Jerusalem
Israel removes roadblocks: Under pressure from the U.S., Israel this week agreed to remove dozens of roadblocks in the West Bank, so Palestinians can travel more easily from home to work. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a visit to the region, welcomed the gesture and said the U.S. would be more vigilant about monitoring Israel’s compliance with its pledges. “We want to be much more systematic about what is being promised and what is being done than we have been able to be in the past,” she said. Israel has more than 580 checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank and at Gaza crossings, including 30 erected since the Annapolis peace conference last November. Under the 2003 “road map” plan, Israel is supposed to stop building settlements in the territories and Palestinians are supposed to disarm militants; neither side has complied.
Harare, Zimbabwe
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Mugabe era could end: Robert Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, failed to win re-election in the first round of Zimbabwe’s presidential election, despite what international observers called widespread voter intimidation. The official government newspaper reported that neither Mugabe nor challenger Morgan Tsvangirai won 51 percent of the vote last weekend and that a runoff would likely be held. But most analysts believe Mugabe would lose a runoff, and rumors swirled that he was negotiating a deal to cede power. Mugabe, 84, has held Zimbabwe in his authoritarian grip since the country’s creation in 1980, presiding over the utter collapse of the economy in recent years. Inflation is the highest in the world, and nearly one-fifth of the population—including much of the educated elite—has emigrated in the past decade.
Delhi
Rice crisis: India banned the export of non-basmati rice this week as global stockpiles reached a 25-year low and world prices soared. India is the second largest rice producer after China, so the export ban is expected to boost global prices even further. In the past few weeks, Vietnam, Egypt, and Cambodia have also limited their rice exports, because, like India, they need the crop for domestic consumption. Analysts blame the drop in rice supplies on widespread pollution in China and India, which have contaminated huge swathes of land that once supported rice paddies. Bad weather in other rice-growing countries has also taken a toll. Rice is a staple food for half the world’s people. In March, the price rose from $650 to $1,000 a ton.
Volga River, Russia
Pollution takes toll: “A death sentence hangs over the rivers of Russia,” scientists from four major Russian research institutes said in a new joint study. The study explicitly blames the Russian government for the rivers’ demise. It says Moscow’s backing of highly polluting industries and hydroelectric plants has put more than half of the country’s rivers “beyond hope of recovery.” Fish, plankton, and water plant populations are devastated in the Volga, Dnepr, and other rivers, and the blight could easily spread through the watersheds. Russian officials did not respond to the report; in the past, they have said there is no evidence that industrial development caused the environmental degradation.
Pyongyang, North Korea
Threats against Seoul: North Korea this week lashed out at South Korea’s new president, Lee Myung-bak, warning that his tougher policies could have “catastrophic consequences.” The official Communist Party newspaper called Lee a “U.S. sycophant” because he has abandoned his predecessor’s “Sunshine Policy” of unconditional aid to the North and instead insists that Pyongyang show progress on human rights and nuclear disarmament. The scathing editorial wasn’t the first warning signal for the South: Since Lee took office in February, North Korea has repeatedly scrambled fighter jets and test-fired missiles. South Koreans, though, seem unconcerned. The Seoul government did not comment and the stock market was unaffected.
Beijing
Buddhist suicide bombers? China this week charged that Tibetan “independence forces” are planning to send suicide squads to disrupt the Beijing Olympics. “They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice,” said Wu Heping, a spokesman for the Chinese Public Security Bureau. The government also repeated its claims that the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, had orchestrated violent, anti-Chinese riots in Tibet last month to sabotage the Olympics. The Nobel Peace Prize winner denied the allegations and called for a U.N. investigation, saying he heard reports that Chinese soldiers dressed as monks started the riots.
