Tripoli, Libya
French Embassy bombed: A car bomb exploded outside the French Embassy this week, injuring two guards and flattening much of the diplomatic compound in an upscale neighborhood of the Libyan capital. The bombing happened in early morning, before embassy workers or visa seekers arrived. Authorities said they weren’t sure whether the attack was linked to last year’s assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. No group claimed responsibility, but suspicions fell on al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other militant Islamist groups angry over France’s deployment against their allies in Mali. “The militants don’t want Libyan casualties because they fear a backlash,” Rami El-Obeidi, former intelligence chief for the Libyan rebels, told Time. “This is retaliation for Mali.”
Damascus, Syria
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Chemical weapons? The Israeli military increased pressure on the Obama administration to act against Syria this week by saying it was “nearly 100 percent certain” that the Syrian regime has been using chemical weapons against rebels. Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, chief of the research division of Israel’s army intelligence, said President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used “lethal chemical weapons against gunmen in a series of incidents in recent months,” and that he has photos that show victims foaming at the mouth. The claim comes just a week after the U.K. and France presented evidence of the regime’s alleged chemical weapons use to the U.N., including soil samples and witness statements. President Obama has said the use of chemical weapons would be a red line triggering U.S. military action, but the White House said this week that it was not yet convinced.
Islamabad, Pakistan
Musharraf arrested: Pakistan’s former military ruler has been placed under house arrest after fleeing a courtroom and speeding away to his villa, his bodyguards clinging to the side of his armored car. Ousted in 2008 after a popular uprising, Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan last month after four years in self-imposed exile. Hoping to make a political comeback, he’d arranged bail ahead of time in several cases pending against him so he wouldn’t be arrested at the airport. But the courts overturned those agreements, and now he faces charges of illegally firing the chief justice of the Supreme Court and facilitating the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf ran from the courtroom as soon as his bail agreement was denied, and is now being held pending trial.
Delhi
Rape cover-up: Another horrifying rape in Delhi has focused Indian attention on police response to sexual violence. A 5-year-old girl was kidnapped and brutally raped last week, allegedly by a neighbor and his friend, who strangled her and left her for dead. She is being treated for severe internal injuries. The girl’s father said police were slow to look for his daughter and then offered him a bribe of about $37 to keep quiet about the rape. Police said they are trying to stamp out such behavior and that the officer involved has been suspended. The number of rapes reported in Delhi so far this year, 463, is more than double that in the same period last year, as victims are more willing to report the crime after a highly publicized gang rape last year.
Savar, Bangladesh
Factory collapses: Appalling working conditions in garment factories have claimed more lives in Bangladesh. An eight-story factory building collapsed this week, killing at least 96 people and injuring more than a thousand. Mehedi Hasan, who worked at a button factory on the third floor, said workers had noticed a new crack in the wall the day before but were ordered to work anyway. “There was a loud sound and then everything went dark,” he told The Wall Street Journal. Last year a fire killed more than 100 garment workers in Dhaka, prompting calls for U.S. clothing companies to pull out of Bangladesh.
Lushan, China
Deadly earthquake: A magnitude-6.6 earthquake sent huge chunks of mountains tumbling down into valleys in southwestern China this week, killing some 200 people and injuring more than 8,000. Rescue workers were scrambling to get supplies to cities and villages in the quake zone, but many roads were blocked by rubble. The Sichuan Red Cross estimated that drinking water in the region would run out within three days. The quake’s epicenter was just 25 miles from China’s largest panda research center, but authorities said all the pandas there were safe.
