The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

By Harriet Barovick, Ishaan Tharoor, Alexandra Silver, Claire Suddath, Frances Romero, Kayla Webley and Josh Sanburn Monday, Sept. 27, 2010

    • 1 | Washington

    U.S. to Arm the Saudis

    In a deal expected to be approved by Congress, the Obama Administration has announced that it is seeking to sell Saudi Arabia several hundred advanced aircraft worth up to $60 billion. If Congress allows the sale to proceed, it would constitute the U.S.'s biggest foreign arms deal ever. The move is seen largely as a counter to Iran's rise in regional prominence, fueled in part by its suspected push for nuclear weapons, and has won the tacit backing of Israel, the region's other major military player. The purchase is expected to support up to 75,000 American jobs at aviation-tech companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and United Technologies.

    What almost $60 billion can get you

    84

    new F-15 fighter jets

    72

    Black Hawk helicopters

    70

    Apache attack helicopters

    36

    Little Bird helicopters

    2 | France

    Roma Deportations Earn Rebuke

    The European Union criticized France's recent deportation of more than 1,200 Roma Gypsies and warned that it might take legal action if France is found to have broken international law by targeting a specific ethnic group for expulsion. While France claims it is simply removing those who are in the country illegally, a leaked internal government memo identified the removal of Roma camps as a priority. E.U. Justice Minister Viviane Reding likened the situation to what happened under the Nazis during WW II.

    3 | Pakistan

    Fighting Two Battles

    Since devastating floods inundated much of Pakistan in August, the country has had to stave off humanitarian catastrophe as well as a continuing insurgent threat. The scale of the disaster has bogged down Pakistani forces, and countless civilians are still in need of relief. Sensing opportunity in crisis, al-Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, recently criticized the Pakistani government for not doing enough for flood victims.

    4 | Israel

    Leaders Meet amid Attacks For Second Round of Talks

    Israeli and Palestinian leaders concluded face-to-face negotiations Sept. 15 without achieving progress on key issues. Palestinian opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank persists, as a moratorium on construction is set to expire Sept. 26. And in Gaza, militants fired rockets and mortar shells into Israel. The Israeli military responded with an air strike that killed a Palestinian civilian. It was the heaviest exchange of fire since March 2009.

    5 | China

    A Spat with An Old Foe

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