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Connect the World
Twitter Bans and Team USA's Uniforms the Talk of the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament. Questionable Golf Fashions Throughout the Decades. The Plight of Stateless People in Kenya. "The Kite Runner" Author Khaled Hosseini Visits Afghanistan as UN Goodwill Envoy. Viewers Continue to Make Global Connections Between Canada and Ivory Coast. Mayors Making Headlines Around the World.
Aired September 28, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Is this North Korea's next leader?
The world knows very little about Kim Jong Un. We trace his story to Switzerland and speak to an old boarding school friend, as we ask, might a swap at the top change Pyongyang's policies on everything from nuclear weapons to engaging with the wider world.
Going beyond borders on the stories that matter, on CNN, this is the hour we connect the world.
Well, North Korea is an anomaly in the 21st century. It doesn't have many friends and it seems to like it that way. I'm Becky Anderson in London with a story that could have ramifications the world over.
Well, Tweet me on this story, atbeckycnn. I'll be reading out your responds as we move through the show.
Also tonight, connecting Afghanistan -- people there haven't seen a train in living memory. Now that is going to change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHALED HOSSEINI, AUTHOR: If I were to ask any Afghan person on the street, what would you like to tell the world, I think what people here would tell us is that they are tired of war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He's the author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Sons." Khaled Hosseini answers your questions tonight as your Connector of the Day.
And they live in Kenya, they die in Kenya, but they can't really call themselves Kenyans. The Nubian story is a haunting one. That on CNN in the next 60 minutes.
First up tonight, it's the surest sign yet that the Kim dynasty in North Korea will extend to a third generation. We begin with the unveiling of Kim Jong Un. State media has never revealed even the name of Kim Jong- Il's youngest son. Now, they are reporting his first public titles. North Korea's ailing leader has appointed him a four star general.
Well, the news came hours before the start of the biggest ruling party conference in Pyongyang in three decades. And we are just now learning that Kim Jong Un was named the vice chairman of the Workers Party Central Military Commission.
Well, Kim Jong Un may be a mysterious figure to North Koreans, but he was a familiar face to classmates abroad. Tonight, we have rare insight into his time spent studying in Switzerland.
CNN's Atika Shubert talked to a man who says he's one of Kim Jong Un's old boarding school friends.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joao Micaelo was 13 years old when the new kid at his school in Switzerland sat next to him. His name was Pak Un.
JOAO MICAELO, SAYS HE WAS KIM JONG UN'S FRIEND: The teachers, they presented him as -- as the -- the son of the ambassador of North Korea. The -- the teachers say he can sit there and be my neighbor. So, you know, we were young and we -- we have a stick very much together and we become friends, good friends. We were the best friends for three years.
SHUBERT: Joao now believes that Pak Un was actually Kim Jong Un, the son of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il, and possibly his father's chosen successor.
MICAELO: I just know that -- that one day he said to me, yes, I -- I am the -- the son of the leader of North Korea. So, but I didn't believe him because I wasn't at the -- it was a normal school and it was a Japanese -- a Japanese newspaper that was in Switzerland. And they asked me for an interview, so I said yes. I didn't want -- or know why. So that -- they told me, yes, this and they used -- they showed me a picture and they say, you know him?
And I say, yes, it's (INAUDIBLE) it is Un. It is my -- my -- my friend. And then with the story that Un told me years ago, then I said, OK, now maybe it's true what he said to me.
SHUBERT: He describes Un as just a normal, but shy, teenager.
MICAELO: For me, I left him as a very -- he was very quiet. He didn't speak with anyone. Maybe it was because that most of the people, they don't take the time to understand hymn. Yes, he was competitive at sports. It's, for him, he -- he didn't like to lose, like everyone or like all of us. For him, it was a -- it was basketball, it was everything. He liked the same things, what every -- every teenager likes. He does sports. He -- he watch, also, we -- we talk sometimes about girls, but not too much. And I'm sure he -- he didn't go out at the night with -- he never go out on disco or make party, never.
SHUBERT: And Joao believes that maybe, just maybe, if Un, his friend, is really the next leader, he will open up North Korea.
MICAELO: I think he will make it better, that as his father. I hope so. That what I know, Un, when he was 16, he was a good guy. So I don't think he can make something bad. But now I don't know what he -- what he make in the last nine years.
SHUBERT: Joao says he would like to contact his old friend, but he's not sure he would accept and invitation to North Korea.
Atika Shubert, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Joining the dots on this story, many world leaders may prefer to keep power in the family. But how that might happen, indeed, whether it happens at all depends largely on the type of government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: (voice-over): When does power become hereditary?
