1 | Iran
A Push for Sanctions
President Obama vowed prompt U.N. sanctions against Iran after Tehran announced it had begun a program to enrich uranium, which the West fears could be used to build nuclear weapons. Iran's announcement was effectively a rejection of last year's U.S. offer to convert Iranian uranium into medical isotopes in a third country. The new sanctions would target members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, who are thought to control the nuclear program. Russia is expected to support the measures, but China, one of the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council, has cautioned against them.
Iran says it will enrich its uranium to 20%
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
Nuclear-power-plant grade 3.5%
Medical-isotope grade 20%
Nuclear-weapons grade 90%
2 | Mexico
Rain Causes Deadly Floods
Unusually heavy rains that began Feb. 3 have caused floods in the Mexican state of Michoacán, on the central Pacific coast, and in Mexico City, the nation's capital. At least 40 people have died; a dozen others were missing after a mudslide covered a busy highway. More than 3,000 homes near the capital were flooded, leaving some residents homeless as further rainstorms threatened to approach the area.
3 | Costa Rica
First Woman President Elected
Former Vice President Laura Chinchilla won a Feb. 7 vote to become the first woman elected to lead Costa Rica. A protégé of the outgoing President, Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias, Chinchilla is expected to continue Arias' economic policies and his efforts as peace broker in the region. A social conservative, Chinchilla opposes gay marriage and abortion and has promised to combat the country's increasing crime rate.
4 | Sri Lanka
Opposition Leader Arrested
Some 2,500 supporters of Sarath Fonseka took to the streets to protest the retired general's arrest on Feb. 8 for "committing military offenses." Fonseka had challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a Jan. 26 election, the country's first since the end of a 26-year civil war last May. Former allies, the two quickly became foes, with Fonseka alleging election fraud and claiming that his life was threatened following Rajapaksa's victory. Fonseka is set to be court-martialed at a later date.
5 | Ukraine
A New Leader (Sort of)
In the country's Feb. 7 presidential election, former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych defeated sitting Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko by 3.5 percentage points. Though the vote received high marks from international election monitors, Tymoshenko refused to concede and signaled that she may ask for a recount. Tymoshenko may be hoping for a repeat of the Orange Revolution that followed the 2004 presidential election; that uprising ousted Yanukovych after he was accused of electoral fraud. Any election appeals must be lodged by Feb. 17, when Kiev will declare the results official.
6 | Washington
LET IT SNOW