News headlines in September 2010, page 5

After years of losing the war against animal traffickers and poachers, Malaysia has finally responded with the passage of a new wildlife conservation law. But experts say it might be too late for some of this South-east Asian country’s endangered species.

She is now part of a group of artisan entrepreneurs, deals with people confidently, and earns enough for herself and her three children. But 20 years ago, Amir Unisha Begum was an unschooled, shy homemaker who rarely ventured out of her Indian slum neighbourhood.

The vigorous comeback of the opposition in Venezuela's newly elected parliament strengthens pluralism in this oil-rich country, although it may presage a new political crisis in the medium term, according to analysts.

Recent raids by federal agents on the homes and offices of peace activists are being viewed by civil libertarians and civil society groups as further proof that the U.S. is morphing into a 'surveillance state' where the right to privacy and other constitutional protections are being quietly whittled away.

Tension, the twisted carcasses of gutted vehicles, buses with smashed windows, smouldering dumpsters, streets riddled with rubber-coated steel bullets and empty cartridge cases, teargas, and air thickened with black soot from burning tyres marked the beginning of the fifth day Monday of continuous rioting in East Jerusalem.

Hundreds of people who believe they were falsely detained and imprisoned by the Department of Justice in the wake of the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks are now seeking redress through the U.S. courts.

Some two billion people around the world drink alcohol, a practice that has been around since time immemorial. Responsible drinking is only part of the picture; the WHO reports that the harmful use of alcohol affects tens of millions of people and kills two and a half million people every year, from causes ranging from illnesses to traffic accidents.

The nations of Latin America must ally themselves -- regardless of their roles as drug producers, consumers or transit routes -- in a full-force fight against drug trafficking, says Peru, which plans to lead the way.

Teachers heading for work in the 380 public schools across Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat take more than a bag filled with textbooks and lecture notes. Many go armed with guns.

A casual visit to any of Europe's major supermarkets could leave a shopper with the impression that there is a boundless supply of fish in the continent's waters. The true picture is far less rosy. With about 88 percent of the European Union's fish stocks overexploited, EU vessels are travelling increasingly longer distances before bringing home their catches.