The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

  • (2 of 2)

    Alassane Ouattara, the man widely considered the winner of Ivory Coast's disputed November election, remained under a military blockade as regional leaders attempted to mediate between Ouattara and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo. Though he agreed to lift the siege on Ouattara's offices, Gbagbo showed little sign of budging from the presidential palace.

    7 | Egypt

    NEW YEAR'S RAGE

    Clashes between Christian demonstrators and security forces broke out countrywide Jan. 1, hours after an explosion outside a Coptic church in Alexandria killed at least 23. Coptic Christians, who make up about 10% of the Muslim-majority nation, say the government does little to protect them against violence and religious discrimination. 2010 was the bloodiest year in decades of sectarian tensions.

    8 | Greece

    Government to Build Border Fence

    To curb an explosion of illegal immigration into Greece--which now accounts for 90% of all illegal immigrants entering the European Union--Athens announced plans to build a 7.5-mile (12.5 km) fence along part of its border with Turkey. In 2010 alone, about 100,000 people illegally entered Greece, fleeing war-ravaged states like Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq, sometimes at a rate of 245 a day. Dozens have died crossing the border, either by drowning in the Evros River or when taking risky forms of land transport. Humanitarian agencies criticized the move, urging Greece to continue its deployment of border-patrol teams, which have helped decrease illegal crossings by 44% since October.

    Immigrants entering Greece illegally

    5,000 PEOPLE

    2009 39,000

    2010 100,000

    Illegal immigrants' countries of origin

    [The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]

    AFGHANISTAN 47%

    ALGERIA 17%

    PAKISTAN 8%

    SOMALIA 7%

    IRAQ 5%

    OTHER 16%

    SOURCE: FRONTEX

    9 | Afghanistan

    U.S. Funds Squandered

    Over the past six years, the U.S. military has spent $2 billion on 16,000 humanitarian projects--including roads and schools--as part of its nation-building efforts in Afghanistan. But a soon-to-be-released audit obtained by the Washington Post reveals that, once under local control, many of these projects go neglected. The audit raises doubts as to whether the Afghan government can sustain infrastructure improvements when the U.S. looks to withdraw forces later this year.

    10 | Australia

    More Rain on the Way

    The state of Queensland--about the size of France and Germany combined--remains deluged by floodwaters, affecting some 200,000 people. Water levels peaked Jan. 5 in Rockhampton, the largest town to be swamped. But with more rain predicted, floods are expected to continue for several weeks. They could cost the Australian economy about $2.5 billion because of shuttered coal mines, ruined crops and damaged transport systems.

    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. Next Page