News headlines in 2009, page 100

Non-governmental organisations have expressed their satisfaction at the European Commission’s declaration that it would not put 'undue pressure' on African and other countries to conclude the controversial trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs).

The prospect of a four-degree Celsius rise in global average temperatures in 50 years is alarming - but not alarmist, climate scientists now believe.

After 20 years of fighting for their ancestral lands in Paraguay's northwestern Chaco region, the Xákmok Kásek indigenous community's case has reached the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

As the rainy season approaches, and sewage from pit latrines seep further into the Zimbabwe's groundwater, Irene Ngubeni will be at risk as the country faces another possible cholera outbreak.

Umaru Fofana looks dishevelled. His hair is overgrown and people who do not know him could be mistaken for thinking he just joined an Afro band. And his hanging beard will surely solicit suspicious glances.

New laws dealing with foreign employment agents and migrant workers, Sri Lanka’s biggest foreign revenue earner, have stirred up a hornet’s nest and concerns over a fundamental issue — the freedom to travel.

When organisers of an international conference on climate change and the food crisis first scheduled the event here for late September, little did they realise the event would be sandwiched by two typhoons buffeting the region. Ironically, the first typhoon, ‘Ketsana’, delayed the arrival of conference delegates from the Philippines.

As the countdown continues towards a United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, a seemingly intractable tussle between negotiators from the developing and developed world has begun to take shape over international commitments to slash greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions.

An interfaith group of religious leaders Thursday announced the launch of DaySix.org, an initiative aimed at influencing the passage of Senate legislation on climate change.

The increasingly deadly battle between Western military forces and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan is on the verge of being upstaged by a growing political brawl between two senior U.N. officials overseeing the battle-ravaged South Asian nation.