Cambridge historian John Dunn has studied the rise and fall of power around the world, for authoritarian countries like North Korea, he says you need a bit of carrot and stick.
JOHN DUNN, EMERITUS PROFESSOR, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: You'd better use fear and greed hard before you die. And the more time you have to do so then the more chance you have of cementing together the argument you want.
ANDERSON: Training your successor is important, too.
DUNN: There's no chance of them being able to do that unless they've had some practice. And there isn't much chance of their being able to do it unless they actually have a set of people with whom they've already learned how to work.
ANDERSON: It's a different ball game in democracies, though. In countries like India and Pakistan, a familiar name can prove useful. Sonia Ghandi is the leader of India's Congress. Her son could be the next prime minister, potential the fourth P.M. from that family.
In Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari is the president. He gained popular support after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, was assassinated in 2007. She herself was the daughter of a former prime minister.
RAHUL ROY-CHAUDHURY, SENIOR FELLOW FOR SOUTH ASIA: They have been able to work the system well that there is an emotional link between the family and the party and governance. And that's something that is fairly unbreakable at the moment.
ANDERSON: Hereditary path isn't limited to South Asia.
What about the US?
Well, many would point to the Bushes, the Kennedys or even the Clintons as families that have created and nurtured a political dynasty. Recently, there have been many other cases of dynastic tendencies in countries including Egypt, Cuba and Sri Lanka.
And, of course, a mostly assured means of keeping power in the family is if you're a monarch.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Hmmm, well, in the case of North Korea, that's supposed to be no doubt that power will remain in the Kim family, at least for now.
So what can we expect as far as the world is concerned on this passing of the baton?
Well, Gordan Chang is one of our Big Thinkers. He's a CONNECT THE WORLD panelist and also author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World."
Gordon, always good to have you.
What we do know, then, about Kim Jong Un?
GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN": We don't really know that much. We do know he is, as you saw, that he went to school in Switzerland. He likes Jean-Claude Van Dammes, idolizes Michael Jordan. But, you know, the most important thing about Kim Jong Un is that he is not ready to be the next leader of North Korea. He's 27, 28, and -- and, really, he hasn't had enough time to learn how to run a really very difficult government.
ANDERSON: Yes, what's the chance that he can sustain the legacy that he's -- he will inherit from his father and his grandfather?
Very little, I -- I assume you're going to say.
CHANG: Well, you know, if his dad dies or is incapacitated very quickly, which is a real possibility, then, you know, Kim Jong Un is then at the mercy of everybody else in a big snake pit that the North Korean regime is. He'll be like a hamster. There have been four assassinations in Pyongyang since April -- or mysterious deaths. And one of them was one of his big supporters.
He's going to have to rely on his aunt, Kim Jong Il's sister, and her sister's husband, Jong Tson Tak (ph), because these are the two people who are going to save him, if at all. They're the regents, the caretakers. And if they decide that they want to sit on the throne instead of being behind it, this kid has no chance at all.
ANDERSON: All right, so we're looking at a 26, 27-year-old who today has been made a four star general by his father, Kim Jong Un. One assumes that China would have had to have signed off on this.
Am I right in saying that?
CHANG: I don't think so. And the reason is that Kim Jong-Il would have never asked China because of, you know, the North Koreans just don't interact with the Chinese that way. And the Chinese, if they were being honest, don't want to see a third Kim on the throne in North Korea. They want to see a collective leadership of people who are friendly to China. So I don't think China has really had very much to say.
Kim Jong-Il may have notified them, but that's about it.
ANDERSON: I guess that begs the question -- and all of this begs the question -- why should the world care who takes over North Korea at this point?
CHANG: Well, when a one man regime falls apart, there's always things that can go wrong. You know, the transition is a very difficult period. Many people -- and I think correctly -- ascribe the sinking of the South Korean frigate in March to this transition. You know, China is being very aggressive at this time. You know, and so many things can happen in North Asia, which seems to me the most volatile part of the world right now.
ANDERSON: If it weren't Kim Jong Un and it looked very likely to be him.
But if it weren't him, is there any other alternative for the regime at this point in North Korea?
CHANG: I think Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, Jung Tson Tak (ph), who has control of the security services, who is the number two on the national defense commission, which is the most powerful body in North Korea, I think that he could emerge as the number one. And China, of course, has a lot of generals who are friendly to Beijing. They could take over. And you never know, in a regime like this, there is probably some very dangerous colonel who thinks that he should be the next leader of North Korea.
So those are the alternatives.
ANDERSON: Watch this space.
Gordon Chang, it was a pleasure.
