World

Farewell to Kabul

AFGHANISTAN

On his 13th trip to the country, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates toured U.S. military positions and met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Washington is trying to define its role in Afghanistan after 2014, an informal target date for international forces to leave the country completely. Gates applauded the gains made by coalition forces in Taliban-ravaged provinces and insisted that the U.S. was “well positioned” to begin its withdrawal this July, even though it’s likely that most of the 100,000 troops will remain longer. Kabul’s fragile government needs a U.S. presence to prevent a possible insurgent takeover even as it fumes over the toll of the U.S. occupation. The latest incident involved the deaths of nine Afghan boys on March 1 from an accidental NATO air strike in Kunar province, prompting a contrite U.S. apology. A new U.N. report found that more than 2,700 civilians were killed last year, the bloodiest since the U.S. invaded.

Mubarak’s Gone, but Old Battles Aren’t Over

EGYPT

Egyptians set upon one of the most reviled institutions of the regime of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak, storming the offices of the Interior Ministry’s state security organization in Cairo and elsewhere. Over the decades, Egypt’s state security–not to be confused with the more popular military–spied, bullied, detained and tortured countless people. But while Egyptians may be united in their loathing of the secret police, sectarian tensions still simmer. Street violence on March 8 between Copts and Muslims led to 13 deaths. A day later, a knife-wielding mob clashed with pro-democracy activists in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, forcing the country’s new Cabinet to adjourn its first session.

World by the Numbers

[The following text appears within a map. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual map.]

37.6%

U.S.

Percentage of California’s population that is Latino, nearly at parity with non-Hispanic whites, according to new census figures

80%

BRAZIL

Estimated percentage of costumes at Carnaval that were made in China

2

LIBYA

Number of years a soccer stadium in Benghazi was named for Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez; rebels recently renamed it after “martyred” comrades

265,090

CHINA

Number of foreigners enrolled in Chinese universities this year, a record

$19 million

FRANCE

Value of a set of jewels found in a Paris sewer; the diamonds and other gems were stolen from a luxury boutique in 2008

At a Funeral, Only More Death

PAKISTAN

Draped in a shawl, a suicide bomber attacked the funeral of a relative of a prominent tribal leader in the country’s rugged northwest, killing at least 37 people. The Taliban have claimed responsibility, rebuking the tribal elder, Hakeem Khan, for mobilizing a pro-Islamabad militia in support of the Pakistani government’s efforts to clamp down on the ongoing Taliban insurgency. The bombing came a day after a blast in the industrial city of Faisalabad killed 25.

Serbs and Kosovars Talk. But That Doesn’t Mean They Like Each Other

BRUSSELS

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. And despite the recognition of 75 countries, including the U.S., its relations with Serbia are tense. Negotiators from both countries met for the first time in E.U.-brokered talks, in which the two sides discussed small-scale steps that could gradually normalize ties. More than a decade since NATO’s intervention on behalf of Kosovars struggling against the forces of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, both countries harbor hopes of E.U. accession.

China’s Military Gets a Raise

BEIJING

The rubber-stamp National People’s Congress gathered in Beijing for its annual confab and granted the Chinese military a 12.7% increase in spending, bringing its yearly budget to $91.5 billion. With China’s recent military maneuvers already worrying regional neighbors, the budget hike will give new ammunition to other Asian nations eager to up their defense spending. A survey by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that from 2000 to 2009, military expenditures in East Asia increased by 71%. Nations in the shadow of China’s rise, including Vietnam, South Korea and Japan, have all embarked on ambitious military modernizations, with the threat of China clearly in mind.

Not What The Voters Had in Mind

IVORY COAST

Tensions escalated between loyalists of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, who won a November election that Gbagbo has refused to recognize. Pro-Ouattara forces have seized whole towns, while Gbagbo’s militiamen gunned down 11 protesters in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

For the First Time in Almost Five Decades, the White House Looks at the State of U.S. Women

WASHINGTON

The Obama Administration issued the first federal report since 1963 on the welfare of women in America. Among the findings: while more women than men now have college degrees, women still earn only 29% of total household incomes in the U.S.

Women are having children later …

[The following text appears within 2 charts. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual charts.]

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN GIVING BIRTH FOR THE FIRST TIME AT AGE 30 OR OLDER

1970 4%

2007 22%

… and men and women are marrying later.

AVERAGE AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE

1970 20.8

2010 26.1

1970 23.2

2010 28.2

More women than men are enrolled in college …

WOMEN 57%

MEN 43%

2008 COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

… and women are less likely to be unemployed …

DEC. ’07 12% 8%

DEC. ’10 4%

… but a pay gap persists.

75% PERCENTAGE OF MEN’S SALARIES THAT WOMEN EARNED IN 2009

SOURCE: WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON WOMEN AND GIRLS