After days of protests, a city in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan has relented and decided to halt construction of a molybdenum and copper plant. Thousands of demonstrators in Shifang, a city of about a half-million …
In Cricket-Obsessed India, Soccer Soars in Popularity
Though cricket remains wildly popular, the country’s young and affluent are increasingly enthralled by soccer
Pakistan Reopens Afghan Supply Routes, but Larger Diplomatic Crises Loom
Pakistan’s decision to reopen the overland supply routes into Afghanistan may be a slight boost for Washington-Islamabad ties, but there’s much more wrangling ahead as the U.S. steps up its plans to withdraw from Afghanistan by …
French Police Raid Sarkozy’s Home, Offices in Illicit-Campaign-Funding Inquiry
Police raids on Tuesday targeting the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy aim to turn up evidence in alleged illegal campaign funding of conservatives by L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt
Libya Releases ICC Lawyer, but Will Justice Follow?
Libya released a team of International Criminal Court lawyers detained in the town of Zintan for nearly a month for supposedly conniving with the imprisoned son of Muammar Gaddafi. But questions remain about the ICC mission and …
France Needs $43 Billion to Meet Debt Targets — but Rejects Austérité
French auditors reveal a $43 billion funding shortfall for 2012 and ’13, forcing Socialist President François Hollande to shift his focus from progrowth efforts to measures that look a lot like austerity he criticized elsewhere
Must-Reads from Around the World, July 3, 2012
Today’s picks: Mexico declares emergency over renewed bird flu outbreak, a new report condemns Syria’s “state policy of torture,” and the Burmese parliament prepares to reshape its economy, following half a century of military rule.
Countering al-Shabab: How the War on Terrorism Is Being Fought in East Africa
Two bombings of churches in Kenya pointed to the resurgence al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in East Africa. But a TIME investigation into how the region’s countries (and the U.S.) are handling groups like Somalia’s al-Shabab …
Timbuktu’s Destruction: Why Islamists Are Wrecking Mali’s Cultural Heritage
Ansar Dine, a radical Islamist militia, has set about destroying mausoleums and shrines in the historic Malian city of Timbuktu, which was once a great center of Islamic learning in the 15th and 16th centuries
Why South Korea Is in an Uproar over Intelligence Sharing with Japan
The countries are military allies but share a fraught history. Now Seoul’s presidential election may be affected by the controversy
Bob Diamond Resigns But Will Barclays’ Rate-Fixing Scandal Lead to Prosecutions?
The resignation of Marcus Agius, chairman of Barclays bank, may be just the first casualty of a mammoth scandal rocking the U.K.’s financial sector.
How Enrique Peña Nieto Won Himself and His Party the Mexican Presidency
Mexico’s President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto took up the centrist mantle of his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) — which once stood for little more than amassing power (and keeping it for over seven decades) — and …
Suspicious Death of a Chinese Dissident Becomes Rallying Point in Hong Kong
Police in central China say Li Wangyang killed himself. But family and friends suspect he was murdered, and 800 km away in Hong Kong, activists are calling for an investigation