[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/16/christianetom.jpg caption caption="Sr. Writer for Amanpour, Tom Evans, works on scripts with Christiane"]
On AMANPOUR. today, we look at Nigeria. With its vast oil wealth and immense reserves of human capital, it should be the powerhouse of Africa. Instead, the country faces a sea of troubles, with a president who is absent and an unresolved insurgency. Complicating the situation is Nigeria’s ethnic politics - the divisions between the President, a Northern Muslim refusing to turn over power to his Vice President, a Southern Christian. Among our guests today is one of Nigeria’s literary lions, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. Now here are some perspectives on some other news in the headlines today.
Tom Evans
Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.
PAKISTAN – Will death of Pakistan Taliban leader lead to a new direction for the insurgency?
– Three Taliban sources tell CNN Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died while on the way to Karachi for medical treatment
– Government has been looking into reports Mehsud died after being wounded in a suspected U.S. drone attack last month
– Drone attack came a few days after Mehsud appeared in a videotape with man thought to be the suicide bomber who killed eight people at a CIA base in Afghanistan on Dec. 30
QUESTION: Will death of Mehsud open a window for negotiations between the Pakistan Taliban and the government in Islamabad?
IRAN – Will Tehran’s new uranium enrichment program, which began today, end the possibility of further negotiations with world powers?
– Iran today began enriching uranium to 20 percent level, up from 3.5 percent, a point that many say opens a pathway for Tehran to begin building nuclear weapons, a path Iran says it rejects
– Tehran says higher level enriched uranium required to fuel a research reactor which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients
– Iran’s top nuclear envoy to IAEA tells AMANPOUR. the window for nuclear negotiations is still open, but Western countries now saying sanctions all but inevitable
QUESTION: Where does this evolving showdown over Iran’s nuclear ambitions go now?
UKRAINE – Is political crisis deepening after apparent election of former Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich as President?
– Yanukovich’s chief rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, refuses to concede and plans to demand recount in some districts even though intl. election monitors said Sunday’s runoff vote was “professional, transparent, and honest”
– Yanukovich leading with almost all the votes counted. He has 48.94%, Tymoshenko 45.48%
– Yanukovich says Tymoshenko, the current prime minister, should begin preparations to step down from power
QUESTION: Is this the end of the “Orange Revolution” that swept pro-Western political leaders into power in 2004?
TOYOTA – Will automaker’s new recall be a turning point in its efforts to repair its battered image?
– Toyota recalls more than 400,000 of its 2010 hybrid models, including its popular Prius, due to problems with its anti-lock braking systems
– Company’s president, Akio Toyoda, apologizes for “inconvenience and concerns we’ve given to customers”
– This comes on top of recall of millions of other Toyota vehicles that may have problems with accelerators or floor mats
QUESTION: Will Toyota’s much heralded reputation for quality and dependability ever recover from this setback?