The week at a glance...International

Cairo

Charges against Brotherhood? Egypt’s state prosecutor is investigating allegations that leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood started a fight with protesters demonstrating against President Mohammed Mursi, long a leading Brotherhood figure. Secular and leftist protesters had gathered in Tahrir Square last week to protest the president’s Islamist policies and the Islamist domination of the committee writing Egypt’s new constitution. They were met by Brotherhood supporters, and more than 100 people were hurt in the ensuing brawl. The prosecutor, however, is not seen as an impartial arbiter, since he was appointed under the Mubarak regime.

Tehran

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More sanctions bite: Iran has denounced new EU sanctions as “inhuman.” The new rules, announced this week in Luxembourg and praised as hard-hitting by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ban EU imports of Iranian natural gas and tighten restrictions on financial dealings. Existing Western sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports and access to international banking have sent the rial into free fall, sparking riots across the country. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the measures would not make Iran back down from enriching uranium for nuclear fuel. “They cannot force the Iranian nation to surrender and withdraw,” said Mehmanparast. “These sorts of acts will encourage the Iranian nation to continue on its way, strongly.”

Pyongyang, North Korea

Scant progress: Ten months after Kim Jong Un took power with a promise of economic reform, little has changed for millions of malnourished and impoverished North Koreans. Rice prices have doubled, while electricity outages and chronic shortages of raw materials have kept most factories closed and unemployment high. In a rare interview, a North Korean baker told The New York Times that she had seen children lying dead of hunger in the streets. Escaping to find work in China has become more difficult, since Kim has fortified the border with electrified fences and thousands more guards. “People leapt to very sweeping conclusions about reform, but it’s not a switch that happens in a day,” said North Korea expert Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group.

Okinawa, Japan

U.S. sailor confesses to rape: In an incident that threatens to rekindle protests against the U.S. military presence on Okinawa, two U.S. sailors were arrested for allegedly raping a Japanese woman. The victim, 27, was allegedly attacked outside her apartment building by the men, who had been drinking at a nearby bar. Japanese authorities arrested Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker and Seaman Christopher Browning, and said that Dozierwalker confessed. The two are not based in Japan but were staying there overnight as part of a Navy cargo plane flight crew. The crime revived bitter memories of the 1995 rape and beating of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three U.S. servicemen, which sparked mass anti-American demonstrations across Okinawa.

Manila

Rebels make peace: An Islamic rebel group that has fought a 40-year battle for independence on Mindanao island has made peace with the Philippine government. Under a pact signed this week, the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front will lay down its arms and the government will establish a semiautonomous region called Bangsamoro. The deal lacks specifics and major legal hurdles remain, but both sides expressed optimism that the conflict that has claimed 100,000 lives is over. “Sons and daughters who have had to sweep bullet casings from their yards will now get to pick fruit,” President Benigno Aquino said.