News headlines in 2009, page 101

With 2,000 people dying daily in armed violence fuelled by irresponsible arms transfers, talks to create an international treaty regulating these weapons can no longer be delayed, says a coalition of NGOs in a new report 'Dying for Action' published Wednesday.

As the Italian government cracks down ever harder on new waves of migrants, the city of Turin has taken a different approach, reaching out to immigrant communities and embracing a philosophy of economic, social and cultural integration.

Cowpeas are of vital importance to the diets and livelihood of millions of people in West and Central Africa. But the crop is notoriously difficult to store - beetles and other pests can destroy an entire granary full of cowpeas within 12 months.

Standards relating to indigenous peoples' rights, laid down by the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, are increasingly being incorporated into the laws of countries in the region, according to Víctor Abramovich, First Vice President of the Commission.

Under growing pressure ten days after a violent crackdown, killed 157 civilians, Guinean junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara has announced an independent committee of inquiry into the deaths.

Who knows how many more fossils and species are lurking in the vast, unexplored riches of South-east Asia?

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, nationally known for his crackdown on undocumented migrants in Arizona, could have all of his immigration enforcement powers taken away by the federal government.

The annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ended Wednesday in Istanbul in a climate of cautious hope for the economy and with a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges for the two institutions.

A bipartisan commission is calling for the United States to make halting global deforestation a major priority in both domestic and international climate change policies.

The culture and economy of war and the hegemony of the "globalisers" have been a catastrophic failure and the cause of incalculable levels of suffering, hunger, and extreme poverty. A "new beginning" is needed urgently, writes Federico Mayor, president of the Culture of Peace Foundation and former Director General of UNESCO.