The World
A Historic Moment in Northern Ireland
'We're not going into government with Sinn Fein," swore Ian Paisley, the patriarchal head of Northern Ireland's largest Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party, in September 2005. Notice that he never said never.
It was stunning last Tuesday to see Paisley, 80, sworn in as first minister of the troubled province's Assembly, the head of a power- sharing government with Sinn Fein, the largest Roman Catholic party and the political wing of the now disarmed Irish Republican Army. A deal cinched in March between the once mighty foes led to the Assembly's resurrection nine years after the Good Friday agreement set the peace process in motion.
Paisley-tall, white-maned, a preacher of the fire-and-brimstone school-was all smiles as he and his deputy, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, made nice in front of the cameras. It's a "special day," Paisley said, that would lead "back to peace and to prosperity." Oxford University historian Marc Mulholland says he may be right. "It's led by the two most radical parties; there are no sidelined extremists to outflank them."
Indeed, on matters economic and social, the parties may often agree. But finding common ground on larger constitutional questions will be tougher. Sinn Fein ultimately wants a united Ireland; the DUP is determined to keep Ulster within the United Kingdom. Mulholland says Paisley will fight hard for Unionist positions, but he won't sabotage the Assembly in the process. "He now has a certain proprietary feeling toward it."
Barrels of Trouble in West Africa
The growing turmoil in the oil region of Nigeria is being felt all the way to American gas pumps. Attacks by militants against oil production facilities and the abduction-for-ransom of oil workers-four American subcontractors for Chevron were seized last week-are heightening concerns about future supplies. Nearly 100 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped this year. Militants in the southern oil region are seeking the release of two leaders from prison and a greater share of oil benefits for their deeply impoverished region.
An American Scholar Is Jailed
Iran has jailed a prominent Iranian-American scholar who runs Middle East programs at the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, according to the center's president, former Rep. Lee Hamilton. The imprisonment of Haleh Esfandiari is the most recent case of analysts or journalists of dual nationality being held by security agencies in Iran-moves that might reflect growing alarm in some quarters in Tehran over American pressures. Iranian officials have been watching for signs of Bush administration funding of pro-democracy activists-a $75 million program-and they have also suggested that U.S. intelligence operatives are active in the country.
Iran has not publicly commented on the latest incident, which Hamilton said began with Esfandiari being stopped from leaving the country, where she was visiting her aged mother, on December 30. Esfandiari was reportedly kept under house arrest and subjected to interrogations, in which she was pushed to falsely link the Wilson Center with unrelated activities, according to Hamilton, who said the Wilson Center has no programs to influence Iranian policies. Then, last week, Esfandiari was placed in Tehran's notorious Evin prison-triggering public disclosure of the incident.
The Pope's Warning to the Politicians
Pope Benedict XVI, en route to Brazil, stirred controversy with remarks to journalists about politicians who approve abortion legislation. Asked whether he agreed that Roman Catholic legislators who recently legalized abortion in Mexico City should be considered excommunicated, the pontiff replied: "Yes."
Around the World, a Brief Fade to Black
Parts of Bangkok, the usually neon-illuminated capital of Thailand, went dark for 15 minutes last week in a symbolic gesture of concern about global warming. People applauded as the city faded to black precisely at 7 p.m., with none of the panic or looting that officials feared.
This may be catching on-sort of a visual referendum on climate and energy issues. In France, the Eiffel Tower went dark as Parisians held a five-minute "lights out" February 1, on the eve of a major international report on global climate change. At the same time in Italy, the lights were switched off at major Roman monuments, and in Spain, authorities blacked out landmarks in Madrid, Seville, and Valencia.
Two months later, in Australia, more than 2 million Sydney residents participated in an "Earth Hour" blackout that produced an impressive, if fleeting, 10 percent drop in energy consumption. The World Wildlife Fund Australia, one of the promoters, said the event was intended to get people to think about ways in which even modest energy conservation efforts-such as switching off nonessential lights-could add up to meaningful reductions in greenhouse gases.
With Thomas K. Grose, Thomas Omestad and Associated Press
This story appears in the May 21, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.