World

Presidential Rivals Vie for Angry Voters

1 | FRANCE

Socialist candidate Franois Hollande dominated the first round of France’s presidential elections with 28.8% of the vote–a few points ahead of conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. The two will go head to head in a runoff election on May 6. But their biggest challenge, for now at least, is winning over the surprisingly high proportion of voters–18%–who sided with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Although that percentage wasn’t enough to get Le Pen to the next round, it made her and the politics of her Euroskeptic, anti-immigrant National Front party central to the election. Professing a desire to sway those who he believes turned to Le Pen because of “social anger” rather than hostility to outsiders, Hollande promptly scheduled a campaign rally in a small town where Le Pen had performed particularly well. The stakes are slightly higher for Sarkozy, who can’t rely on the support of left-wing voters who opted for candidates to the left of Hollande in the first round. Sarkozy has hardened his stance on immigration, proposing a mandatory French-language exam for prospective citizens. Le Pen says she will announce on May 1 whom she’s supporting, though some suspect she’ll back neither man and promote her once fringe party as the country’s true political opposition.

U.K.

1,300

Workers at investment firm Aviva who were inadvertently e-mailed their pink slips. The missive was intended for a single employee

Austerity Backlash Grows

2 | THE NETHERLANDS

The backlash against austerity measures in Europe claimed another casualty. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned April 23 after failing to pass $18.6 billion in budget cuts that would have curbed his country’s skyrocketing national debt. His main roadblock: the far-right Freedom Party, which pulled support for Rutte’s government, a fragile coalition of centrist and right-wing parties. The imperatives of austerity in crisis-hit Europe have riled up feeling on both ends of the political spectrum, with populist politicians on the right and the left calling for new policies that spur growth rather than trim public spending.

UKRAINE

‘I thought that the last minutes of my life have come.’

YULIA TYMOSHENKO, former Ukrainian Prime Minister, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence, alleging she was beaten by guards; she is now on a hunger strike

Troubled Waters

3 | THE PHILIPPINES

Tensions in the South China Sea flared yet again after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine naval vessels. Two Chinese patrol ships blocked an attempt by the Philippine coast guard to arrest Chinese fishermen operating near the Scarborough Shoal, a group of islands in the Philippines’ recognized maritime territory. China, however, claims ownership of the entire South China Sea, a stake hotly disputed by a number of other nations, including the Philippines. Backed by a rapidly expanding navy, Beijing has grown more assertive in recent years about its claims in what is not only the world’s most important trade corridor but also the site of untapped natural gas fields. That in turn has led some of China’s neighbors to step up military ties with the U.S. and India, Asia’s other rising power. As Chinese and Philippine officials traded diplomatic barbs, the U.S. conducted naval exercises with the Philippines and Vietnam.

Blood-Soaked Soil

4 | SUDAN

The body of a slain Sudanese soldier lies in an oil field in the town of Helgig, the site of fighting between Sudanese and South Sudanese forces. Officials in South Sudan, which gained independence from the north last year, claimed Sudan had in effect declared war. Reports followed of Sudanese jets bombing South Sudanese border towns. Since last year’s U.N.-monitored partition, the two countries have sparred over a boundary that cuts across oil-rich and ethnically divided terrain.

Who’s the Biggest Spammer?

5 | INDIA

File under Dubious Honors: India has dethroned the U.S. as the world’s biggest source of spam. “Its computers are generally not very well protected, and more citizens are using the Internet,” explains Graham Cluley, a consultant at Sophos, the tech firm that published the data. “It was a perfect storm.”

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

Percentage of global spam sent

INDIA 9.3%

SOUTH KOREA 5.7%

INDONESIA 5%

RUSSIA 5%

U.S. 8.3%

ITALY 4.9%

Fire the Missiles

6 | PAKISTAN

A week after India tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Beijing with a nuclear payload, its archrival Pakistan fired its own intermediate-range missile into the sea. Pakistan and India both possess nuclear weapons and have fought three wars during a half-century of tensions and animosity. Though relations have warmed somewhat in the past year, the specter of conflict always looms over South Asia.

Withdrawal Symptoms

7 | AFGHANISTAN

After months of intense negotiations, the U.S. and Afghanistan have drafted a partnership agreement that pledges 10 years of U.S. support for the country after American and NATO troops officially withdraw in 2014. The pact fills in few specifics but may serve as a warning to the Taliban, which is widely expected to attempt a comeback when the U.S. and its allies clear the stage.