The world at a glance . . . International

Beijing

Parents form pressure group: Parents of children poisoned by melamine-laced milk rejected a government settlement this week. Some 300,000 children, many of them babies, were sickened and six died before the tainted milk was recalled last year and new regulations imposed. Last month, China announced that the affected families would be compensated financially. But a growing number of parents are banding together to demand long-term health care for the children and research into the effects of melamine. “The compensation is really not the most important thing,” said Zhao Lianhai, who is gathering signatures for a petition. “Money won’t help if our children are still sick 10 years later.”

Islamabad, Pakistan

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Cricket in peril: Professional cricket in Pakistan is nearly bankrupt because security concerns have kept so many foreign teams away since 9/11, officials said this week. Last year, Australia and the International Cricket Council planned tours but then canceled them, and India canceled a tour after the November terror attacks in Mumbai. The India cancellation alone cost the Pakistan Cricket Board $40 million. “Emergency steps are needed,” said board chairman Ijaz Butt. “Otherwise we will have no money and will have to carry a begging bowl before the government.”

Somewhere in Pakistan?

Bin Laden addresses Gaza: Osama bin Laden called for renewed holy war against Israel this week to “stop the aggression against Gaza.” In an audiotape that analysts believe is genuine, bin Laden told Palestinians: “Our fate is tied to yours in fighting the crusader-Zionist coalition, in fighting until victory or martyrdom.” He also said that al Qaida was winning its war against the United States. “The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come?” he asked. “Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise.” Last week, al Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims to attack Western targets around the world to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza.

New South Wales, Australia

‘Plague of sharks’: The east coast of Australia has become a magnet for an alarming number of sharks, safety officials said this week. Three swimmers were injured in shark attacks in recent days, and a snorkeler was killed last month. Surfwatch Australia, which monitors the coast, reports twice the number of sightings of hammerhead, bull, and white pointer sharks than it did five years ago. Runoff from storms has apparently increased nutrient and fish levels along the coast. “A plague of sharks has been attracted to the shore and they are in the middle of a feeding frenzy,” said Surfwatch director Michael Brown. In New South Wales, officials warned beachgoers to swim only in net-protected areas and to stay in groups of at least three.

Tel Aviv, Israel

U.S. stifled attack on Iran: The U.S. refused to help Israel attack Iran’s nuclear programs last year, The New York Times reported this week. Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the newspaper said President Bush refused an Israeli request for bunker-buster bombs to drop on Iran, because, the officials said, he believed an attack on Iran would start a broad war while failing to destroy the nuclear sites. But Bush reportedly assured Israelis that the U.S. had a major covert effort under way to disrupt Iran’s suspected efforts to build nuclear bombs. The officials said they weren’t sure whether Israel had abandoned, or merely postponed, the idea of an attack on Iran.

Off the Somali coast

Pirates drown: Five of the pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil tanker in November drowned this week while fleeing with their ransom money. Libaan Jaama, one of three surviving pirates, said his gang received a $3.5 million ransom for the Sirius Star. After the money was dropped by parachute from a small plane, Jaama said, rival pirates began shooting at the hijackers, who then turned their boat so quickly that it capsized. The survivors say they did not salvage any money, but the body of one pirate reportedly washed ashore with $153,000 still in his pockets. The entire 25-person crew of the Sirius Star was released unharmed.