We thank you for joining us out of New York this evening.
CHANG: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Gordon Chang, your Big Thinker on this story.
Well, many of you are sharing your thoughts. Some comments on the blog are these.
Nineyards writes: "I don't think Kim Jong Un has what it takes to rule North Korea. After all, he seems to be a softie with a Western education and lacks any ominous reputation. I wouldn't be surprised after Kim Jong-Il's death if the military party overthrows him for control of power."
This from somebody who goes by the name of dogtags: "I don't see any evidence so far that would suggest that the son is inherently evil. He may turn out to be, but that is something we'll have to wait and see and judge later."
Finally from abbarick this evening: "It's a good thing man can't live here on earth forever. If some dictators could live forever, not even their children would get the chance to come to power."
Your thoughts are always appreciated. Keep them coming, CNN.com/connect.
This is CONNECT THE WORLD.
I'm Becky Anderson.
Coming up, the little engine that could be Afghanistan's best hope for prosperity -- why the future of that country could depend on the success of this rail line.
And later, the story of the Nubians. They live in Kenya, but they're stateless.
That's after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Afghan President Hamid Karzai broke down in tears during a speech at an event celebrating Literacy Day. He appealed to the Taliban to stop killing people and he said he feared his own son may be forced to flee Afghanistan because of the violence.
Well, let's concentrate on the country for a moment. It's not long by international standards, but it could link a struggling country with a more prosperous future. Let's kick off this part of the show with CNN's Ivan Watson, as he explains why the best hope for Afghanistan's economic success may be riding on a brand new rail line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sight not seen in Afghanistan in nearly a century -- a locomotive rolling down the tracks. This newly completed railroad a symbol of hope for a country suffering through 30 years of war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is good news. And this connects Afghanistan to the world. And I -- I want to that train for all improvements of Afghanistan.
WATSON: The last time Afghanistan had a railroad was in downtown Kabul in the 1920s. Today, this rusty little locomotive is all that's left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to travel where?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) by the train.
WATSON: A museum curiosity for visiting Afghans.
(on camera): Have you ever seen a train before?
ABIL AHMAD, UNIVERSITY STUDENT: No, in Afghanistan no. This is the first time.
WATSON (voice-over): Due to poverty, isolation and conflict, Afghanistan skipped the age of railroads. Afghans went from riding horseback to traveling by car and relying on trucks to ship goods down a dangerous network of roads. But the 75 kilometer long railroad in Northern Afghanistan could revolutionize transport in this landlocked country.
(on camera): This new railroad is part of an effort to build a new trade corridor from Central Asia to Southeast Asia, across the war torn country of Afghanistan. If they succeed in extending the railroad, it makes shipping cheaper and safer and more energy efficient than traveling by truck.
(voice-over): Investors say railroads will be essential if Afghanistan is ever to tap into vast deposits of mineral resources.
CRAIG STEFFENSEN, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK: The mining sector here is potentially huge. And whether it's iron ore or copper or coal -- and there are markets across the region that -- that -- that are desperately seeking to -- to import these minerals from Afghanistan.
WATSON: This month, a state mining company from China signed a proposal to build a $6 billion to $7 billion railroad across eastern Afghanistan. But the proposed railroad runs right through Taliban country. It may never be built, Chinese officials say, if the growing insurgency isn't stopped.
Afghanistan's newest railroad would be a juicy target for Taliban attacks. It is heavily guarded by armies of police, protecting this latest train project from becoming yet another sad exhibit in Afghanistan's museum of tragic history.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Maziri-Sharif in Northern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, many of Afghanistan's top exports could benefit from a better transportation network there. According to the U.S. Department of State, those include fruits, nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton, animal furs and precious gems. The other huge illegal business, of course, for Afghanistan is opium, which accounts for one quarter of the country's gross domestic product. Some people say higher, but many experts are hoping this year's huge discovery of natural resources there could change that.
CNN's Jill Dougherty got a tour of what's thought to be the largest undeveloped iron ore deposit in the world. It's in the mountains of Banyan Province.
Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Can I feel that?
ATIQ SEDIQI, AFGHAN MINISTRY OF MINES: Yes. Sure.
DOUGHERTY: Oh my god, it really is heavy.
(voice-over): Iron ore is just one of a vast array of minerals Afghanistan has hidden under breathtaking mountain ranges formed 140 million years ago. There's copper, cobalt, lithium and rare metals -- gem stones like emeralds, rubies, sapphires, lapis lazuli, topaz and the recent discovery -- 1.8 billion barrels of crude oil, plus natural gas.
