The week at a glance...International

Bolshaya Yelnya, Russia

Cult of Putin: A religious sect has sprung up that worships Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the reincarnation of St. Paul. The sect was founded by Svetlana Frolova, who calls herself Mother Fotina. She says that Putin was also, in a past life, Vladimir I of Kiev, the saint who converted pagan Russia to Christianity in 988. “In his days in the KGB, Putin did some rather unrighteous things,” Frolova told the Russian magazine Sobesednik. “But once he became president, he was imbued with the Holy Spirit, and just like the apostle, he started leading his flock.” It’s unclear how many followers Frolova has, but local residents said the cult members have been clogging the village streets with traffic.

Fukushima, Japan

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Worse than they thought: The damage at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is worse than originally thought, TEPCO officials said last week. Three of the reactors experienced at least a partial meltdown shortly after the March earthquake and tsunami, and radioactive fuel pellets burned cracks in the containment vessel, causing contaminated water to leak out and leaving fuel rods completely exposed. Officials said that rather than simply pumping in water, they would have to build a circulation system to decontaminate water that leaks out and then pump it back in. They insisted they would still be able to stabilize the reactor by January, as planned.

Brisbane, Australia

Stop the planking: A 20-year-old man trying to lie facedown on a narrow balcony railing fell seven stories to his death this week, prompting calls for an end to the Facebook craze of “planking.” The practice, which involves lying like a plank somewhere odd or dangerous and posting the photo on Facebook, is particularly popular in Australia. The Planking Australia Facebook page has more than 120,000 members, and boasts photos of people planking on a McDonald’s sign, a highway, and a ski lift. The death of planker Acton Beale in Brisbane prompted Prime Minister Julia Gillard to ask Australians to stop the madness. “There’s a difference between a harmless bit of fun done somewhere that’s really safe and taking a risk with your life,” Gillard said.

Kabul

Talking to the Taliban: The U.S. has begun direct negotiations with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. An unnamed Afghan official told The Washington Post that a U.S. representative has attended at least three meetings in Qatar and Germany with a Taliban official who is close to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the group’s leader. While the meetings were initiated before the killing of Osama bin Laden, the removal of the al Qaida leader is expected to push the talks along. The U.S. and Afghan governments both say that the Taliban must renounce violence and respect the rights of women and minorities if it is to share power in Afghanistan.

Cairo

Paying for freedom: Suzanne Mubarak, wife of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, was released from prison this week after handing over some $4 million in cash and property. The Mubaraks and their sons have been detained for questioning on suspicion that they acquired much of their fortune illegally; the former president is also being investigated for accusations that he ordered deadly force against protesters. Pro-democracy activists were angry at Suzanne’s release. “It’s not acceptable if she took the money of the people of Egypt for 30 years and she comes now and says, ‘Forgive me, I’ll return the money back to you,’” said Walid Rashid, a spokesman for the 6th of April Youth Movement. “It’s the same thing that Mubarak is trying to do right now.”