World

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As though it were living a surreal tale by the nation's literary hero Gabriel García Márquez, Colombia has faced 11 months of seemingly endless rainfall. The government expects the country's 2011 GDP to shrink at least 2.5% because swollen rivers have inundated communities, cattle ranches and croplands in 28 of the country's 32 provinces. Waterlogged Andean mountainsides have collapsed. More than 1,000 people have been killed, been injured or gone missing, and more than 3 million have lost their homes or livelihoods. President Juan Manuel Santos recently likened the rains to "Chinese water torture," describing them as the worst natural disaster in the country's history.

Sectarian Tensions Flare

EGYPT

At least 12 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a new spasm of sectarian violence in Cairo. A mob of orthodox Salafist Muslims, apparently roused by false reports that a woman who had converted to Islam was being held against her will in a church, torched two Coptic churches and triggered a series of street battles with Coptic Christians. The violence has exposed the religious tensions that remain in Egypt despite the stirring scenes of national unity during the uprising against former dictator Hosni Mubarak. The Copts form a tenth of Egypt's population and are one of the biggest religious minorities in the Muslim world, but many fear Egypt's move toward democracy may afford religious extremists a greater role in the political life of the country.