Moscow
Patriarch buried: Russian leaders this week attended the funeral of Patriarch Aleksy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in a sign of the resurgence of religion in the formerly Communist country. During the seven decades of the Soviet era, the state officially encouraged atheism. But after the USSR collapsed, in 1991, Patriarch Aleksy led a revival of Orthodoxy and ultimately became close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “His Holiness expended much effort so that thousands and thousands of churches and monasteries could be built,” said interim church leader Metropolitan Kirill, “so that spiritual life could be reborn.” Aleksy, who died last week at age 79, was buried at Christ the Savior Cathedral, a church that was razed by Josef Stalin but rebuilt in 2000.
Tokyo
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Recession hits hard: Japan, the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S., is deep in a recession, analysts declared this week. Figures for the quarter ending in September showed that the Japanese economy shrank by 0.5 percent, much more than had been expected. Compounding the bad news, Sony announced this week that it would cut 8,000 jobs, almost all of them in Japan, and slow down investment in its electronics business. Other companies are expected to announce similar measures. “The number of jobs cuts in Japan will increase day by day,” said Tomoko Fujii, a Tokyo official with Bank of America.
Xintai, China
Dissidents locked in asylum: Some Chinese citizens who have tried to expose official corruption have been thrown into a mental asylum, The Beijing News reported this week. The state-owned newspaper ran an investigative article detailing how activists in the eastern city of Xintai have been committed to a psychiatric hospital and drugged until they agree to drop their cases against local officials. One man, a farmer seeking compensation from a coal mine that polluted his land, said he had been tied to a bed and given injections, even though doctors knew he was not mentally ill. One local official quoted by a provincial television station defended the treatment of the gadflies. “There are some people who have been petitioning for years and become mentally aggravated,” he said.
Muzaffarbad, Pakistan
Pakistan hits Mumbai plotters: Pakistan raided a militant training camp near the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir this week, arresting the man suspected of plotting last month’s lethal attacks in Mumbai. The crackdown on the compound, run by an organization believed to be a front for the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, marked an unusual shift for Pakistan, which has generally turned a blind eye to Lashkar. Soldiers captured at least a dozen people, including group co-founder Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Indian authorities said the sole surviving Mumbai attacker named Lakhvi as the director of the plot. Pakistan is not expected to turn the men over to India.
Peshawar, Pakistan
NATO trucks torched: Taliban militants attacked NATO facilities twice this week, burning scores of trucks that were about to be sent to Afghanistan. In the first attack, nearly 100 gunmen ransacked two logistics terminals near Peshawar, on the border with Afghanistan, and set some 150 vehicles on fire. In the second incident, about 10 militants burst into another terminal shouting “God is great” and torched 53 trucks and Humvees. The Pentagon sought to downplay the losses. “The overall impact on our logistical efforts to resupply U.S. forces, NATO forces, as well as Afghan forces has been small,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. “There’s been no direct bearing on our immediate combat capabilities.”
Harare, Zimbabwe
Calls for Mugabe to go: The U.S. has joined a growing list of countries calling for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down. “It is time for Robert Mugabe to go,” President Bush said this week. “Across the continent, African voices are bravely speaking out to say now is the time for him to step down.” Zimbabwe has been in political limbo since June, when Mugabe insisted he won a runoff presidential election that the U.S. called a “sham.” Since then, the country has been hit with severe food shortages, skyrocketing unemployment, and hyperinflation, and this month cholera broke out in the capital. South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for troops to overthrow Mugabe. But the African Union has refused to take any concrete action against him.
