The World

By Alex Altman, Harriet Barovick, Gilbert Cruz, Adam Goodman, Kate Pickert, Tiffany Sharples, M.J. Stephey, Claire Suddath

1 | China Reluctantly, a Gas Hike

For years, the Chinese government has subsidized the cost of gasoline. But even Beijing could not keep the global oil crisis at bay. With artificially low prices forcing Chinese refineries to operate below profitability, China announced on June 19 that it would raise gas prices 16% and diesel prices 18%. Many analysts had expected the government to increase prices--but only after August's Olympic Games to minimize embarrassing public protests.

2 | Nigeria Oil in Troubled Waters

Nigerian rebels have promised to stop targeting the foreign oil companies that supply most of the country's 2.3 million bbl. a day to the world market. The June 24 cease-fire came days after guerrillas attacked an offshore oil rig, part of a wave of violence that has cut Nigeria's production 10% since January 2006.

2007 imports to the U.S. in millions of barrels per day

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine.] CANADA 1.864 SAUDI ARABIA 1.453 MEXICO 1.410 VENEZUELA 1.150 NIGERIA 1.082 ANGOLA .496 IRAQ .485 ALGERIA .443 ECUADOR .198 KUWAIT .176

(SOURCE: U.S. ENERGY DEPT.)

3 | Beijing Wen Makes New Friends

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao--lauded by Chinese for his visits to areas hit by the Sichuan earthquake--has become the most popular non-U.S. politician on Facebook. Since a profile of the "people's premier" first appeared in May, it has been adorned with thousands of admiring posts and more than 700 photos of Wen giving speeches, chatting with citizens and playing baseball.

FACEBOOK'S FAVORITE POLITICIANS

2nd PLACE HILLARY CLINTON 158,127 friends

4th PLACE RON PAUL 89,761 friends

15th PLACE GEORGE W. BUSH 14,434 friends

1st PLACE BARACK OBAMA 1,046,851 friends

3rd PLACE JOHN MCCAIN 153,654 friends

5th PLACE WEN JIABAO 53,036 friends

(SOURCE: FACEBOOK.COM, AS OF JUNE 25)

4 | Mars Red Planet Shows White

On June 20, NASA scientists confirmed that its Phoenix Lander had detected proof of ice below Mars' surface, a discovery that preserves the possibility that the planet is--or was once--capable of sustaining life. Since the Phoenix Lander touched down May 25, its robotic digging arm has scratched away at the topsoil of Mars' polar region, revealing white material two inches down. Scientists concluded the substance was water-based ice when photos transmitted by the spacecraft showed that the material had evaporated after being exposed to the atmosphere.

5 | Jerusalem Anglican Split

Some 280 Anglican bishops will boycott their church's decennial Lambeth conference over the church's tolerance of homosexuality. At a rival meeting in Jerusalem, the bishops declared that reconciliation was hopeless, but they later backtracked, saying they wanted to avoid a schism in the 77 million--member church.

6 | Washington Justice Bias?

An internal report claims the Justice Department picked candidates for its honors and internship programs based on political ideology rather than ability in 2002 and 2006. The study says officials tapped applicants with ties to conservative groups like the Federalist Society over more qualified law students with resumes containing buzzwords like environmental justice and social justice.

7 | New York City Record Labels Sing the Blues

U.S. album sales for the first quarter of 2008 plunged another 11%, according to a Nielsen SoundScan report that marks a continuing slump for an industry stuck in a downward spiral for six of the past seven years. U.S. digital sales, however, made up music's lone bright spot: they soared 53% in 2007 and now make up 23% of all U.S. recording revenue.

8 | New Zealand A Maori Win

An indigenous group received the largest settlement in New Zealand's history on June 25, when the government signed over land and cash worth some $300 million to seven Maori tribes on the North Island. The tribes' more than 100,000 members will share rental income from 435,000 acres of forest used by lumber companies, compensation rooted in an 1840 land treaty with British colonists.

9 | Bangkok SUMMER OF DISCONTENT Tens of thousands of Thai demonstrators have swarmed government offices in recent days, clashing with riot police, above, and denouncing Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej as an illegitimate proxy for his predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006. Despite expectations that he would survive a no-confidence vote before the nation's Parliament, some experts predict Samak's coalition government may not last through the summer.

10 | Manila Tragic Voyage

A ferry carrying more than 850 passengers and crew capsized in the Philippines after Typhoon Fengshen battered the vessel with winds of up to 121 m.p.h. Only about 60 survivors have been rescued so far. In the wake of the disaster, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced that maritime regulations would be tightened and suspended the ferry operator, for whom this is the third major tragedy since a 1987 accident that killed more than 4,000 people. Arroyo also blasted authorities for permitting the vessel, which was en route to Cebu from Manila, to leave port despite the advancing storm.

What They're Reading in Poland

A new book by two historians, The State Security Service and Lech Walesa, has renewed accusations that the hero of the Polish Solidarity movement and Nobel Prize winner was a communist spy in the 1970s, code-named Bolek. The book's 4,000-copy initial print run sold out June 23, the day it was released. Walesa faced down the accusations in court in the past and reportedly vowed to sue the authors for libel. The book also accuses Poland's first postcommunist President of doctoring his police file in the 1990s.