News headlines in April 2012, page 4

A giant digital 'clock' on Sixth Avenue in New York keeps track of a number, currently at 15.6 trillion dollars and counting. As the number soars ever higher into the stratosphere, so U.S. voters are increasingly concerned, for the number represents the debt of the United States.

Even as President Barack Obama touts his progress in extracting the U.S. from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his administration appears to be deepening its covert and military involvement in strife-torn Yemen.

The 380 families living in Piquiá de Baixo, a small town in the northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhão, are fed up with having to endure high levels of pollution from nearby steelworks in their water, air and soil.

The White House on Thursday announced the formulation of the National Bioeconomy Blueprint, aimed at shoring up the U.S. commitment to bioscience-related research.

The United Nations is rejoicing over the conviction of a former head of state for committing crimes against humanity, specifically involving the recruitment of child soldiers.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, has been convicted by the country's Supreme Court of having committed contempt of court in a case that could see him expelled from office.

As a result of climate change-related extreme weather events like a rise in the sea level and increasingly intense storms alternating with drought, Caribbean island nations are facing the challenge of adopting adaptation measures that could be too costly for their budgets.

Farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are embracing a new variety of cassava which, in combination with improved agricultural techniques, easily outperforms yields from other popular types of this important crop.

'We're making a three-dimensional educational video game. The idea is to create virtual worlds where children can explore and interact with other people and objects,' said Carlos Villagrán, seated at a computer in the Campus Tecnológico in the Guatemalan capital.

Although coming off a rocky year in 2011, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is 'not in crisis', according to the organisation's deputy general manager, Debrework Zewdie.