News headlines in January 2009, page 20
TRINIDAD: President in Power Grab, Citizen Groups Say
- Inter Press Service

As it stands now, the office of the president of Trinidad and Tobago is largely ceremonial. But if the draft document on a new constitution released by the Patrick Manning government last week is anything to go by, that could change dramatically.
MIDEAST: Thousand Deaths Do Not Put Off EU
- Inter Press Service

Senior European Union figures have signalled that they could push ahead with plans to strengthen formal ties with Israel, even though more than 1,000 have now been killed by the bombardment of Gaza
RIGHTS: New U.S. Leadership Offers Ray of Hope
- Inter Press Service

As human rights abuses continue around the world, global power shifts have created new coalitions that often successfully seek to deflect criticisms of their own and their allies' human rights records, says the comprehensive annual report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
EL SALVADOR: Central America’s Leader in Cell Phone Use
- Inter Press Service

By the end of 2008, El Salvador had the largest number of cell phones per person in Central America, with 6.6 million for a population of 5.8 million.
MIDEAST: Malaysia Exercised Over Gaza
- Inter Press Service

As an economically advanced country that seeks a key role in the Muslim world, it is perhaps natural that Malaysia and its people are exercised over Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
CUBA-US: After Deadlock, How to Resist the 'Siren Songs?'
- Inter Press Service

In spite of shortcomings, unfulfilled dreams and doubts, one of the unquestioned merits of the Cuban revolution, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, is the sense of independence and sovereignty in this small island state, geographically so close to the most powerful nation in the world.
HAITI: New Peasant Alliance Demands Action on Food Crisis
- Inter Press Service

Haiti's peasant farmers are organising and taking action to try and bring an end to the country's dependence on food imports, and to avert the prospect of looming famine.
MIDEAST: Olmert Piles Up the Pressure
- Inter Press Service

In the face of U.S. denials, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office confirmed Wednesday that he personally intervened to ensure that the U.S. abstained from voting on UN Security Council Resolution 1860 last week.
RELIGION-INDIA: Reviving Buddhism Where It Was Born
- Inter Press Service

Over 50 years ago, the author of India’s constitution, B. R. Ambedkar, set in motion a Buddhist socio-political movement which many believe is now ready to fructify through Mayawati, chief minister of northern Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.
DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Politicians Blamed for Stalled New Nile Pact
- Inter Press Service

Ten years of negotiations over a new protocol governing shared use of the Nile River are hanging in the balance, with Egypt and Sudan refusing to give up their present power over how much water is used by countries further upstream.
Global Issues