World

NATO Scrambles to Topple Gaddafi

LIBYA

Three months of war against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi have backed the Libyan dictator into a corner, but his stubborn refusal to leave office has raised international fears that the war has bogged down. NATO and other Western officials insisted at meetings that ground troops would not be needed to oust Gaddafi. The war effort has been intensified with the deployment of helicopter gunships capable of more precise targeting of Gaddafi’s military positions. A brief chess match between the dictator and an eccentric Russian politician did little to ease pressure on Tripoli. Germany, which was slow to follow European allies like France into the war, chose to recognize the rebels as Libya’s legitimate rulers June 13.

NALUT

Despite rocket strikes by Gaddafi forces, rebels in the western mountains advanced east toward Tripoli

TRIPOLI

Gaddafi’s capital has come under steady attack by NATO aircraft; Libyan state agencies claim 800 civilians have died

ZLITAN

Officials in the rebel-held port of Misratah warned of a looming Gaddafi crackdown on the city of Zlitan, on the road to Tripoli

World by the Numbers

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

6 BRAZIL

Murders connected to an intensifying conflict between farmers and loggers in the Amazon region since May

45.2% ISRAEL

Unemployment rate in the second half of 2010 in Gaza, the Palestinian territory blockaded for five years by Israel

53 NEPAL

Land-mine fields planted during a decade-long civil war; the last area was cleared June 14

23.6 THE PHILIPPINES

Height, in inches (59.9 cm), of Junrey Balawing, named the world’s shortest man on his 18th birthday

$6.6 billion IRAQ

U.S. cash, sent to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, that was allegedly stolen or is otherwise unaccounted for

An Asian Giant’s Growing Pains

CHINA

A scuffle between migrant street vendors and security personnel near China’s southern metropolis of Guangzhou sparked a series of riots and the detention of 25 people. The unrest comes amid a wave of social upheaval, which many ascribe to widespread anger at growing inequalities in the country as well as frustration with corrupt local officials.

Police Hunt For Activist Hackers

TURKEY

Authorities seized 32 people believed to belong to the global hacker collective Anonymous, which has targeted the websites of corporations and nation-states, including Turkey. Days earlier, three hackers suspected of various acts of sabotage were detained in Spain. In response, hackers briefly shut down Spain’s main police site.

For a Bleeding Nation, Comfort in Protest

MEXICO

Thousands took part in a weeklong Caravan of Solace campaign in which activists traveled the country, holding rallies in cities to protest rampant drug-related violence and the government’s inability to curb the cartels. Above, at a stop in Ciudad Juárez, campaigners mourn innocent women slain during the drug war.

Spat over Disputed Waters Escalates

VIETNAM

Tensions over the South China Sea, which is claimed in part by six countries, flared once more. Southeast Asian states have warily watched China, which considers the sea an integral part of its territory, build up its naval prowess and assert its claims aggressively in recent years. Not shrinking from the challenge, Vietnam’s navy practiced live-fire exercises June 13–an act Beijing deemed provocative. The two countries dispute ownership of the Spratly and Paracel archipelagoes and have fought bloody engagements over them in the past. Anti-Chinese protests over the sea also took place in the Philippines.

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

CHINA

VIETNAM

MALAYSIA

PHILIPPINES

CHINA’S CLAIMED TERRITORIAL WATERS

BOUNDARIES SUGGESTED BY A U.N. CONVENTION

DISPUTED ISLANDS

SOURCE: U.N. CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA; CIA

Is Greece About to Go Bust?

GREECE

Mass protests and stiff political opposition met the government’s attempt to push through a new round of austerity measures. The cuts–up to $40 billion worth–are necessary for debt-ridden Greece to get fresh loans from the International Monetary Fund. President George Papandreou offered to shake up his Cabinet and even resign if it would get the legislation passed. Failure to do so would plunge the entire euro zone into crisis.

Ghost of Darfur in the Borderlands

SUDAN

An agreement between northern and southern Sudan to demilitarize the boundary between them ahead of the South’s formal independence in July did little to dampen worsening violence on the border. Northern forces bombed the province of South Kordofan; although it is part of northern Sudan, the province is home to ethnic groups sympathetic to the South. Some 140,000 people have fled the North’s offensive in the border regions. Aid groups draw parallels to ethnic cleansing and displacements seen earlier in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.