News headlines in December 2009, page 2

The news about fourth Indonesian president and cleric Abdurrahman Wahid being admitted to the hospital last week merited only a passing mention in the national media. It was overshadowed by reports on the country’s tumultuous political situation, such as allegations that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was involved in a banking scandal and the controversies hounding the country’s corruption eradication agency.

After four hours on the Nile in a rowboat with his two sons, fisher Hussein Abdel Malek tallies the morning catch: a plastic water bottle, an empty juice box, a half dozen plastic bags and two small tilapia.

When Yemen refused to vote in support of a U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution against Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, a visibly angry U.S. delegate turned to the Yemeni diplomat and said: 'That will be the last time you will ever vote against a U.S. resolution.'

As 2009 draws to a close, the big question here is whether President Barack Obama is succeeding in digging out of the hole — international as well as financial - that he inherited from George W. Bush or digging deeper into it.

China’s growing dependence on military-ruled Burma to meet its energy demands is poised to take concrete form when, according to activists, work commences in the coming months on the construction of oil and gas pipelines.

With the chance for a global climate change treaty on hold, a tax on greenhouse gases could be an effective alternative for discouraging the activities that create emissions, say economists and environmentalists.

Susanna Solomon is still tending her shamba, but she won't eat the harvest from her farm when it's ready.

The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) has raised a red flag over the worsening food security situation in the Horn of Africa.

The Attorney General's Office of Colombia is keeping a tight lid on developments in its investigation of 113 million dollars in farm subsidies handed out over the last three years to wealthy families, many of whom have no involvement in the agricultural sector whatsoever.

Restrictions on art displays and signage critical of the upcoming February 2010 Winter Olympics and the creation of a massive high-tech security network are putting a damper in some residents' minds on what should be a celebratory sports extravaganza in Vancouver.