3xwy Blog

Before the earthquake struck, fortunes were looking brighter for the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation. International donors and investors had begun to believe that Haiti might have a future in manufacturing and tourism.

A 12-member Eritrean soccer team went missing in Kenya after a regional tournament in which they were eliminated by Tanzania. Defections are common from Eritrea, one of Africa’s newer nations and one of its most authoritarian and repressive. Writer Steve Bloomfield talks to Renee Montagne about the defections.

Last year, the wealthy city-state was still flying high, spending freely to fuel its ambition of becoming a business, financial and tourist capital of the Persian Gulf. Between all the oil wealth continuing to pour in and the royal family’s deep coffers, few were worried about the massive debt being used to fund the development. Today, all of that has changed.

Last year, the wealthy city-state was still flying high, spending freely to fuel its ambition of becoming a business, financial and tourist capital of the Persian Gulf. Between all the oil wealth continuing to pour in and the royal family’s deep coffers, few were worried about the massive debt being used to fund the development. Today, all of that has changed.

Congress is considering a bill that would lift restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba. Opponents say U.S. tourism dollars would help the Castro government hold on even longer. But many ordinary Cubans and dissidents, too, say that’s not a reason to keep the ban in place.

President Obama arrived in Tokyo on Friday, hoping to shore up relations with a new Japanese government, which is seeking to be more assertive with Washington. The trip is the start of a weeklong tour that will include stops in Singapore, China and South Korea.

Prague is brimming with commerce, optimism and tourists two decades after the Velvet Revolution overthrew the communist government and brought dissident poet Vaclav Havel into the presidential palace. But some Czechs worry their once dynamic political culture is declining and active citizenship waning.

For more than 20 years, southern Sudan was a war zone. But the conflict was not as devastating to the animals of Boma National Park as believed. The park is teeming with wildlife, raising hopes that the remote area could bring eco-minded tourists and create badly needed local jobs.

Norfolk Island, where the crew of HMS landed after its mutiny, relies heavily on tourism for its survival. But the global economic recession, has tourism on the island badly.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wraps up a 7 nation tour of Africa this week. The United States placed Africa high on its list of foreign policy priorities, as it is fighting for influence in Africa with power players such as China, India and Russia. Host Michel Martin talks to Prince Collins, a freelance journalist in Monrovia, Liberia; journalist Ferial Haffajee, of South Africa’s City Press and Constance Ikokwu, of Nigeria’s This Day newspaper about reactions to the visit.