The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

By Harriet Barovick, Ishaan Tharoor, Alexandra Silver, Claire Suddath, Frances Romero, Kayla Webley and Josh Sanburn Monday, Jan. 31, 2011

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    The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives voted to repeal the landmark health care reform law enacted last year, arguing that the legislation was too costly and "job killing." The long-anticipated move was as symbolic as it was unsurprising, since the Democratic-controlled Senate is not expected to follow suit. But a full repeal is not the only potential threat to the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans plan to chip away at the law, many of whose provisions--including those that would expand coverage to some 30 million currently uninsured Americans--won't take effect for several years. Elsewhere, legal challenges across the country are making it likely that the Supreme Court could eventually address the constitutionality of the law.

    6 | Brazil

    DEADLY RAINS

    The death toll from the floods and mudslides that recently hit southeastern Brazil--resulting in one of the worst natural disasters in the country's history--surpassed 700 and was expected to rise. Rescue workers continued to dig out bodies, and authorities warned residents of more landslides to come. The destruction, wreaked by heavy rains and exacerbated by inadequate planning, has left thousands homeless.

    7 | Iraq

    Bombings Target Iraqi Forces

    A trio of bomb attacks, two of which were directed at Iraqi police, renewed fears that Sunni extremists may escalate efforts to undermine confidence in security forces ahead of the U.S.'s Dec. 31 withdrawal. In the first incident, a bomber in Tikrit blew himself up in a crowd of police recruits, killing at least 60. The next day, an ambulance exploded outside a training center in nearby Diyala province; at least 13 died. In a third, unrelated attack, a man blew himself up in Diyala near a convoy of a top provincial official, killing two.

    8 | Yemen

    Radical Cleric Sentenced

    A Yemeni court sentenced U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in absentia to 10 years in prison for incitement to murder and belonging to a terrorist group. Officials in the U.S. and Yemen say al-Awlaki, who is in hiding, is in league with al-Qaeda and has inspired jihadists through his fiery Internet sermons. Many Yemenis see the verdict as a bid to placate the U.S. and boost efforts to capture al-Awlaki, who is on the CIA's targeted-kill list.

    9 | Somalia

    Piracy Worse than Ever

    Despite the presence of a fleet of international warships in the waters off Somalia, pirate attacks reached record levels in 2010, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The IMB reported 445 attacks, the vast majority linked to Somali pirates, many of whom evade the foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden by traveling farther into the Indian Ocean aboard retrofitted "mother ships." By some measures, piracy costs the global economy up to $12 billion a year.

    10 | Italy

    Silvio's Sex Scandal

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