The week at a glance...International

Jerusalem

Not running: Defense Minister Ehud Barak shocked Israel this week with the news that he’s retiring from politics. Barak, a war hero general and former prime minister, was a longtime leader of the Labor Party before starting his own Independence party last year, but the party has fared poorly. Polls show that only 3 percent of Israelis plan to vote for Independence in January’s elections, but fully 60 percent said they approved of Barak’s performance as defense minister. Israeli analysts said that even without holding a seat in the Knesset, Barak could still be appointed defense minister again should Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win another term, as is likely.

Damascus, Syria

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Rebels target civilians: A double car bombing in a Damascus suburb this week has sharpened concern over the presence of Islamist militants among the rebel forces in Syria. The bombs shattered a Christian and Druse neighborhood mostly loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, killing dozens and strewing body parts everywhere. The attack followed a pattern used by Islamic militants, who tend to bomb a busy area once and then again some minutes later to kill rescue workers. Most rebels, including many army defectors, are not motivated by religion, but as the nearly two-year conflict drags on, the Islamist element has strengthened

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Women tagged: Saudi Arabia’s oppression of women has entered the electronic age. When a Saudi woman leaves the country, her husband or other male guardian gets a text message from the Interior Ministry informing him, even if he has not registered for such alerts. The new monitoring was revealed last week by feminist activist Manal Al-Sharif, who is best known for filming herself driving a car in defiance of the kingdom’s ban on women behind the wheel. She said the guardianship system allows men complete control over women and enables widespread abuse. “Women should use this to make some noise,” said Al-Sharif. “Rock the boat, and say enough is enough.”

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Factory fires: Thousands of Bangladeshis protested for better working conditions this week after a factory fire killed more than 100 workers. Workers at the Ashulia factory, which produces clothes for Walmart and other international companies, said that locked emergency exits prevented many people from escaping the blaze. Authorities arrested the managers responsible for keeping exits clear, while Walmart said that it had been unaware that one of its suppliers subcontracted work to the substandard factory. Labor activists say that practice is not unusual, and that global brands intentionally distance themselves from responsibility for workers. Bangladeshi apparel factories employ some 3.4 million workers, mostly young women, who earn about $43 a month.

Beijing

One hot dictator: Mistaking an Onion spoof for actual news, Chinese media reported this week that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had been named “sexiest man alive.” The Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily ran a 55-photo slide show of Kim in various poses on its website, accompanied by this quote from the Onion article: “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true.” Chinese media routinely praise the North Korean regime, so it’s not surprising the newspaper failed to recognize the sarcasm. It took the slide show down after being widely mocked in the international press.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Facebook banned: Tajik authorities have blocked that “hotbed of slander,” Facebook, because of posts critical of the president. Beg Zukhorov, head of the Telecommunications Office, said he shut down access to the site after receiving complaints about insults to President Imomali Rakhmon, the autocrat who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union. “My phone has literally exploded with calls from grateful citizens who happily greeted the news of the closure of the site,” Zukhorov said. He said that if Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wanted to discuss the decision, he could come to the agency in Dushanbe “during office hours.”