Based on Soviet studies from the 1960s, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates the potential value of Afghan's mineral wealth at a trillion dollars. The minister of mines says it could be as much as $3 trillion and only 30 percent of the country has been explored.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, coming up later in the show, one of the most famous Afghans in the world, Khaled Hosseini, whose book, "The Kite Runner," brought Afghanistan to life for millions of readers. And now he's joining us as your Connector of the Day to talk about what can be done to help the country he loves. He'll be answering your question, too, a little later in the program.
Afghanistan in the spotlight for you this evening.
Up next, we're going to turn that spotlight on Nigeria. The country is among the largest petroleum producers in the world. So you're going to meet the Nigerian man who used this lucrative resource to fuel his incredible flight from poverty. That up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, styling it up in Nigeria -- weaves and wigs are all the rage in this African nation and foreign hairdressing companies are getting in on the action, too, investing in the booming trade. We're putting the spotlight on Nigeria all this week and how its people, culture, politics and industry reach beyond borders.
The insight if part of CNN's monthly I-List series -- a series that has already taken us this year to France, Bahrain, Georgia, Poland, Macedonia and Oman.
Well, we continue our look at Nigeria tonight with a rags to riches tale. This is the story of how a local petrol station owner turned his business into a Nigerian oil giant. As Nima Albaguer explains, he's now ready to make a move onto the global stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ALBAGUER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Apapa Keyes (ph) in Lagos, one of the country's largest industrial estates. Home to the Obat Oil Petroleum Storage Facility. Obat started three decades ago with a small, local service station in the founder's village. Today, they're considered a market maker, with the third largest petroleum depot in the world. And they're giving the international oil companies a run for their money.
(on camera): You're really taking on the big international players. I mean you're -- you're in this market, up against Chevron, up against Attal (ph) and yet you're one of the top 10 distributor companies.
DR. FREDERICK ENITIOLORUNDA OBATERU AKINRUNTAN: Yes. Basically, what we -- (INAUDIBLE) not really (INAUDIBLE) because we understand the local matters. We've been doing this thing for the past 30 years. And we can distribute goods within a couple of days, you get your product.
ALBAGUER: So the -- the Chevrons and Attals, they don't worry you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't bother us, no. We have nine (INAUDIBLE) that can take nine trucks and our facility can load like 3,000 liters within 50 minutes. So we have very, very advanced technology right here and we do our team very well.
ALBAGUER (voice-over): And it shows. Obat Oil's chairman, Dr. Frederick Enitiolorunda Obateru Akinruntan, is one of the richest men in Nigeria. Recently elected king in his home state, Andu, he drives the same customized Rolls Royce as the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
At the church he had built at one of his man homes, he told us about Obat Oil's beginnings as one of the first private Nigerian petrol trading companies.
AKINRUNTAN: We started with just one service station in my area. What I had in mind was that let me just set up this business for my consumption for the family, for it to make ends meet. So later, we are beginning to -- I saw that we are making money. Although it is rough initially, very rough -- very, very rough. But, you know, initially people will be looking at you, can this man do it or not? They study you, one, two, three years before they have any confidence in you. That was what I had.
ALBAGUER: OPEC ranked Nigeria as its 10th largest oil producer and Obateru Akinruntan says it's time for Nigeria's oil men to look beyond their national borders and take on the internationals across the continent.
AKINRUNTAN: What we want to go internationally, we have cornered the local market and we're OK with it, you can't concentrate locally within your country alone. You have to extend your tentacles to other countries. That's what I had in mind.
ALBAGUER: Nigeria, he says, is perfectly positioned to dominate Africa's oil market.
AKINRUNTAN: Nigeria is not far. From here, it's about a two hour journey to neighboring countries, three to four hours. I have found a very good business opportunity. But I'm very close to them.
ALBAGUER: So it makes sense?
AKINRUNTAN: Yes. I am very close to them. They don't need to -- they could go -- come by road. It could come by air to see me.
ALBAGUER: And Obat's managing director says it's always a mistake to underestimate Nigeria's entrepreneurs.
AKINRUNTAN: Most of the foreign companies that come right here, they bring people from Abbad (ph) back and forth. And it does not really give our people the opportunity to really prove themselves. You know, and what we believe in, we believe in our people. And we want to train them and make them a better people than ever before. Yes, because a lot of people don't understand what Nigeria's (INAUDIBLE) until you -- you come and bring and see exactly what a lot of Nigerians are doing.
ALBAGUER: Nima Albaguer, CNN, Lagos.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: And do stay tuned all week, as we explore Nigeria's dynamic industries and diverse cultures. This is a country claiming its place on the world stage. Find out how all this week on CONNECT THE WORLD at this time.
