The world at a glance . . . International

Abyei, Sudan

‘On the brink’: Sudan is “on the brink of war” after government forces from the country’s north obliterated the border town of Abyei, which is also claimed by the semi-autonomous south, a top southern official said this week. Press accounts indicated that nearly all of Abyei’s houses, markets, schools, and hospitals had been shelled or burned to the ground. More than 100,000 people who had returned to Abyei in 2005, at the end of Sudan’s two-decade civil war, have fled again. “They were shelling every part of the city randomly,” said Dirdirry Mohamed Ahmed, a former Sudanese ambassador. Southern authorities called on international forces to defend Abyei and its strategically important oil fields.

Baabda, Lebanon

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

New president: After 19 attempts in six months to elect a president, the Lebanese parliament this week installed Michel Suleiman as the new head of state. Lebanon had been without a president since November, and the country has been rocked by factional violence. Suleiman’s election was part of a deal to end the latest crisis, which began when Hezbollah seized large parts of Beirut. “I call on you all, people and politicians, for a new beginning,” said Suleiman from the presidential palace in Baabda. “Let us be united.” Though Hezbollah withdrew from the capital under the terms of the peace deal, it remains a formidable force in the country. Suleiman will have to work with several feuding parties to form a new government.

Chengdu, China

More children allowed: In the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake that killed as many as 10,000 children, the Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee announced this week that China’s one-child policy would not forbid parents who’d lost a child from having another. “There are just a lot of questions now, so we need to clarify our policy,” said a committee official. If a couple already has an “illegal” child, they may register it in place of a child who was killed, making the second child eligible for free education and other benefits. If an unauthorized child was killed, parents will no longer have to pay fines for that child, though any fines already collected will not be refunded.

Bharatpur, India

Protesters shot: Protests by a tribe near the bottom of India’s caste system turned deadly last week when police opened fire on angry crowds that had begun setting fire to buildings and vehicles. At least 35 Gujjars were killed and 70 injured. The tribe, which is demanding to be given special help to obtain schooling and jobs, clashed with police last year as well. Those riots, in which 26 people died, ended after the government promised to consider the Gujjars’ demands. But the panel appointed for that purpose recently decided to reject them. “There is no question of relenting this time,” said Kiori Singh Bainsla, the Gujjars’ leader. “If we do, then history will call us cowards.”

Melbourne

Sex change for preteen: A 12-year-old girl last week won legal permission for a gender-reassignment procedure that will make her one of the youngest people ever to change sex. The girl immediately began the hormone treatment in hopes of preventing the onset of menstruation and breast development. Her mother, who supported the decision, said her child always identified as a boy. The judge noted that the hormone treatment could be reversed, and that the child would not be permitted to undergo permanent surgery until age 18. The case has generated tremendous interest and controversy in Australia, especially after the girl’s father stepped forward to oppose the move.