The week at a glance ... International

Moscow

Opposition calls for sanctions: A top Russian opposition leader has called on the West to slap travel sanctions on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin because of his repression of political dissent. Boris Nemtsov, who served as deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, was arrested at a New Year’s rally and jailed for two weeks after a trial that was widely described as unfair even by Russian standards. The judge refused to hear defense witnesses or watch video footage that Nemtsov’s lawyers said showed he had not violated public order. Released this week, Nemtsov urged the U.S. and Europe to refuse visas to top Russian officials until they respect democracy. “That list must start with Putin’s name,” Nemtsov said. “He is the man who has trampled upon and torn apart the Russian constitution.”

Beijing

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Banker to the world: China has lent more money to developing countries in the past two years than the World Bank has, a Financial Times analysis found this week. During the recent global financial crisis, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, both state-owned, offered loans of at least $110 billion to governments and firms in developing countries, compared with $100 billion from the World Bank. And that’s just the loans the two Chinese banks announced publicly—the true figure could be much higher. The Chinese banks specialize in lending to suppliers of raw materials used in Chinese industry needs. The agreements have included large loan-for-oil deals with Russia, Venezuela, and Brazil, as well as projects in India, Ghana, and Argentina.

Tikrit, Iraq

Worst attack in months: A suicide bomber killed at least 60 people and injured more than 100 in a crowd of prospective police recruits this week, committing the deadliest single attack in Iraq in nearly three months. The following day, another suicide bomber killed 12 people at a training center for security forces in Baqubah. While attacks are down in general, assemblies of police and security officers remain frequent targets. Falah al-Naqaeeb, who is expected to be named Iraq’s next defense minister, said such incidents will increase if U.S. forces leave Iraq at the end of the year. “The Iraqi security forces need the expertise from the Americans,” he said. “They shouldn’t be in a hurry with the withdrawal.”

Beirut

Government falls: The militant Shiite party Hezbollah pulled out of Lebanon’s unity government last week in anger over a U.N. investigation into the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon this week issued a sealed indictment of the alleged assassins, and it’s widely believed that Hezbollah members are among them. It will be weeks before the details are made public and possible arrests undertaken. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader, presides over a caretaker government while the various Lebanese political factions—and their sponsors in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, and elsewhere—try to cobble together a new coalition.

Khartoum, Sudan

Revolt predicted: A Sudanese opposition leader was arrested this week just hours after he had warned of a Tunisia-style uprising in Sudan. Officials said Hassan al-Turabi, a 78-year-old Islamist leader, was fomenting unrest. Nine other members of Turabi’s Popular Congress Party were also arrested. In response, the party’s deputy leader, Abdullah Hassan Ahmed, said he would lead protests. “We are taking to the streets to confront this regime,” Ahmed said. He said if the ruling party didn’t agree to bring in a transitional government and hold new elections, his followers would “fight them in the streets.” Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup, was elected last year in Sudan’s first elections, which were widely condemned as rigged.