The week at a glance...International

Kaduna, Nigeria

Muslims riot: Mobs armed with machetes killed hundreds of Christians and displaced thousands more in mostly Muslim northern Nigeria this week. The rioters were angry over the victory of Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, in the presidential election. Jonathan won handily, with two thirds of the vote in an election observers said was the fairest in decades. But the vote also underlined the country’s split, as almost all the ballots for Jonathan’s Muslim rival were cast in the Muslim north. “They said, are you Christian or Muslim?” Joseph Agula, who was being treated for a machete wound to the head, told Reuters. “I lied and said I was Muslim, but they didn’t believe me and they beat me and cut me.”

Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia

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Police forgiven: Tunisian authorities have dropped the charges against the policewoman whose December dispute with a fruit vendor sparked the uprising that touched off a wave of Arab revolutions. Officer Fedia Hamdi confiscated the wares of Mohamed Bouazizi because he had no permit, and in the ensuing altercation she is alleged to have slapped him. Bouazizi set himself on fire and eventually died of his burns, and his desperate act prompted anti-government demonstrations that forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country. The charges were dropped because Bouazizi’s mother withdrew her complaint against Hamdi, saying she wanted “to avoid hatred and promote reconciliation.”

Cairo

Mubarak sons in prison: Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former President Hosni Mubarak, have traded their mansions for a jail cell in Cairo’s notorious Tura prison. Neither has been charged, but authorities are investigating allegations that the two men took bribes and kickbacks from numerous companies and pocketed state assets during privatizations of state firms. Their father, meanwhile, is still in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, being treated for heart problems that started while he was under interrogation last week. Mubarak, 82, is said to be clinically depressed. He is accused of ordering his forces to fire on protesters. Egypt’s interim government said this week that at least 846 people were killed during the uprising that toppled Mubarak in February.

Sanaa, Yemen

Crackdown worsens: Security forces and gunmen on motorcycles opened fire in several Yemeni cities this week on thousands of peaceful protesters demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. At least four people were killed and dozens of others badly hurt. But rather than dispelling the protesters, the government’s brutality appeared to strengthen their determination. “I’ll die for the success of this revolution,” injured activist Khaled al-Harazy told The Christian Science Monitor. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been in this hospital.” Meanwhile, international attempts at mediation failed. The Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional group led by Saudi Arabia, offered Saleh immunity if he stepped down, a condition the opposition rejected. The U.N. Security Council met to discuss Yemen but failed to agree on a statement calling on parties to exercise restraint.

Gaza

Activist murdered: A Palestinian fringe group kidnapped and murdered an Italian pro-Palestinian activist in Gaza last week, the first foreigner to be killed since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, had worked for Palestinian rights since college, lived in Gaza since 2008, and was friendly with Hamas authorities. He was kidnapped by Tawhid wal-Jihad, an Islamist group seeking the release of their leader, imprisoned by Hamas in March. Local jihadist groups inspired by al Qaida have sprung up in Gaza in recent years and carried out bombings there. They oppose Hamas because they say it has strayed from its primary goal of fighting Israel. Hamas security forces investigating the murder this week killed two suspects and arrested one.

Tokyo

Regulating nukes: Faced with mounting accusations that government regulators were too lax in policing safety measures at the damaged Fukushima reactor, Japan’s government is trying to close the “revolving door” between the nuclear industry and the ministry that regulates it. Officials at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry routinely take lucrative jobs with Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other nuclear energy companies upon retirement, and many suspect that the relationship is much too cozy. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that the ruling party lacks the votes to pass a law forbidding ex-officials from accepting jobs in industries they once regulated. Instead, he said this week, he is asking officials to “voluntarily refrain” from taking the high-paying jobs.

Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Yurt camp: Scores of herders from the steppes set up yurts in the central square of the Mongolian capital this week to protest deals with international mining companies. The herders, who arrived on horseback, said the copper, gold, and coal mining companies were destroying their grazing lands. “More and more people are coming from rural areas of Mongolia to support us,” said environmental activist Munkhbayar Tsetsgee. “We will camp here until our demands are met.” Mongolian herders—who make up half the country’s population—have been facing tough times. They’ve lost millions of animals in the past two winters, two of the harshest in decades.