News headlines in September 2009, page 8

Almost a year ago a barely noticed event took place in Sawarha, a Palestinian neighbourhood in the Israeli-occupied part of the city.

In Guatemala, where corruption is so notorious that a U.N.-sponsored commission against impunity was set up to strengthen and purge the country's justice system, a new process has been put in place to make the selection of judges more transparent.

Gina Champiti, a widowed mother of eight children aged between three and 12 did not register to vote in the May presidential and parliamentary elections. This is going to cost her her livelihood.

The shift in the United States policy towards Burma has been met with mixed reactions, with few believing it will have an impact. But the South-east Asian state’s detained opposition leader has already endorsed Washington’s move to start talks with the reclusive regime.

Vakarai is a dust bowl of a village, right at the edge of the coast in Sri Lanka’s east. The last three decades have not been too good for this fishing village -- located about 300 kilometres east of the capital Colombo -- and its inhabitants, mostly from the minority Tamil community.

Mr Taelo Motseki had every reason to wear a broad smile despite the afternoon chill. His family along with 21 others displaced by Phase 1B of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project at Ha Mohale had won a decade-long struggle seeking compensation.

As many as 100 million people in Africa suffer from schistosomiasis, a chronic illness caused by a parasite associated with freshwater snails. The schistosoma flatworm causes a debilitating illness that can damage internal organs, and stunt growth and cognitive development of children.

Primary and secondary school education in Zimbabwe has 'fallen woefully behind' other southern African countries due to shortages of textbooks and other materials as well as deteriorating working conditions and resultant low morale for teachers.

When Barack Obama chaired a summit meeting of the Security Council Thursday - a historic first for a U.S. president - his primary motive was to push for his ambitious, long-term agenda for 'a world without nuclear weapons'.

U.S. President Barack Obama will make his way Thursday from the U.N. General Assembly in New York to 'Steel City' — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - to host the G20 Summit in what has been billed as a week that will put his ability to lead in the international arena to its fullest test.