Dispatches

March 27

A suicide bomber attacked a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, filled with Christians celebrating the Easter Sunday holiday. The bomb killed at least 72 persons, almost half of them children, and injured more than 300 others. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility and said it was targeting Christians, though Muslims died in the attack as well. Pakistani Christians had feared retaliation from Islamists after the government recently executed Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 assassination of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, a prominent advocate against the country’s oppressive blasphemy laws.

Bombs in Brussels

March 23

Belgian authorities searched for accomplices after two March 22 suicide bombings in the Brussels airport and metro system killed at least 35 persons, including two Americans, and wounded more than 300. The attacks exposed the challenges Belgian authorities face in fighting terrorism within their borders. The three identified bombers were Belgian nationals and were on law enforcement’s radar: One had traveled to Turkey, ostensibly to fight with the Islamic State, before being deported back to Europe. Authorities believe one of the bombers was the bomb-maker in the November Paris terror attacks, Belgian national Najim Laachraoui. The planner of the Paris attacks was Belgian, and Belgium has sent more fighters to join the Islamic State per capita than any other European country. Belgium’s complex bureaucracy and strange laws—like forbidding police raids between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.—have hampered its law enforcement.

Cuban welcome

March 22

President Barack Obama and his family traveled to Cuba in March—the first U.S. presidential visit to the communist country in almost 90 years. Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro enjoyed a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national baseball team in a freshly painted stadium. Commercial flights between the United States and Cuba will likely begin this fall. Obama called for the Cuban government to respect human rights, but some Republicans argued that Obama’s restoration of diplomatic relations rewards a repressive government. Ahead of Obama’s visit, Castro’s government arrested hundreds of dissidents.