As the week galloped along, the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico took on cataclysmic proportions as news of grossly underestimated amounts of oil flowing from the accident site came to light. On the other side of the world, the crackdown in Thailand continued and word that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would be speaking in Paris on May 31st brought fresh anxieties of more protests. And finally, a Late Night Live sit-down interview with Christopher Hitchens at ABC Radio National in Australia. Some week.
(The storm, the quiet, the crackdown in Bangkok)
From ABC Radio National's PM daily news roundup, word that the ongoing Thai crackdown on redshirt protesters also netted an Irish/Australian responsible for delivering some flaming rhetoric during the height of the protests. Also on this May 25th broadcast, news of an Israeli diplomat expelled from Australia and the criticism because of it.
(Stumping a new book on a visit to Sydney with a surprisingly civil chat)
However you feel about Christopher Hitchens (and I know there is probably an equal number of you hating his guts for various reasons), having the chance to sit and listen to a civil interview with him being conducted in a civil articulate manner as it happened on the ABC Radio National program Late Night Live was somewhat refreshing. Maybe it's our media . . . who knows? Anyway, here is an hour long interview done live on the 26th.
(If the finger being used to point blame could plug this hole . . .)
The saga of the Gulf Oil Spill seems to have no end in sight. It has already surpassed the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster of the late 80's in sheer magnitude and amounts of oil spewing out and destroying mile after mile of coastline. Now the Blame Game is in full engagement. But as this May 27th installment of the BBC World Service program Newshour asks, what is the political price going to be?
( . . and all he got was a lousy T-shirt)
From Radio France International's English Service, their program Focus On France from this past Friday (May 28th)talks about the upcoming visit of former Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra and fears that he will refuel the fires of protest back in Bangkok and how the French feel about that as he prepares to deliver his speech on May 31st.
(New Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi - some folks aren't happy)
And finally, from The BBC World Service Africa Service comes This Week In Africa, a roundup of events taking place the past week and broadcast earlier today (May 29th). Among the news items is the report of the recent elections in Ethiopia and the victory of Meles Zenawi and how the opposition is crying foul and demanding a recount . . .how unusual or maybe how unusual if they didn't?
So that's it from the rest of the world. As always, if you thought this week sucked, there's always next week and it should be coming up shortly.
