Commonwealth summit to focus on fighting terrorism, climate change

World Today

Commonwealth heads of government have begun their three-day summit in the Maltese capital Valletta with combating Islamist extremism high on the agenda.

The Commonwealth includes Australia, Canada, 18 African countries, India, Pakistan, and many Pacific nations.

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron said he wanted Britain to take an active role in airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria, a proposal which still needs to be approved by his country’s parliament.

The need for increased military action was backed by host nation Malta, whose leader also called for a long-term strategy focusing on better education.

“Terrorists are more scared of well-educated girls and boys who manage to get a good job then they will ever be of any army,” Joseph Muscat, Malta’s Prime Minister, said.

Climate change is also a key talking point. The focus on climate change and terrorism is why French President Francois Hollande is also attending the summit, even though France is not a member of the bloc.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who is attending the summit, is the symbolic head of the bloc that formed after the decolonization of the British Empire.

CCTV America’s Jack Barton reports from Valletta.