman Catholic church congregation –including dozens of children — was kidnapped by guerrillas seeking ransom and publicity.
Colombia’s leaders are struggling to lure the guerrillas to peace talks. But the rebels, who are growing stronger and richer by the year, have little incentive to halt their campaign to seize power. The year 2000 should be a dangerous and frustrating one for Colombia, which already has seen 35,000 lives lost in 10 years of civil war.
– Laurie Goering
AFRICA: ‘GOOD LIFE’ IS THREATENED
Despite all the bad news you see about Africa in the media — all the wars and the poverty — life can be good on this continent. Sure, rural people begin to work hard and early, usually by age 5 or 6, hauling heavy buckets of water long distances. But there are compensations: Villages are, in a sense, like one big family. Large, warm groups of relatives and neighbors look after each other and each other’s children.
This is changing, though. The reason isn’t bullets or hunger. It’s AIDS. In some parts of Africa, so many people have died from this terrible disease –men, women and children — that the traditional coziness of African communities is breaking down. Some villages in Zimbabwe simply have few adults left alive; they are villages made up of children.
Governments are desperately trying to halt the disease by warning people about the risks of infection through sex, but the problem is huge. In South Africa alone, there are expected to be 2 million AIDS orphans within the next 10 years.
– Paul Salopek
U.S.: LESS POVERTY, MORE FEAR
There’s plenty to celebrate in the U.S. these days. The country’s economic boom continued this year, lifting more than a million Americans above the government’s poverty line. Thanks largely to the strong economy, violent crime has plunged to its lowest level in a decade. That includes juvenile arrests for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
On the down side, the U.S. still is reeling from school shootings in Littleton, Colo., and elsewhere. Just last week, another shooting in Ft. Gibson, Okla., left four middle-school students wounded. According to a YMCA report, only one in three kids feels safe in school now –an all-time low.
Though crime and poverty are down, both will remain major threats to families in the years ahead, according to a National School Boards Association report. The report recommends a higher minimum wage and universal health care –issues that are sure to be hot in the coming election year.
INDIA: MOST ARE ‘DIRT POOR’
For a correspondent, the most daunting experience on the Indian subcontinent is the clouds of child beggars and street urchins. Kids are crippled at birth to turn them into more successful beggars. Others are abused and sold into prostitution.
Two-thirds of the population are dirt poor. Living here and in large parts of Asia is like sitting on a human powder keg. The danger: The poor are turning in growing numbers to militant religious fundamentalists who promise them justice.
– Uli Schmetzer
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