Baghdad
Fury at Turkish incursion: Baghdad this week demanded that Turkey remove its troops from Iraq’s northern, Kurdish region, calling the military incursion “a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.” Turkey last week sent some 8,000 troops into Iraqi Kurdistan, in pursuit of Kurdish rebels who are fighting for self-rule in the Kurdish regions of Turkey. Turkish troops are concentrating on a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) base just 10 miles from the border. Iraq asked the U.S. to rein in the Turks, but so far the U.S. has remained silent, at least publicly. U.S. troops “are the greatest force on the ground,” said Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani. “They have certain obligations.” But the situation is tricky: The U.S. and Turkey both list the PKK as a terrorist organization, and the U.S. has said in the past that Turkey has the right to defend itself from terrorists.
Jerusalem
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Ex-president avoids rape charge: Israel’s High Court this week upheld a plea agreement that lets former President Moshe Katsav avoid rape charges and prison. Four former female employees last year accused Katsav of crimes ranging from aggressive sexual harassment to two rapes. Under a deal reached last June, Katsav agreed to plead guilty only to two counts of sexual harassment and to resign; he received a suspended sentence. Women’s rights groups and government watchdogs condemned the deal, saying it let Katsav off far too easy. But the court this week made it final. The presidency in Israel is a largely ceremonial position; the president is supposed to act as the nation’s conscience and moral guide.
Johannesburg
Death to the elephants: South Africa said this week it would lift a ban on elephant culling because herds were getting too large. South Africa killed nearly 15,000 elephants from 1967 to 1995, mostly by shooting entire herds from helicopters, before international pressure forced it to ban the practice. But Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said South Africa’s 18,000 elephants were now destroying the habitat of other protected species. In Kruger National Park, elephants have literally changed the landscape from woodlands to grasslands through feeding and trampling. Animal-rights groups are calling for tourists to boycott South Africa until the ban is reinstated.
Beijing
Human rights back on agenda: China said this week it would reopen talks with the U.S. on human rights. China broke off the dialogue in 2004, after the U.S. introduced a U.N. resolution condemning China’s human-rights record. “We are willing to have exchanges and discussions on human rights with the United States and other countries,” Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi announced, “on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and non-interference.” China routinely imprisons government critics and religious activists. But it is now trying to improve its image, ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
Pyongyang, North Korea
U.S. orchestra welcomed: The New York Philharmonic performed in North Korea this week, the largest delegation of Americans to visit Pyongyang since the Korean War. Conductor Lorin Maazel was treated as if he were a top American official and greeted by a receiving line of North Korean officials. The audience members cheered as the orchestra ended the concert with a popular Korean folk song. “I’m a musician, not a diplomat,” Maazel said, “but I think that music is one area where people can always make contact.” The U.S. does not have official diplomatic relations with Pyongyang because of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and its repression of human rights. But the Bush administration approved the trip as a gesture of goodwill.
Seoul
Friend of America: South Korea’s new president, Lee Myung-bak, took office this week and immediately presented a sharp contrast to previous South Korean presidents. At his inauguration, Lee said he would engage North Korea only if it gave up its nuclear programs; his predecessors had taken a softer line. Lee, a former Hyundai executive nicknamed “the Bulldozer” because of his take-charge image, also sounded a more pro-American tone. “We must move from the age of ideology into the age of pragmatism,” he said. “We will strengthen our strategic alliance with the United States.” Before taking office, Lee announced plans to eliminate the Ministry of Unification, which oversees relations with North Korea.
