The World

1 | Iraq

Death for All to See

“At last the truth has been revealed,” said Noor Eldeen, father of 22-year-old Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, after watching a July 2007 video that showed his son being shot to death by a U.S. Apache helicopter in Baghdad. The classified footage–released April 5 after a military whistle-blower handed it over to watchdog website WikiLeaks–showed the journalist, his driver and 10 others being killed after soldiers mistook his camera for a weapon and the men for insurgents. The Iraqi Journalists’ Union and the New York City–based Committee to Protect Journalists called for an investigation into the actions of the troops on board the copter. While an earlier inquiry found no wrongdoing, U.S. military lawyers announced they would review the video once more.

2 | India

Maoists Attack

Seventy-six Indian police were killed in an ambush by Maoist rebels on April 6 in the state of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. The Maoists, based in central India’s rural areas, have repeatedly clashed with security forces and have long accused the government of political and economic repression. This attack–the deadliest by the rebels in 40 years–is thought to be a response to the government’s recent effort to re-establish authority in the Maoist regions.

3 | Kyrgyzstan

Protesters Topple Government

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled the capital by plane April 7, leaving the city to protesters who claimed to have set up their own government. Demonstrators, who said Bakiyev had become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt, stormed and ransacked government buildings, beat up the Interior Minister and took over several state-run TV stations. At least 40 deaths and hundreds of injuries were confirmed by authorities. The opposition, though, claimed more than 100 protesters were killed when police fired on crowds.

4 | Kabul

War of the Words

After igniting a rhetorical battle with U.S. officials over his failure to root out corruption, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted the resignation of his country’s top two election officials. Although Karzai has lashed out repeatedly at the West–claiming that the U.S. is trying to dictate how he governs–many diplomats welcomed the action while remaining wary. Washington was mulling the cancellation of Karzai’s planned May visit should his heated talk continue.

5 | Washington

The Not-So-Neutral Net

A U.S. appeals court overturned a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling that had previously imposed a Net-neutrality requirement on Internet giant Comcast. In 2008, Comcast began to block Web access for certain users (especially those who employed file-sharing networks), arguing that they hogged an inordinate amount of bandwidth and slowed down the network. The FCC ordered Comcast to remove the barriers, on the premise that Internet providers must treat all Web traffic equally. Although the White House supports the concept of Net neutrality and several members of Congress have backed the FCC’s initiatives to regulate Internet providers, analysts are now less optimistic about the FCC’s future jurisdiction. Andrew Jay Schwartzman, an attorney who defended the FCC in its case, said the decision represents “a severe limitation on the agency’s future authority.”

6 | China

MIRACLE MINE RESCUE

On March 28, coal miners digging a new tunnel in northern Shanxi province accidentally cracked an old one filled with water. The ensuing flood trapped 153 workers underground. Rescue crews working round the clock found reason to hope on April 2, when tapping sounds became audible in the depths of the shaft. By April 5 rescuers had managed to pull out 115 survivors. Efforts to find the remaining miners continued, but as of April 7 there were nine confirmed dead. China has the dubious honor of possessing the world’s most lethal coal-mining industry.

7 | Pakistan

Consulate Bombed

The Pakistani Taliban conducted a multipronged attack on the U.S. consulate in Peshawar on April 5. The well-planned and highly coordinated assault, in which truck bombs, grenades, rocket launchers and suicide bombers were utilized, killed at least six Pakistanis (including two guards) and wounded 20 others. No Americans were hurt or killed, since the assailants failed to penetrate beyond the compound’s exterior.

[This article consists of an illustration. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

Estimated total nuclear inventory*

RUSSIA 12,000

U.S. 9,400

FRANCE 300

CHINA 240

U.K. 185

PAKISTAN 70-90

ISRAEL 80

INDIA 60-80

NORTH KOREA 0-10

*For many countries, the exact number of nuclear weapons is unknown or unverifiable; these numbers are the international community’s best guess

SOURCE: THE FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS

8 | Washington

New Nuke Limits

Just days before signing a new nuclear-arms-reduction treaty with Russia on April 8, President Obama released a “Nuclear Posture Review” that limits the circumstances under which the U.S. would use nuclear weapons. In a break from Bush-era policies, the U.S. will not use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states–unless they are believed to be developing them (like North Korea and possibly Iran). Biological or chemical attacks wouldn’t warrant nuclear retaliation either.

9 | Thailand

Overtaking Parliament

A month of antigovernment demonstrations came to a head on April 7 when protesters stormed parliament, causing government officials to flee via helicopter. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency, allowing the military to suspend civil liberties to quell the unrest. Thailand’s Red Shirts are calling for the dissolution of the government, which came to power after a 2006 coup ousted then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

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

The Great Barrier Reef is biologically diverse

OIL SPILL

What lives there:

• 1,500 species of fish

• 359 types of hard coral

• Over 30 species of marine mammals

SOURCE: WWF

10 | Australia

A Ship Where It Shouldn’t Be

A coal-carrying Chinese freighter slammed into the Great Barrier Reef on April 3, leaking rivulets of oil some 2 miles long into the ocean and putting the world’s largest coral cluster at risk. The vessel had strayed 9 miles outside its designated shipping lane. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would consider requiring further monitoring of ships in the area adjacent to the site, which contains approximately 3,000 reefs.

* | What They’re Spelling in the U.K.: Scrabble aficionados were shocked when word spread that the game’s rules were changing to allow proper nouns. What audacity, temerity and impertinence! But the classic isn’t going anywhere. Toy giant Mattel will simply be introducing an additional version, Scrabble Trickster, in the U.K. Trickster will operate under all sorts of wacky rules, making legal the use of proper nouns and backward-spelled words. Since Hasbro, not Mattel, owns the game’s U.S. rights, Americans won’t find the offending edition on their shelves.