The week at a glance ... International

last updated 8 January 2015

Baghdad

Americans still in combat: A week after the official end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq, two U.S. soldiers were killed and nine wounded when a man in an Iraqi military uniform opened fire at a military base. “This is a tragic and cowardly act,” the senior American commander in northern Iraq, Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, said, “which I firmly believe was an isolated incident and is certainly not reflective of the Iraqi security forces.” In a separate incident, U.S. soldiers living on an Iraqi base saw combat this week as they helped repel an attack by five suicide bombers; at least a dozen Iraqis were killed, but no Americans were hurt.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Backlash over stoning: The Iranian government lashed out at Europeans who have appealed for leniency for an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006 and has also been charged with abetting the murder of her husband. Her death sentence was postponed in July after an international outcry. This week, French first lady Carla Bruni called for Ashtiani to be freed, prompting Iran’s state-run newspaper Kayhan to call the French president’s third wife a “marriage-wrecking prostitute.” After European Commission President José Manuel Barroso called Ashtiani’s sentence “barbaric beyond words,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the fate of a murderer and adulteress “should not become a human-rights issue.”

Kabul

Run on bank: Afghans mobbed branches of Afghanistan’s largest bank, demanding their money, after the bank’s top two executives were fired for financial malfeasance. Kabul Bank lost more than half of its $500 million in cash on hand as depositors emptied their accounts. But the nation’s central bank said the company was not in danger of failing, and it blamed foreign publications for exaggerating the bank’s woes. “No customers are leaving without their money,” said central bank governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat. “God willing, this problem that was created by the international media can be resolved.”

Singapore

Battling ‘Singlish’: Singapore is urging its people to speak standard English instead of “Singlish,” the city-state’s unique patois. Singlish, which employs English words in a framework of Chinese grammar, is the one language that Singapore’s ethnic Chinese, Malays, and Tamils share in common, but authorities worry that the dialect is hampering business and tourism. “We need to remain relevant to the world,” said government minister Vivian Balakrishnan. She said the government would soon put up posters giving proper English versions of common Singlish phrases. “Got problem call me can,” for example, translates as “Please let me know if you need help.”

Canberra, Australia

Shaky government: Two weeks after a parliamentary election produced a tie, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard formed a minority government this week, narrowly retaining her job. In the election, her Labor Party and the opposition Liberal/National coalition each took 72 seats in the 150-seat lower house, prompting desperate efforts to woo six independent lawmakers. Gillard persuaded four to support her, but they refused to join the government, giving each enormous leverage over legislation. “No one should underestimate the problems Julia Gillard’s got,” said political scientist Norman Abjorensen. “It’s a very uneasy coalition.” Gillard became the country’s first female prime minister in June, when she filled the post after Labor Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stepped down.

Maputo, Mozambique

Food riots: After days of deadly rioting, Mozambique’s government reversed price increases on food and fuel that it had recently described as “irreversible.” The country erupted in anger last week after electric bills spiked and the price of bread rose 30 percent; protesters in many cities burned tires, looted stores, and threw rocks at police. At least 13 people were killed and hundreds injured. This week the government said it would cancel the electricity rate increase and subsidize bread to maintain the previous price. Mozambique, which imports most of its wheat, has been hard hit by rising global wheat prices and its own currency depreciation.

Cotonou, Benin

Massive Ponzi scheme: Lawmakers are calling for the impeachment of Benin’s president after he appeared to promote a Ponzi scheme that has wiped out the life savings of more than 100,000 Benin citizens. Although President Boni Yayi did not explicitly endorse the investment scheme offered by Investment Consultancy and Computing, he did allow his image to be used in the company’s ads. After the scheme collapsed a few months ago, Yayi fired several people in his government who had financial links to the company. But this week, opposition lawmakers said Yayi should step down. “He has betrayed the confidence placed in him by the people,” said opposition leader Adrien Houngbédji.