The news at a glance ... International

Nicosia, Cyprus

President’s corpse returned: The body of former Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has been recovered, three months after it was stolen from his tomb. Police said they received a tip that the remains had been placed in another person’s grave. Papadopoulos, who died in 2008, was a divisive figure who led Greek Cypriots in their 2004 rejection of a U.N. plan to reunite the island of Cyprus, which in the 1970s was split into a northern Turkish republic and a southern Greek one. But officials said the theft was not politically motivated. “Police realized early on that the theft of the body was for ransom,” said Justice Minister Loucas Louca. Authorities say that no ransom was paid and three men have been arrested.

Ankara, Turkey

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Anger at U.S.: Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the U.S. to protest a congressional resolution calling for the U.S. to recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide. The House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly passed the resolution last week, sending the measure to a House vote. Most historians say that Ottoman Turks killed about 1.5 million ethnic Armenians during World War I in a conflict that included a death-march of hundreds of thousands of peple. But Turkey maintains that far fewer were killed and contends the deaths occurred in the chaos of war, not a deliberate genocide. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the House resolution “accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed.” The Obama administration opposes a House vote on the issue, saying it could jeopardize current efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Marjah, Afghanistan

Karzai confronted: Elders in Marjah, the former Taliban stronghold seized this month in a NATO offensive, gave President Hamid Karzai a piece of their minds this week during his first visit to the town. Sometimes shouting, tribal leaders complained of excessive use of force by U.S. troops. They also said that if the Afghan government didn’t quickly reverse previous failures to deliver such basic services as schools and roads, they would welcome the Taliban back. “If the Taliban tap me on the shoulder, I will be with them,” said Mohammad Naeem Khan, “and if the government taps me on my shoulder, I will be with them.” Karzai later expressed sympathy. “They had some very legitimate complaints,” he said. “They felt as though they were abandoned, which in many cases is true.”

Taiji, Japan

Dolphin killers strike back: Fishermen in the Japanese town of Taiji are furious that The Cove, a film about their annual dolphin slaughter, won the Oscar for Best Documentary. The Cove shows gruesome images of the annual dolphin cull, in which Taiji fishermen corral about 2,000 dolphins in a bay and harpoon them to sell their meat. “The film features elements that are false and not based on scientific facts,” Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen and the local fisheries cooperative said in identical statements. Director Louie Psihoyos was unmoved. “Our hope is the Japanese people will see this film and decide themselves whether the animals should be used for meat,” he said.

Delhi

Quota for women: A push to reserve one-third of India’s parliamentary seats for women is making inroads—but it could bring down the government. The upper house of parliament this week passed a bill to amend the constitution to set aside seats for women in the national parliament and all the state legislatures. The bill still must be passed by the lower house and ratified by half the states before it becomes law. But several parties have threatened to pull out of the governing coalition over the issue, which would leave Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a precariously narrow majority. Opponents say the reform favors wealthy, upper-caste women at the expense of the poor. Indian politicians often place their daughters, wives, and sisters on parliamentary slates to cement their own power.

Jerusalem

Biden’s mission: Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel this week, hoping to soothe feelings in a nation that feels snubbed by President Obama. Deputy Knesset Speaker Danny Danon said Israel considered it “nothing short of an insult” that Obama has visited Egypt and Saudi Arabia since taking office, but not Israel. Biden, though, is popular among Israeli leaders, who know him from his years at the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He assured Israelis that the U.S. would stand with them against Iran. “There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security,” Biden said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Jos, Nigeria

Horrific bloodshed: Machete-wielding mobs of Muslims hacked to death nearly 500 Christians, many of them women and children, in the latest religious slaughter near the city of Jos. The attackers surrounded several villages before dawn, using nets and traps to capture those who tried to flee. Officials said the attack was revenge for the January massacre of several hundred Muslims in the area. The Nigerian government sent troops into villages around Jos, arresting the perpetrators after identifying them by the bloodstains on their clothes. Jos is a frequent flash point of violence, as it sits on the border between Nigeria’s Muslim north and Christian south.