The week at a glance...International

Tunis, Tunisia

Early elections: The Tunisian government this week agreed to hold early elections after days of mass protests over the assassination of secular lawmaker Mohamed Brahmi. The protesters accuse the moderate Islamist government of Prime Minister Ali Larayedh of tolerating extremist groups, such as the one that gunned down Brahmi last week. Larayedh scheduled the vote for Dec. 17, the third anniversary of the death of the fruit vendor whose self-immolation sparked the Arab Spring. But well-armed al Qaida–linked militants pose a dire threat in the meantime. “I see in Tunisia today signs that make me afraid,” said army chief Gen. Rachid Ammar shortly before resigning in June. “Tunisia could become like Somalia.”

Kabul

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U.S. money wasted: Hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid money to Afghanistan is being misspent or wasted, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a U.S. government oversight body. The Pentagon has insisted, for example, on purchasing $772 million worth of aircraft for the Afghan military “even though the Afghans lack the capacity to operate and maintain them.” And there’s very little oversight of U.S. money awarded to private contractors. “The picture that emerges,” said Dan Murphy in CSMonitor.com, “is one of weak monitoring, duplicitous contractors, and hundreds of millions spent on facilities the U.S. military won’t use or the Afghans don’t want or can’t feasibly use.”

Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

Taliban jailbreak: Pakistani Taliban militants freed about 250 inmates, including dozens of convicted terrorists, in a military-style assault on a Pakistani prison this week. Scores of attackers, dressed as police, cut power lines and blew up the outer walls, then burst into the prison armed with bombs, grenades, and machine guns. A gun battle left at least 13 people dead, including six police. Five police were arrested on suspicion of collusion. “Pakistani authorities have clearly and spectacularly failed in fulfilling their responsibilities,” said the Islamabad Nation in an editorial.

Beijing

Whistle-blowing mistresses: Angry ex-girlfriends of Chinese officials are blowing the whistle on government corruption. Ji Yingnan has riveted the Chinese Internet community by posting hundreds of photos online of the lavish gifts given to her by her fiancé, a Communist Party official who turned out to be married. The official, who earned a modest government salary, was somehow able to give Ji luxury cars, an apartment, and thousands of dollars in cash and gifts; he is now under investigation. Another official was fired after his ex-mistress revealed that he had stolen $200 million. “Some people have said that the anti-corruption departments at all levels perform worse than the mistresses,” said the People’s Daily.

Tokyo

‘Silver shoplifters’: Facing cuts in welfare and pensions, Japan’s swelling ranks of the elderly are turning to crime—many of them stealing food. Shoplifters are now more likely to be over 65 than under 18. Criminal offenses by the over-65 set have doubled in the past decade, even as overall crime has dropped. “Senior citizens shoplift lunch boxes and bread out of poverty, and they also steal because they are lonely and isolated,” said Justice Ministry official Yusuke Ishikawa. Prisons have been forced to add handrails and ramps to accommodate elderly inmates.