The world at a glance ... NEWS^9
Tehran
Anger over sanctions: As U.S. and British warships
patrolled nearby, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps last week seized an Iraqi oil tanker in the
Persian Gulf—the third time it has detained a
foreign vessel in recent weeks. Iran accused the
vessel of smuggling 185,000 gallons of fuel
“for some Arab countries”; last month, the
Revolutionary Guards took over a Panamanian-
flagged tanker and the British-flagged Stena Impero. In a live TV
address, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that shipping
through the Strait of Hormuz—a choke point in the Gulf through
which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows—could be at risk
unless Iran is allowed to trade. “Peace with Iran is the mother of all
peace,” he said. “War with Iran is the mother of all wars.” If the
Trump administration wants to have negotiations, Rouhani said,
then it must lift the sanctions that are hurting Iran’s economy.Riyadh
Women may travel alone: Saudi Arabian women celebrated this
week after the kingdom lifted some of the onerous guardianship
restrictions that constrain their lives. Women will now be allowed
to get passports and travel without a male relative’s permission
and to register births and be guardians to
minors. We will have “a generation growing
up completely free and equal to their broth-
ers,” said activist Muna AbuSulayman.
The changes, part of Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman’s reform pro-
gram, come after a string of high-profile
cases in which Saudi and Emirati women
have fled abroad to escape domestic abuse.
But the guardianship system remains in
place. Male relatives can still report women
to authorities for “disobedience” and living
on their own, offenses that are punish-
able by imprisonment and flogging.Hong Kong
Strike paralyzes city: Clouds of tear gas wafted through Hong
Kong this week as hundreds of thousands of protesters joined a
general strike, halting train service and grounding airplanes for
lack of air traffic controllers. Some demonstrators set fires outside
police stations and threw bricks at officers. The protests started
two months ago in opposition to a
proposed bill that would allow Hong
Kong residents to be extradited and
tried in mainland courts. But the rallies
have grown into a general condemna-
tion of Beijing’s attempts to curtail
Hong Kong’s autonomy and of police
brutality. Beijing has so far refrained
from sending troops, but warned this
week that it will intervene if Hong
Kong fails to contain the violence.Srinagar, India
Kashmir dispute: Kashmir was
on lockdown this week after
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s Hindu nationalist gov-
ernment revoked a 65-year-old
law that had granted limited
autonomy to the disputed
Himalayan region. Anticipating
violent protests, India sent tens
of thousands of soldiers to Kashmir ahead of Modi’s announce-
ment, placed some 400 Kashmiri political figures under house
arrest, and cut off internet and phone service. Muslim-majority
Kashmir was divided into Pakistani and Indian administered
areas following Britain’s 1947 partition of the Indian subconti-
nent, and Pakistan and India have since fought three wars over
the region. Hindu nationalists have long resented the presence in
India of a Muslim province that has been a hotbed of separatist
and Islamist violence. Now that India has rescinded Article 370
of its constitution—which prevented non-Kashmiris from own-
ing property or working there—Hindus could attempt to take
over the area. This is a “historic step toward establishing the
Hindu Rashtra,” the Hindu nation, said a spokesman for Hindu
Janajagruti Samiti, a Hindu nationalist group.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he believed that
Modi “may initiate ethnic cleansing in Kashmir to wipe out the
local population.” He said that Kashmiris may attack Indian
security forces out of anger and that India would inevitably blame
Pakistan. “If India attacks us, we will respond,” he said. “We
will fight until the last drop of blood.” Some analysts speculated
that President Trump’s recent offer to mediate between India and
Pakistan—both nuclear powers—over Kashmir may have has-
tened Modi’s decision to scrap Article 370. India has long resisted
international attempts to become involved in the dispute.Pyongyang
Forced abortions: China is complicit in the forced abortions
performed on pregnant North Korean women who try to defect,
experts on the Hermit Kingdom said this week. China routinely
sends defectors back to North Korea, where guards kick or beat
any who are pregnant until they miscarry, assuming they are bear-
ing Chinese children. “Some [defectors] reported having soldiers
jump on their stomach until the baby came out, others by hav-
ing various instruments inserted,” said Dong Yon Kim of South
Korea’s Chosun Ilbo. If a repatriated woman does give birth,
prison guards “smother or drown their babies before their very
eyes,” said Olivia Enos of the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation.AP,
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Free to leave?Indian troops on patrolProtesters: Not backing downRouhani: Warning