Tonight, we'll be right back with your world headlines.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Welcome back. You're with CONNECT THE WORLD. Here, it's a Tuesday night in London, just about half past nine. I'm Becky Anderson.
Coming up, the fate of stateless people. We look at how one group is faring and Kenya and connect their plight to groups around the world.
Also, he gives us a view of Afghanistan that has touched millions around the world. Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner," is taking your questions as your Connector of the Day this evening.
And the focus is meant to be on the golf when the US faces Europe in the Ryder Cup, but right now, the talk is all about the uniforms that they've chosen. You've got to see that.
All those stories are ahead in the show. First, a very quick check of the headlines for you this hour here on CNN.
Heavy rain from the remnants of a tropical storm has triggered a massive landslide in southern Mexico. The governor of Oaxaca state says up to 1,000 people may be trapped under mud.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has fired Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. Mr. Medvedev says the two could no longer work together. Luzhkov was increasingly at odds with Mr. Medvedev and was seen as undermining his authority.
Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the UN that Iran is at the heart of the Middle East conflict and that any peace deal with Palestinians could take decades. The government says his speech was not coordinated with the prime minister.
Former US president Jimmy Carter is in a hospital. A statement says he's got an upset stomach on flight to Cleveland, Ohio. The Carter Center says he will stay at hospital overnight, and plans to resume his book tour tomorrow.
The Ryder cup. The golfing tournament that pits the best of Europe against the best from the United States. Needless to say that the stakes are extremely high, and team secrecy is paramount. So much so that European skipper Colin Montgomerie has cracked down on team tweeting. I asked Don Riddell about the Twitter controversy, amongst other things surrounding this year's cup just a little bit earlier on. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you can tell it's early in the Ryder Cup week when we get kind of strange and unusual stories like this. But it's already got a name, Becky. It's called "Twittergate."
This is the idea that came out yesterday, that both captains had effectively banned their players from using social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, during the week. There are some golfers on both sides who are very, very keen tweeters. Pretty -- almost as soon as that came out, we looked on our Twitter sites and saw that Ian Poulter on the European side was still tweeting. So, that was brought up again today, and we asked for a bit of clarification from Europe captain Colin Montgomerie as to whether there was, in fact, a ban or not. Here's what he said.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE, EUROPEAN RYDER CUP CAPTAIN: I didn't say it was OK to tweet. Tweeting hasn't been banned. I think banning things is very dangerous, because say someone does it, what's the -- how can you, then, say no to anything? So tweeting -- let's get this cleared up. God, almighty. I don't know how we're even talking about tweeting, for God's sake.
(LAUGHTER)
MONTGOMERIE: I thought I was captain of a golf team, not a captain of a tweeting organization. Never mind.
RIDDELL: So there you go. It sounds like there will still be one or two tweets, but perhaps not as many as we'd normally expect.
ANDERSON: A shame. All right. Listen, it's a different look for the European team this year, isn't it? There's a lot of controversy over the selection. Let's talk about that.
RIDDELL: Yes, well, first of all, it is a completely different look because there are six rookies on this team, which is quite incredible. Half of the European Ryder Cup team has not played Ryder Cup golf before. So that is a pretty impressive -- or pretty incredible statistic, really.
But these European golfers have had an absolutely amazing season, and some of these European rookies are already pretty established. Guys like Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, who won the PGA championship.
Another really outstanding pair of rookies, if you like, are the Molinari brothers, the Italian brothers, who have already been playing practice rounds together today, and they are almost certainly going to be used as a pair when things get going on Friday. But we're not quite sure how and when they're going to be used.
And also, you referred to some of the controversy. You're talking there about the captain's picks. This was going to be a very, very difficult selection process for Monty, because he only had three picks, and there were so many players that hadn't qualifies automatically that he really would've liked to have been on the team.
Padraig Harrington is one of those. He is a three-time major winning. His form this season hasn't been that great, and Monty did pick him. And I think Monty was quite pleased to be able to say in the press conference today, "Look. Today he was playing the best effort out of anyone in my team. He made three eagles out there on the course as well." So, I think Monty was quite pleased that he could say that, because he's been criticized for bringing Harrington along.
ANDERSON: Talk about a different look and people picking things. I'm not sure who picked the team's uniform. Certainly that which they were wearing coming off the plane. I want to show our viewers. Somebody in one of the newspapers in the UK slightly unfairly, perhaps, today suggested they look more like university professors circa 1972 than they do a US golfing team. Listen. Golfing attire's always been a little on, isn't it?
RIDDELL: Yes. Your are on an absolute hiding to nothing if you go for anything remotely different from a traditional sort of set of golfing clothes. And the Ryder Cup is such a huge event now that these guys come here with so many different types of clothing for all weather conditions, for dinners, for getting off the plane, for practicing, for playing in the tournament itself. So, I guess you're going to get one or two wrong.
It was quite interesting watching the Americans at their team photo call this morning. They turned up in the mist, it was 8:30 in the morning, it was still pretty gloomy. And they were wearing these jumpers that had an absolutely enormous Ryder Cup blazoned -- printed on the front of them. I guess they've got the cup at the moment, so I guess they feel like they can flaunt it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Don's at the site, as it were, the course in Newport in Wales, where the competition will kick off towards the end of the week. Golfers, of course, are renowned for their unusual choice of attire. We thought we'd take a look at some of the more interesting ensembles that have made their way onto the greens over the years. Take a look at some of these.
This is a picture from 1936, all very sensible, with tie and all. But at what point did this kind of getup become acceptable? John Daly is the man wearing his patriotism on his pants there. And the American is a serial offender. This was also a recent uniform choice, not sure about their pink and lime green combination. Only John Daly.
Or not. Shingo Katayama of Japan is also notorious for his rather outrageous fashion. He seems to go for more of a disco-slash-cowboy theme.
And even back in 1992, the fashion was something of a throwback to the turn of the previous century. This one is of traditionalist Payne Stewart at the Pebble Beach Pro Am. Doesn't look like the outfit has helped his game of golf any, either, given he's in the sand there.
We've been asking you on the website. What do you think of the fashion choice of the world's top golfers? Let's take a look at some of your responses.
For a start, Kine hasn't taken a shine to this year's US team uniform and writes, "Unbelievably conservative. Nothing wrong with classy choices, but let's have some sophistication." You've gotta remember what they were wearing off that plane. They were flares.
DoubleRocker has left his comment. "Ridiculous clothes. Ridiculous sport," he says.
Rogerbij gives his vote to John Daly, but he asks, "Now let's see some crazy women's outfits." Believe me, there are some.
Myview2009 thinks Tony Jacklin in his 1970s getup is the worst, arguing, "Not because the others are any better, but mainly because I counted not less than six colors, bright colors, on the gentlemen." You'll have to google him for that. Couldn't find the picture quickly enough.
Up next, millions of people around the world have no country to call their own. We're going to meet members of one fabled group who live on the margins of Kenyan society and hear about their daily struggle against discrimination. This is CONNECT THE WORLD, I'm Becky Anderson in London for you. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: It's 40 minutes past the hour here in London. Now, they live on the fringes of society, largely forgotten and unwanted by every nation in the world I want to turn at this point in the show to those we call stateless people. Those who cannot claim citizenship anywhere else and, therefore, lack many legal rights. Kicking off with David McKenzie, who introduces us to one such community in Kenya.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The call to afternoon prayer at the Makina Jamia mosque. A time for ritual and reflection. The mosque caters to Nairobi's Nubian community. They've prayed on this spot for four generations.
Faded photos show how they got here. Recruited by the British army from Sudan at the turn of the last century, Nubians were part of the famed King's African Rifles. They helped expand the empire and served in both world wars. As a reward the British settled Nubian veterans in a forest near Nairobi. They called it Kibera.
Now, it's Kibera slum, and their descendants, like Nima Shabun (ph), struggle in the margins. "My father, my mother, and I were all born in Kenya," she says. She shows me a copy of her national ID that she lost. It normally takes Kenyans a few days -- at most, a few weeks -- to get a new one. She has been waiting for ten years.
Without an ID, she can't access proper health care, open a bank account, or even get a death certificate. She can't even improve her mud house. Nubians can't get land title in Kibera. Permanent structures are torn down.
I met a leading Nubian advocate to understand their dilemma.
ADAM HUSSEIN, NUBIAN ADVOCATE: I graduated in 1996, my first employment came in 2007. Ten years of struggle.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Unlike his college friends, Hussein had to file birth certificates, certificates of good conduct, affidavits just to get a job and a passport. Government officials admit that they vet Nubians, quote, "To prove they are Kenyan." But a decade in limbo can be devastating.
HUSSEIN: It just shattered me. I actually stopped being enthusiastic about many things Kenyan.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): To symbolize their plight, one community leader took me to the Nubian graveyard in Kibera.
YOUSUF IBRAHIM DIAB, SECRETARY GENERAL, NUBIAN COUNCIL: This is one of the places that we can actually call our own without any controversy. It's very unsettling that you can actually feel that you belong to the place, but to still suffer discrimination in certain aspects of normal life. To be treated as less than a citizen.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): For generations of Nubians, they belong in Kenya only when they are no more. David McKenzie, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.
