The terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India’s financial center and most populous city, has dominated recent headlines. The attacks claimed at least 192 lives and have the potential to undermine both Indian economic development and the warming of Indian-Pakistani relations. The political fallout is also likely to be steep. Already, Shivraj Patil, India’s Home Minister, has resigned, and many are speculating that the attacks may cost India’s ruling Congress Party dearly at the polls.
Here are five other important stories from the past week:
1. Barbara Hogan, the new Minister of Health in South Africa, has announced a new program to address the HIV/AIDS crisis. Under the program, the South African government will expand its support for its anti-HIV program with the help of the British government. South Africa has the highest rate of HIV inflection in the world; an estimated 1 out of every 8 Sought Africans is HIV positive. But the administration of previous President Thabo Mbeki had refused to acknowledge the connection between HIV and AIDS, choosing to treat HIV with traditional healers rather than conventional medicine. South African AIDS activists are celebrating the new program.
2. Ethiopia has announced its intention to withdraw its troops from Somalia by the end of the year. Ethiopia has maintained a force of 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers in Somalia since 2006, when it invaded in order to oust Islamic militants who had seized power. But the interim government of Somalia has been unable to assert authority outside of a small region in the capital, and the African Union has not fully funded its peacekeeping operation in the country. Somalia has become a failed state, home to piracy which threatens shipping through the Suez Canal. Some have speculated that the announcement of the Ethiopian withdrawal is intended to put pressure on the United Nations to establish a new peacekeeping operation in Somalia.
3. Flooding near the Port of Itajai, one of Brazil’s most important ports, threatens to undermine Brazil’s agricultural exports. The River Itajai broke its banks, flooding the port and killing at least 100 people. The flooding threatens to close the port for as long as two weeks, undermining exports from Santa Catarina state, a major exporter of meat and chicken. The flooding could affect global food prices, potentially rekindling concerns of a global food crisis.
4. A French program intended to address the global financial crisis has been blocked by European Union officials. The European Commission, the bureaucracy of the European Union, has refused to permit France to proceed with its plan to recapitalize its banks through a $13.3 billion support package. The French government has reacted angrily to the veto, calling the decision “stupid” and “ridiculous.”
5. A European Union probe has concluded that pharmaceutical manufacturers have engaged in unfair practices intended to delay or block the release of generic drugs, adding billions to the cost of healthcare. The investigation involved raids on several of Europe’s leading drug producers leading some to believe that the EU may pursue criminal and civil cases against the largest offenders.