A French luxury yacht was seized by 10 Somali pirates Sunday, and the event is proving to be a reflection of the many issues that country is facing—violence, anarchy and struggling government establishment—along with the issue of piracy itself which seems to be prevalent in that area, and has affected many other thriving nations like Japan, the U.S. and Denmark. The French yacht was carrying 30 crew members, comprised of 22 French citizens and several Ukrainians. The French prime minister, defense minister, and military spokesman are tracking the hijackers closely in order to avoid the use of force. The yacht, known as Le Ponant, frequently carries up to 64 passengers all over the seas, including Egypt and Malta. This is the most recent pirating incident off the coast of Somalia; last year pirates seized more than two dozen ships off Somalia’s coast. In fact Denmark’s government paid a ransom to release the crew of a Danish cargo ship in August two months after they were taken captive by Somali pirates who hijacked the ship. The U.S. navy has been leading international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region—last year a guided U.S. missile destroyer opened fire to destroy pirate skiffs tied to a Japanese tanker. A transitional Somali government has been struggling since establishment in 2004 to assert control in the region, which has seen decades of chaos.
Drama and conflict are probably the two biggest elements found in this story. Whenever there is a hostage situation, it is always a cliff-hanger to see what’s going to happen next, and everyone involved is on edge. This makes for a great read, and a breaking, timely story. There is some impact to the story because many prominent nations are involved—France, the U.S., Japan, and Denmark. People all over the world read about the news, and care about what is happening in these power-house countries. Human interest is slightly involved here because everyone wants to root for the people taken captive and rally around them. Finally, this story is odd. No one really thinks about pirates today, unless they are referring to the Disney movies (Pirates of the Caribbean). The fact that there are real-life pirate hijackers roaming the seas must astonish, frighten, or intrigue many readers. (Toronto Star, 4/6/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/410707).
My favorite story to read this week was about “Lady Wallenberg”, the lost violin that earned a $1000 reward if returned. The owner, Jim Wallenberg, was a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and prized his 36-year-old violin (that he managed to simply lose). It is interesting that Jim didn’t want to charge any criminal prosecution, he just wanted the instrument back. The most outrageous part of the story is that just a day after the original article was printed about the lost violin, someone spotted it in a bag lady’s cart and Jim Wallenberg got his instrument back. After the story was printed, a man named Wayne Wulff spotted the instrument in a bag lady’s cart. He tried to figure out what to do about it, and the next day his wife spotted the same bag lady—they persuaded her to hand over the violin with $35 and a ring. The couple claims they knew nothing of a reward until after the fact, and they are planning on spending the money on a trip to Las Vegas. I find this story slightly humorous, and kind of touching. I think that it is a great human interest piece that shows that there are some “good” people out there, and shows how interesting a turn things can take in our lives sometimes. As for Jim Wallenberg’s violin—it gave a bag lady a ring and some coffee and cigarettes, and a nice couple a trip to Las Vegas. Funny how things work out.
(Toronto Star, 4/8/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/411213 and 4/9/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/412783 ).
A nineteen year-old man was beaten and stabbed to death outside of a strip club near Toronto—police are still analyzing the details of the night leading up to the man’s death. So far this year, there have been at least seven other homicides in the region. (Toronto Star, 4/6/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/410725 ). A $5-million re-vamp is set for the Museum station subway stop in Toronto. (Toronto Star, 4/6/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/410686 ). Several thousand marchers rallied in Paris Monday to demand that kidnapped Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt be set free. The protestors were joined by the president of Argentina, France’s new first lady, and the French foreign minister. (Toronto Star, 4/7/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/410892 ). The head of Ontario’s safety agency vows that on-the-job injuries and deaths will drop after a sweeping review of the multi-million-dollar workplace safety rebate program. (Toronto Star, 4/7/08, http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/410864 ). Texas state officials have raided a polygamist sect, at Yearning for Zion Ranch, looking for evidence that girls younger than 16 were forced into marriages with older men. Authorities have taken legal custody of 401 children that were harmed or in imminent danger of harm and an investigation is still underway. (Toronto Star, 4/9/08, http://www.thestar.com/Unassigned/article/412752 ).
