News headlines in 2009, page 269
DISARMAMENT: Mayors Gather at U.N. to Lobby Against Nukes
- Inter Press Service

The issue of nuclear disarmament being discussed with new vigour in the halls of the U.N. as the third and final preparatory committee leading up to the 2010 review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) meets over the next two weeks.
U.S.: Obama Urged to Sign Native Rights Declaration
- Inter Press Service

The United States is considering whether to endorse a major U.N. General Assembly resolution calling for the recognition of the rights of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples over their lands and resources.
PAKISTAN: Entering a 'Bloody Phase'
- Inter Press Service

Alarm bells are ringing in Washington, with the U.S. fretting over what could happen if the 'worst, the unthinkable' were to happen and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), toppled the country's year-old democratic government and got hold of its nuclear arsenal.
ENVIRONMENT: Coral Reefs Lucky This Time
- Inter Press Service

Scientists have been surprised by the rapid recovery of coral reefs from mass bleaching on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef, but they warn that reefs remain particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
MIDEAST: Israel Hit by Doubts Over U.S.
- Inter Press Service

Almost a full fortnight before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is received at the White House, and already political nerves here are all a-jangle. Is a showdown with Israel's staunch ally about to materialise?
GREECE: Financial Crisis Multiplies Migrant Miseries
- Inter Press Service

The economic crisis is hitting migrants harder than most other people, and it looks set to get worse for them.
Q&A: 'We Eat Hatred Here'
- Inter Press Service

Beit Daniel is an Israeli pluralist religious organisation promoting coexistence between Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land. Executive director Rabbi Meir Azari speaks here to IPS about the war in Gaza, the importance of compromise, and the moral dilemmas of Israel.
PAKISTAN: Media in the Taliban’s Crosshairs
- Inter Press Service

Till two months back, Shireen Zada of the private television channel Express News would carry a pistol whenever he covered the news in the restive Swat Valley in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
PAKISTAN: Military Crackdown on Taliban Uproots Civilians
- Inter Press Service

Thousands of civilians are continuing to migrate to safer places from Upper Dir and Buner districts - the new theatres of an internal war between Pakistan’s Taliban and the military in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
POLITICS: U.N. Inquiry Critical of Israeli Attacks in Gaza
- Inter Press Service

A detailed 184-page report critical of Israeli attacks on U.N. personnel and buildings during the Gaza conflict last December-January has been meticulously stripped down to a 27-page document - mostly due to political sensitivities and on security grounds.
Global Issues