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ANDERSON: Let me tell you this. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that in 2008, 12 million people around the world had no land to call their own. The most obvious example, the Palestinian. Not just those who live in the West Bank and Gaza who suffer. Thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon are refused identity documents, their movements restricted, and they have little access to health care.
Many Kurds live in such places as Iraq and Turkey, but in Syria, about 300,000 Kurds remain stateless following a census in 1962. Twenty percent of the Kurdish population was stripped of their citizenship, and many are still refused work and access to education.
And in 1982, Myanmar's government made the Rahinga population stateless. Fearing persecution, many of those have fled to Bangladesh and to Thailand.
Joining the dots on the day's biggest stories for you. Coming up on the show, a many famous for his prose. The acclaimed author of "The Kite Runner" is your Connector of the Day today. Find out what Khaled Hosseini has to say about life in Afghanistan. That is up next. Stay with us.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): In his 2003 novel, "The Kite Runner," Khaled Hosseini gave the western world a haunting glimpse of life under the Taliban as he followed the journeys of two Afghan boys and their life- changing decisions.
Within weeks of its release, the book became an international best- seller and was eventually made into an Oscar-nominated film of the same name.
Hosseini, who was born in Kabul, went to the States with his family as an asylum seeker at the age of 15. Following the success of his novel, he became a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency and established his own nonprofit organization devoted to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
In 2007, his follow-up novel, "A Thousand Splendid Suns," was published and greeted with equal acclaim. Using fiction to convey reality, Khaled Hosseini is your Connector of the Day.
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ANDERSON: Yes, he is. A talented author and a humanitarian, Khaled Hosseini is using his fame to help out Afghan people. It's been three years since he made his first trip to Afghanistan as a Goodwill Envoy for the UN's Refugee Agency. He's just returned from his latest. While he was there, he gave us -- you -- some rare insight into what he thinks has changed.
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KHALED HOSSEINI, AUTHOR AND PHYSICIAN: I think there have been both positive and negative changes. I have seen some settlements that were, essentially, a series of tents a few years ago have become quasi- communities by now. And some refugees have settled in quite well and are able to make a living for themselves.
What I don't like to see is that some of the same problems that I saw three years ago exist today, and that people are still having troubles finding access too send their kids to school, or finding access to clean water, finding access to a decent clinic.
And that, I think, speaks to both this country, Afghanistan, being really one of the most impoverished nations in the world. And also the Afghan government struggling to meet the demands of the millions of people who've come back.
ANDERSON: Martin from Costa Rica has written to us with a question for you. He says, "If you could tell everyone in the western world one thing about Afghanistan, what would it be?"
HOSSEINI: I think if I were to ask any Afghan person on the street, "What would you like to tell the world?" I think what people here would tell you is that they are tired of war. The Afghan people are ready for peace. They want to move on with their lives. They want to rebuild their country.
And I think there is an urgent need to bring the violence that is in Afghanistan to an end. To have a political process that would lead to a peaceful solution, and that the Afghan people can finally, after 30 years of misery, can go about the process of restarting their lives, rebuilding country, and moving forward.
ANDERSON: In 2010, is US and NATO presence a good or bad thing?
HOSSEINI: You know, when you speak to people on the street here, what you will find is that most people still have a favorable view of the presence of the foreign troops here, largely because they feel that the Afghan state itself is not yet in the position to protect them and provide them with the basic needs of life.
The presence of the foreign troops here has had its challenges, and it has, certainly, created some problems. But on the whole, I think people feel that their lives are better than they were ten years ago. On the whole, people still hold out hope for the future, while acknowledging that there are some significant challenges, both present and, certainly, in the future.
ANDERSON: Geoff Campbell has written. He says, "What, if anything, should the western world be doing to help Afghanistan that it isn't doing at this point?"
HOSSEINI: I think one thing that has been lacking to some extent is that the approach to Afghanistan has been largely a military campaign. And only, I think, in the recent past have we acknowledged the fact that the so-called counter-insurgency involves not only military intervention, but also economic intervention.
And what the Afghan people would like to see, and what I hope the international community will do in Afghanistan is to also pay attention to that side of the equation. That what we're fighting in Afghanistan is not just a war against insurgents, but also we're fighting a war against poverty, which drives so many aimless, jobless, and hopeless young Afghans to join insurgent groups.
This is a country where a woman dies during childbirth every 30 minutes, 40 percent of people don't have access to clean water. So, there are very significant problems with just meeting the basic essentials of daily life.
