Khartoum, Sudan
Election chaos: Sudan this week held what was supposed to be the first multiparty elections in a quarter-century, but almost nothing went according to plan. First, the main opposition parties decided to boycott the election, leaving the party of President Omar al-Bashir, who is under indictment for war crimes, virtually unopposed. Then the voting, which was supposed to last three days, had to be extended after ballots ran out and many voters couldn’t find their polling places. A coalition of civic groups is now calling for a do-over. “The problems are so widespread that the whole process, the whole election has to be repeated,” said activist Shamseddin Dawalbeit. The election was mandated by a 2005 peace agreement that ended a 20-year civil war.
Mogadishu, Somalia
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The sound of silence: The Islamist militant group that controls much of Somalia has ordered radio stations to stop airing music. Hizbul Islam, which has already banned bras, musical ringtones, and movies, declared this week that music was “un-Islamic.” Somali stations tend to play a mix of American, European, and African rock and rap. “Now I think we are going to be forced to hear only the horrific sounds of the gunfire and the explosions,” said Mogadishu resident Khadiya Omar. Islamists in recent months have gained the upper hand in an ongoing war with the U.N.-backed government, which controls only a small part of the capital.
Jerusalem
Anger over ID policy: Israel adopted a new identification policy this week that critics say could pave the way for large-scale expulsions of Palestinians from the West Bank. From now on, anyone caught in the West Bank without a residency permit can be classified as an “infiltrator” and expelled or jailed. Thousands of Gazans who moved to the West Bank, even many years ago, as well as foreign-born Palestinians married to West Bankers could be affected. Palestinian leaders and human-rights groups in Israel denounced the initiative. “This is part of a series of steps implemented by Israel to empty the West Bank of Palestinians, especially by removing them to Gaza,” said Israeli human-rights activist Sari Bashi. The Israeli military said the new orders simply formalize existing procedures and will not lead to a wave of deportations.
Yushu, China
Deadly quakes: A series of strong earthquakes slammed western China this week, destroying entire villages, killing at least 400 people, and injuring thousands. Officials said most of the casualties occurred when the traditional mud-and-log houses common in the rural, mostly Tibetan-populated province of Qinghai collapsed on people early Wednesday morning. A number of school buildings also collapsed, and fires fed by broken gas pipelines raced through Jiegu, the largest town hit. Troops arrived quickly, but they were having trouble getting rescue equipment to the remotest areas. “We don’t have any excavators,” local military official Shi Huajie told state television. “Many of the people have been buried, and our soldiers are trying to pull them out. It is very difficult to save people with our bare hands.” Chinese officials said the biggest of six quakes and aftershocks measured magnitude 7.1.
Seoul
Curfew for young gamers: South Korea has imposed a gaming curfew to try to crack down on what authorities call an epidemic of video-game addiction among the young. The Culture Ministry announced this week that anyone under 18 would be blocked from accessing three popular online computer games after midnight. Many other games must add features that will drastically slow the speed of Internet access once a player has been logged on for a certain number of hours. The measures come in response to a rash of incidents that shocked the nation in recent months. In one case, a couple was charged with letting their infant starve to death while they raised a “virtual child” on the Internet.
Moscow
Adopted kid sent back: Russia has placed a freeze on all U.S. adoptions of Russian children after a Tennessee woman put her 7-year-old adopted son alone on a plane and shipped him back to Russia. Just six months after Tory Hansen adopted Artyom Savelyev from a Russian orphanage, she returned him; a note taped to him read, “I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends, and myself I no longer wish to parent this child.” The note also said the orphanage had failed to disclose the boy’s psychological problems and violent tendencies. Russians were outraged. “The way he was treated was beyond immoral,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It’s already a sensitive subject: In 2006, Russia put stricter regulations on foreign adoptions after a Russian child died of abuse by her adoptive parents in the U.S.
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