Moscow
Spacecraft plummets: Russian space officials are blaming the failure of a mission to Mars on U.S. radar. The Phobos-Grunt unmanned craft, launched in November, never managed to make it out of Earth’s orbit and crashed into the Pacific Ocean this week. Unnamed Russian space officials told Kommersant that the crash had probably been caused by inadvertent interference from U.S. radar, while the chief of Russia’s space agency, Vladimir Popovkin, said “certain forces” might be shooting down Russian spacecraft. “I don’t want to make any accusations, but at present there are powerful technologies that can impact spacecraft, and their usage cannot be ruled out,” he said. Russian scientists, though, called such theories “far-fetched” and said the spacecraft had software problems.
Pyongyang, North Korea
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Kim’s brother pessimistic: The eldest son of North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong Il says his half brother’s new regime will soon fall. Kim Jong Nam has never met the new leader, Kim Jong Un, who was born after he went to Switzerland to study. The elder Kim now lives in Macau, having been banished from North Korea after falling out with his father in 2001 over what he says was his desire for economic reform. “The Kim Jong Un regime will not last long,” Kim Jong Nam said. “Without reforms, North Korea will collapse, and when such changes do take place, the regime will collapse.” The quotes are in a new book by Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, who has been in touch with Kim Jong Nam for years. According to Japanese media, Kim Jong Nam has set up a Facebook account under a pseudonym and has made posts mocking his half brother.
Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Ties with U.S. restored: Myanmar and the U.S. agreed last week to exchange ambassadors, partially restoring diplomatic relations suspended more than two decades ago. The breakthrough came after the nominally civilian government released hundreds of political prisoners, signed a peace deal with ethnic Karen rebels, and announced that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could run for office in the upcoming national by-elections. The U.S. withdrew its ambassador in 1990 after the military junta’s bloody crackdown on the democratic movement. After widespread protests by Buddhist monks in 2007, the junta revamped the constitution and started economic and political reforms. “An American ambassador will help strengthen our efforts to support the historic and promising steps that are now unfolding,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Islamabad, Pakistan
Will the government fall? A long-standing power struggle for control of Pakistan has erupted into the open, with the Supreme Court starting contempt-of-court proceedings against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Gilani is charged with failing to pursue old corruption charges against his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari was known as “Mr. 10 Percent” for his rumored penchant for kickbacks while his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, was prime minister, and he served eight years in prison on corruption charges. The high court is apparently siding with the country’s powerful military, which is furious that Zardari asked the U.S. for help in preventing a military coup.
Damascus, Syria
World turns on Assad: President Obama ramped up the rhetoric against Syria this week, saying the ongoing bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters was “unacceptable” and calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The Arab League, which had long hesitated to condemn Assad’s brutal repression of the protests, said this week it would meet to consider Qatar’s proposal of armed intervention by Arab troops. Some 5,500 people have been killed in the uprising, including hundreds in the past few weeks right in front of Arab League observers. From its base in Turkey, the rebel Free Syrian Army called on the Arab League to turn the case over to the U.N. Security Council, but that’s unlikely to result in action since China and Russia both oppose intervention.
Lagos, Nigeria
Fuel riots: The abrupt doubling of the price of gas has plunged Nigeria into a political and economic crisis. President Goodluck Jonathan abolished the fuel subsidy in the oil-rich nation on Jan. 1, sending gas soaring from about $1.70 a gallon to $3.50, in a country where most people live on less than $2 a day. Higher transport costs caused prices for food and all other goods to shoot up as well, and last week the major labor unions called a massive strike that paralyzed the country. Tens of thousands of Nigerians took to the streets in protests, hundreds were injured, and the army was sent in to restore order. This week, Jonathan agreed to restore a partial subsidy, and the unions called off the strike, but the situation remained tense. Jonathan said the money saved from cutting the gas subsidy would be spent on vital infrastructure to improve access to electricity and clean water.
