The world at a glance . . . International

last updated 8 January 2015

Moscow

Arms control talks begin: Russian and U.S. diplomats this week began negotiating a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. START-1 expires in December, and if there is no pact to replace it, there would be no system for inspecting and verifying the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals. The issues the two sides must agree on are fairly straightforward: which missile programs to cut and how to inspect each other’s stockpiles. But they might not get very far. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said last week that he wanted to link the arms control talks to the U.S. plans for missile defense installations in Eastern Europe. Analysts fear he will block progress in the talks unless Washington agrees to scrap the defense program, which is aimed at a potential nuclear threat from Iran.

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Friending spies: Terrorist groups are using Facebook and other social networking sites to recruit Israeli citizens as spies, Israel’s domestic security service said this week. Shin Bet said Arab terrorists have been making contact with Israelis on the sites, sometimes directly offering to pay for information. “The Shin Bet fears classified information may have been leaked, endangering the lives of Israelis who could be enticed to meet abroad with Internet contacts who have offered them deals,” the agency said in a statement. It asked Israelis to remove personal information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses, from their profiles.

Tehran

Missile test: Iran this week said it had performed a successful test of a missile with a range of 1,200 miles, far enough to strike Israel. Announcing the test at a campaign rally, President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad said Iran would continue to defy the U.S. and other countries trying to stop its nuclear programs. “Every center of power that wants to shoot a bullet, before it can put its finger on the trigger, we will cut off its hands and send it to hell,” he said. Analysts said the missile test was a response to the meeting this week between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama, after which Obama said he would seek harsher sanctions against Iran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear program. The Sajjil-2 surface-to-surface missile is a new version of the Sajjil missile, which Iran said it had successfully tested late last year.

Swat Valley, Pakistan

Refugee crisis: A quarter-million Pakistanis are expected to remain in refugee camps through the end of the year as a result of fighting between Pakistani forces and insurgents, U.S. officials said this week. More than 1 million Pakistanis have fled the Swat Valley since the offensive began three weeks ago. The U.N. called the exodus the largest since the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s. President Asif Ali Zardari said the fighting in Swat, less than 100 miles from Islamabad, was “just the beginning” and that the army would soon move against militants in Waziristan, on the Afghan border. Meanwhile, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that there is evidence that Pakistan has been adding to its nuclear arsenal—a disturbing prospect considering the volatility of the nation. Pakistan issued a denial.

New Delhi

Government wins big: Indian voters have given the ruling Congress Party a resounding victory in parliamentary elections, which ended this week. The party took 205 of 543 seats, and with its governing partners is just 12 seats short of an outright majority. That means Congress will no longer have to placate the communist parties that were part of its last governing coalition. It was a big win for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who becomes the first prime minister to be re-elected after serving a full first term since Jawaharlal Nehru did it in 1961. “We have given this country a strong, stable government at a time when the world is danger,” said Singh. “Today, we stand as one nation.” In his first term, Singh worked closely with the Congress Party’s leader, Sonia Gandhi, to increase spending on health and education, particularly in rural areas.

Chongqing, China

Sex park razed: China’s first theme park devoted to sex has been demolished, weeks before it was due to open. “Love Land” was going to feature giant models of genitals, workshops on sex techniques, and educational displays about condom use. Lu Xiaoqing, the developer of the facility, said he got the idea for the venture after visiting a popular sex park in South Korea. But locals began complaining when they saw the naked statues going up, and officials ordered the site’s demolition. Sex is still a taboo subject in much of China, where authorities routinely censor sex scenes from foreign films and books.