The World
By Alex Altman, Harriet Barovick, Gilbert Cruz, Adam Goodman, Kate Pickert, M.J. Stephey, Jeffrey Stern, Claire Suddath
1 | Cambodia Temple Tensions Thai and Cambodian troops are facing off over the 11th century Preah Vihear temple on the countries' shared border. The feud follows the temple's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site in early July. Thailand says the map used in Cambodia's UNESCO application improperly places some 1.8 sq. mi. (4.7 sq km) of land near the temple in Cambodian territory. (Cambodia legally owns the temple itself.) Opposition leaders are using the issue to pressure Thailand's embattled government, which initially endorsed the application, and the Foreign Minister has resigned as a result. Cambodia, calling the situation an "imminent state of war," has asked the U.N. to resolve the dispute.
2 | Colombia Freedom From FARC On July 20, the 198th anniversary of Colombian Independence Day, hundreds of thousands marched in cities across the nation to call for the release of hostages held by leftist rebel groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The guerrilla group--which is said to hold an estimated 700 hostages--has suffered a streak of setbacks this year, including the death of its top two commanders and the July 2 rescue by government forces of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages. Betancourt herself appeared at a rally in Paris--one of dozens that took place around the world in solidarity.
3 | London Hard Times Meet High Art Despite a sagging economy, Christie's auction house has racked up $3.5 billion in art sales so far this year--up 56% from 2006, in part because of demand in Russia, China and the Middle East. The two highest-selling works were Monet's Water Lily Pond, top, and a triptych by Francis Bacon.
4 | Iraq Shock And Awe U.S. military facilities in Iraq were damaged or destroyed in 283 electrical fires in a six-month period, and 13 Americans there have been electrocuted since 2003, making wiring problems the biggest noncombat safety issue, according to recently publicized Army findings. A July 11 Senate inquiry revealed that contractor KBR Inc. hired inexperienced workers and Iraqi civilians who didn't speak English to construct some facilities.
5 | Moscow MAKING NEW FRIENDS After a face-to-face meeting, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said their countries would work more closely together on energy and foreign policy. This dismayed U.S. officials, who have watched Chavez trade access to his country's vast oil supplies for influence in Central America and farther afield.
6 | New Delhi RIDING OUT THE STORM India's Congress Party--led government celebrated after surviving a July 22 no-confidence vote, salvaging a nuclear deal with the U.S. that could ease the country's energy shortage. Opponents said the deal threatened Indian sovereignty by catering to American demands. The victory was tainted by allegations of bribery from three opposition-party members who claimed that government supporters had offered them money to abstain from voting.
7 | Texas New Charges For Jeffs A grand jury indicted breakaway Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs on charges of sexually assaulting a girl under age 17. Five of his followers also face counts stemming from an April raid on the polygamist group's Texas ranch. Jeffs was convicted in Utah last year as an accomplice to the rape of a child bride and awaits trial in Arizona on similar charges.
8 | Zimbabwe Rivals Agree to Talk After months of violence following a contested presidential election, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe met on July 21 and agreed to assign representatives to power-sharing negotiations. The meeting was a victory of sorts for South African President Thabo Mbeki, who had previously been criticized for his passive role as the conflict's designated mediator. Yet wary Western nations, suspicious of Mugabe's vocal and repeated vows to maintain power, nonetheless toughened sanctions against the President and many of his senior advisers.
9 | Geneva Different Policy, Same Results In its highest-level negotiations with Tehran since 1979, the U.S. sent a top diplomat to join international talks in Switzerland intended to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. The talks stalled, however, when Tehran refused to temporarily halt its nuclear program in exchange for a freeze on any new international sanctions.
[The following descriptive text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]
o Optical 55.2% o Electronic 33.1% o Lever 6.1% o Other 5.6%
In November, more voters will use optically scanned ballots than in 2004
(SOURCE: BASED ON ESTIMATES FROM ELECTION DATA SERVICES)
10 | New York Ballots That Befuddle Despite $2.8 billion spent by U.S. federal and state governments to improve voting technology since 2002, a new study by New York University researchers says poor ballot designs have confounded hundreds of thousands of voters in recent elections. The study noted some drawbacks of touchscreen voting systems, which can fail to indicate unregistered votes and sometimes lack paper trails for verification--flaws that have prompted many precincts to replace the terminals with optically scanned ballots. With more than 15 million Americans casting votes in counties with new ballot systems in place this year, it's likely that some confusion will persist come fall.
What They're Eating in Afghanistan Residents of the Afghan capital can't get enough KFC--Kabul Fried Chicken, that is. The city hosts four competing knockoffs of the global fast-food chain, complete with their own secret recipes, as well as logos copied from the Internet. "I consider myself the Afghan Colonel Sanders," says one entrepreneur, Mirwais Abuldrahizmi. No word yet on whether Yum! Brands, KFC's corporate parent, based in Louisville, Ky., plans to file a lawsuit to the contrary.