ANDERSON: Maggie has written to us. She says she knows that young people make up a very large proportion of the Afghan population and asks how you think young people in Afghanistan can organize and work to improve things for themselves?
HOSSEINI: I always tell people Stateside that, look, we have millions of young people in Afghanistan. And, certainly, we have to find a way to engage these young people in a meaningful, constructive way, be it through job training, be it through vocational training, and to show these people that they have a better option than to strap on a suicide vest and join an insurgent group.
ANDERSON: Neol says he's a huge fan of your work and asks, "Where do you get your primary inspiration from?"
HOSSEINI: For my own -- every writer gets experiences from their own life, from the lives of people around them. And I find that more and more, I have been inspired by the things that I've seen here in Afghanistan. My second book was inspired by what I saw in Afghanistan in 2003 about the struggle of women.
And I'm writing a book of fiction right now about Afghanistan, and I find that what I'm writing is informed by my recent travels to Afghanistan as an envoy for UNHCR. And I'm writing about the struggle of Afghan refugees. I'm writing about the effects of the war on the millions of people who've lived here.
So, my writing is inspired both by my own life and also by my observations. Which, I think, is fairly common in the way people write novels.
ANDERSON: Sure. Listen, you're effectively home in Afghanistan. I know you've lived in the States for a very long time. When you go home, though, what do you miss about Afghanistan?
HOSSEINI: I miss the warmth and the poetry and the camaraderie and the hospitality of the people here. Afghanistan is a country of truly elegant people. A lot of people who don't know Afghanistan think of it is a -- almost a primitive society. But it really isn't.
When you have a time to come here, and you spend some time with the Afghan people here, you see how elegant they are in the way in which they communicate. How they make use of poetry in their language. How hospitable they are. There's a prevailing sense of humility and respect. And it's a deeply polite society, which are all things that maybe people in the west aren't aware of.
But I miss, truly, that about the -- Afghanistan when I go home.
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ANDERSON: He also told me that he'd love at some point to take his wife and his kids back just to see what sort of country it is. A truly fascinating guy.
And tomorrow night, we are connecting you with an operatic virtuoso. Jose Carreras is one of the world's greatest tenors, with a career that spans the globe and more than five decades. He's also a great humanitarian himself, raising money in the fight against leukemia, a disease that he himself has survived. We've put your questions to Jose and, among them, who would he like to team up with on stage in the future? You remember him in "The Storytellers," don't you? Find out tomorrow night, and for more details, head to the website, cnn.com/connect. Tonight, we'll be right back.
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ANDERSON: From the French connection to an abundance of natural resources, you are really coming up with some great Global Connections for us this week. This is the part of the show, of course, where we highlight two countries that at first glance may appear to have absolutely nothing in common, and get you to tell us where the connections lie.
Tonight, we are traveling from Canada, the country that leads the world in maple syrup production, to the Ivory Coast, which provides us with much of the cocoa needed for chocolate. But in this project, we are digging into the more unexpected connections between the two countries.
Linda Sampson, for example, is one of the many viewers who pointed out that both -- people in both countries speak French. She also says both countries have a history of French colonization or settlers.
TAC44 mentioned education, writing, "Good cooperation exists between the two countries in the education sector. A few Canadian universities train Ivory Coast students, who will spend the last semester or last year in Canada."
And Jeff Tracey makes a personal connection, writing, "My father was directly involved in sending Canadians to the Ivory Coast and Ivory Coastans to Canada through the Canadian Crossroads organization."
Well, you've got to tell us what we've overlooked, including, really, your personal experiences. Your own experiences, family, business, vacations, anything that ties these two countries together. Go to cnn.com/globalconnections to find out how you do that.
Before we go tonight, part of the show we call our Parting Shots. It's a look at news around the world through pictures. And it was the sacking of the mayor of Moscow that inspired tonight's topic. Yuri Luzhkov was fired by President Dmitry Medvedev, ending a controversial eighteen year rule that saw the Russian capital boom. He was dismissed because he had lost the confidence of the Russian president.
He's not the only city leader attracting controversy. One in a bit of trouble, Bell City mayor Oscar Hernandez is pictured here in his preliminary court appearance in LA, accused of being -- among eight officials accused of lining their pockets with some five and a half million dollars of public money.
President Barack Obama's former chief of staff, meanwhile, is reportedly aspiring to be mayor of Chicago. According to media reports, Rahm Emanuel may quit the White House as early as Friday to run for the mayorship.
Mayors making headlines around the world, that is your Parting Shot this evening. I'm Becky Anderson, and that is your world connected. "BackStory" up next here on CNN.
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