The week at a glance...International

last updated 8 January 2015

Moscow

Adoption drama: Russian officials have accused a Texas woman of murdering one of her adopted Russian sons. Max Shatto, 3, was found dead at his home in January, and Texas authorities are awaiting results of an autopsy. But Russian officials say they have information that the child was beaten to death, and they demand that Max’s brother Kristopher, 2, be returned to Russia. Birth mother Yulia Kuzmina, who lost custody because of alcoholism, appealed for Kristopher’s return in a dramatic live TV interview last week, but her claim was undercut when she was forcibly removed from a train for public drunkenness a few hours later. Russia banned U.S. adoptions in December. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the case this week at his first meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

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Iran talks nukes: Iran returned to the negotiating table this week for the first time in eight months. Since Iran’s last meeting with the so-called P5+1 group—consisting of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S.) plus Germany—Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment and added centrifuges to at least one of its nuclear plants. Negotiators said only that the talks went well and that further meetings were scheduled. “It was them who actually tried to get closer to our viewpoints, and we see that as a positive step,” said Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili. Off the record, diplomats said the group offered to ease some sanctions on Iran if it stops its production of uranium enriched to 20 percent, near weapons-grade.

Female president: South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-hye, began her term this week with a stern warning to North Korea. “North Korea’s recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people,” she said, “and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself.” Park is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, a dictator who ruled South Korea for 18 years and presided over an economic boom. In 1974, at age 22, she became First Lady alongside her father after her mother was assassinated by a pro–North Korean gunman; her father was assassinated by his own spy chief five years later.

Age-old dispute: Malaysia and the Philippines are enmeshed in a diplomatic crisis over a centuries-old territorial dispute. Some 150 Filipinos who say they belong to the Royal Army of Sulu invaded territory in Malaysia’s portion of the island of Borneo two weeks ago and have since been holed up in a village, surrounded by Malaysian security forces. In 1658, the sultan of Brunei gave the territory to the sultan of Sulu—a nearby island group now belonging to the Philippines. He in turned leased it, in 1878, to the British Borneo Co. Malaysia took over the lease and still pays a small annual sum to the Philippines—but apparently some Filipinos in Sulu want to cancel that contract. Philippine President Benigno Aquino appealed to the rebels to end the occupation.

Cease-fire over: A rocket fired from Gaza hit southern Israel this week, ending a three-month cease-fire between Israeli and Palestinian forces. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinians’ Fatah political party, said the missile was its response to what it called the “assassination” of Arafat Jaradat, a Palestinian who died in Israeli police custody last weekend. Palestinians said Jaradat’s body showed signs of torture, while Israeli officials said the broken ribs were the result of efforts to resuscitate the prisoner after he had a heart attack. Riots have broken out in Palestinian cities, and Israel shut its border crossing to Gaza.

Balloon tragedy: A hot air balloon soaring over ancient temples and tombs caught fire and exploded in midair, killing 19 tourists from China, France, Hungary, Japan, and the U.K. One tourist and the pilot managed to save themselves by jumping out before the explosion. Egyptian authorities faulted the pilot for failing to shut the gas valve before he jumped. The incident is likely to further hurt Egypt’s already suffering tourism industry, said Amr Abdel-Ghany, another hot air balloon pilot. “I mean, who would want to visit a country with such a messed-up security and political situation?”

Hiding from drones: An al Qaida tip sheet listing more than 20 ways to avoid getting hit by a drone strike has been recovered in Mali. The Associated Press found the document among materials left behind by Islamist militants fleeing French troops last month. Written by a Yemeni two years ago, it has been modified to reflect West African needs—for example, by telling militants to conceal their cars with mats woven from desert grass. Other advice included posing life-size dolls in fake gatherings. “This shows we are no longer dealing with an isolated local problem, but with an enemy which is reaching across continents to share advice,” said Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution.

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