The Week - USA (2021-03-05)

The world at a glance ... NEWS^9

Ashkelon, Israel

Oil disaster: An oil leak from an unknown source has left much

of Israel’s 120-mile Mediterranean coast covered with tar, killing

wildlife and closing beaches in one of the country’s worst ecological

disasters. Birds and turtles were slicked with oil, and a dead whale

was found with black liquid in its lungs. Thousands of volunteers

and hundreds of soldiers and police turned out to help clean up,

and some had to receive oxygen after being overwhelmed by tar

fumes. Authorities suspect a crude-oil

tanker is responsible for the spill. Activists

say the spill highlights the dangers posed

by the offshore natural-gas rigs that have

been built in Israeli waters in recent years,

a leak from which could be even more

destructive. “This should be a wake-up

call,” said Maya Jacobs, director of the

clean water NGO Zalul.

Cape Town, South Africa

Rwandan hit? An exiled Rwandan opposition politician was

pulled from his car in Cape Town and shot dead this week, in

what his supporters suspect was a targeted killing by the govern-

ment of Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Abdallah Bamporiki,

49, was head of the South African branch of an opposition group

called the Rwanda National Congress. Hours before his murder,

he had led a memorial service to honor RNC members believed to

have been killed by Kagame’s government.

Another RNC leader, Patrick Karegeya, was

strangled in a Johannesburg hotel room

in 2013. Kagame—in power since 2000—

denied involvement in that killing, but said,

“I actually wish Rwanda did it.” Rwanda’s

military intelligence agency has been accused

of assassinating and abducting opposition

figures in exile in other countries, including

Kenya, Uganda, and Burundi.

Beijing

Compensation for housework: In a landmark ruling, a Chinese

divorce court has ordered a man to pay his now ex-wife about

$7,700 in compensation for the housework and child care

she did during their five-year marriage. The payment is sepa-

rate from the $300 monthly alimony award. The payout,

the first of its kind, stems from the country’s new civil code,

which allows a spouse to seek compensation in a divorce

if he or she shouldered most of the child care, elder care, or

housework. A heated debate broke out online over the value

the judge placed on women’s unpaid domestic labor. The

compensation works out to about $128 a month, a bit more

than the average wage of China’s poorest workers. In an

online poll, 94 percent of respondents said the sum was too little.

Tbilisi, Georgia

Opposition leader jailed: Thousands of Georgians

protested in the capital, Tbilisi, this week after the

country’s main opposition leader was arrested

in a violent police raid. Dozens of officers

stormed Nika Melia’s party headquarters,

where he was holed up with supporters,

using tear gas and batons against those

inside before dragging out the politician in scenes broadcast on live

TV. Melia is charged with inciting violence at protests two years

ago, charges many believe are politically motivated. Prime Minister

Giorgi Gakharia resigned after a court ordered Melia’s arrest last

week, saying that locking up a political opponent would inflame

public anger. The raid went ahead after the parliament approved

a new prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili. Georgia has been

shaken by protests since the ruling Georgian Dream party scored

a resounding victory in October’s legislative elections, a vote that

international observers said was marred by irregularities.

Mandalay, Myanmar

Anti-coup protests: More than a

million people walked off their jobs

to join protests across Myanmar

this week, demanding the end of

military rule and the release of pro-

democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It was the largest in a series of strikes

and protests that have followed the

Feb. 1 military coup, which saw Suu

Kyi removed from power and placed under house arrest. The resis-

tance to the military takeover is widespread and includes students

and laborers as well as bankers and professionals. A day before

the nationwide protest, massive crowds gathered in the capital,

Naypyidaw, for the funeral of a 20-year-old woman who was shot

in the head while attending an anti-coup demonstration. In an

attempt to crack down on dissent, the junta has repeatedly cut off

the internet at night and has blocked social media sites altogether.

Seoul

How secure is the border? A North Korean defector who crossed

the heavily fortified border into South Korea this month managed

to escape detection for six hours, despite triggering two alarms and

repeatedly appearing on South Korean military surveillance cam-

eras. Wearing a wetsuit and flippers, the man swam to a part of

the South Korean coast in the demilitarized zone, crawled through

a drainage tunnel, then walked more than 3 miles as he searched

for civilians to turn himself in to; he feared border guards would

send him back to the North. South Korean soldiers finally noticed

him the ninth time that he appeared on their cameras. “Service

members in charge of the guard duty failed to abide by due proce-

dures,” one official said.

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AP

Bamporiki

No free labor

Melia: Arrested

Demanding democracy

A tar-smeared turtle