World

For Gaddafi, the Heat Is On

LIBYA

NATO stepped up its attacks on the forces of Muammar Gaddafi, intensifying air strikes on the regime’s positions around the beleaguered city of Misratah and elsewhere, including a hit on Gaddafi’s main headquarters in Tripoli. The dictator was unharmed, but international pressure for his departure is higher than ever. U.S. Senator John McCain flew into the rebels’ stronghold of Benghazi on April 22, hailing the rebel leadership as his “heroes” and calling on the Obama Administration not to relent in the offensive against Gaddafi. U.S. Predator drones are now operating in Libya. Far from Benghazi, rebels in the country’s rugged west seized a strategic border crossing to Tunisia, opening a new front in the civil war.

World by the Numbers

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$1,000 U.S. Potential fine levied in San Francisco if a proposed ban on male circumcision is passed

779 U.S. Number of leaked secret documents detailing interrogations of detainees at Guantánamo Bay

17% EGYPT Percentage of Egyptians who would like to see the Muslim Brotherhood in power

$225,000 INDIA Value of banknotes eaten by termites at a bank in the country’s north; staffers were blamed for their “laxity”

1.8 million U.K. Number of people who have applied for tickets to attend the 2012 Olympics in London

Ancient Temples Ignite New Southeast Asian Skirmishes

CAMBODIA

Thai and Cambodian forces renewed hostilities over a number of medieval Hindu shrines they have contested for decades. Each country blames the other for the latest exchanges of fire, which killed a dozen people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. Some of the heaviest shelling occurred near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, a flash point since it was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2008. Thailand opposed the listing even though an international court ruled in 1962 that the temple was on Cambodian soil. In Bangkok, some analysts say the border clashes are the by-product of jockeying between Thailand’s politically influential military and the civilian government.

There Will Be Blood

SYRIA

Tanks and troops swept into the restive southern city of Dara’a as the government of Bashar Assad sought to crush a growing rebellion against its rule. With foreign media barred from reporting in Syria, estimates of casualties vary, but rights groups report that anywhere from 450 to over 1,000 people have been killed in recent weeks. The crackdown on Dara’a echoed the brutal 1982 massacres in Hama by the regime of Assad’s ironfisted father Hafez. Western governments pressed for a new round of sanctions against Syria. That has not thwarted Assad, who appears to have enough backing from the country’s Sunni elites and minority Alawis–the Assads’ religious sect, which dominates the government–to violently snuff out the protests.

Taliban Tunnel to Freedom

AFGHANISTAN

On the eve of Afghanistan’s traditional fighting season, the Taliban boosted its forces by springing more than 480 of its members from a jail in Kandahar. The prisoners escaped through a tunnel that stretched 1,050 ft. (320 m) to a safe house near the jail. Guards discovered the jailbreak at 4 a.m., 30 minutes after the Taliban boasted about it in a press release. The convenient timing, along with the fact that the drilling of the tunnel had gone unnoticed for five months, fueled suspicion that the inmates had help from guards or government officials–or both. This is not the first time large numbers of Taliban have escaped from the prison: some 900 fled in a 2008 jailbreak. Afghan and NATO forces have set up checkpoints to search for the escapees; 65 were captured within two days.

Saleh’s Fate Sealed?

YEMEN

A council of Gulf states has brokered a deal with the Yemeni opposition for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to be granted immunity if he steps down within 30 days. In March, Saleh, who has ruled the impoverished country for 32 years, promised to step down but only on his terms. The new deal, if signed, calls for an election 60 days after his departure. After months of violent protests, Saleh would be the third leader forced from power in the Arab Spring.

Chernobyl Still Taking Its Toll

UKRAINE

A quarter-century has passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant unleashed a radioactive cloud across the northern hemisphere. A new study estimates that 27,000 people have died worldwide as a result of the worst nuclear accident in history, in large part from cancers stemming from the release.

Open Borders? Not for Everyone

ITALY

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, called for an overhaul of the Schengen treaty, which currently allows for open borders between 25 E.U. nations. Italy panicked over an influx of 25,000 migrants (mostly Tunisians) fleeing the troubles in North Africa and provided many with permits allowing them to travel to neighboring France–to Sarkozy’s dismay. For all of Europe’s anxiety about refugees, African nations have borne the brunt of the recent exodus from Libya.

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ITALY AND MALTA 5,182

TUNISIA 285,074

ALGERIA 14,126

NIGER 54,209

CHAD 17,218

SUDAN 2,800

EGYPT 237,330

615,939 Number of people who have fled violence in Libya as of April 21

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION