News headlines in 2009, page 344

Israel's outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert is risking a crisis of confidence with Egypt by insisting that a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas precede any Egyptian-mediated ceasefire arrangement to end the Gaza war.

'We only want a normal life,' says Um Qasim, sitting in a bombed out building in Baghdad. She and others around have been saying that for years.

Worldwide demand for food is expected to grow steadily over the next 40 years, but 25 percent of the world's food production may be lost to 'environmental breakdowns' by 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

To be a lawyer in military-ruled Burma is to court danger, invite arrest and risk being jailed in the country’s notorious prisons.

At the government's request, the Peruvian parliament has set up a commission to investigate alleged irregularities in the sale of Petro Tech Peruana (PTP) to Ecopetrol, the Colombian state oil company, and the South Korean National Oil Corporation (KNOC). But opposition politicians are sceptical of the outcome and have refused to participate.

With foreclosures skyrocketing and U.S. families sinking deeper into poverty, a number of organisations are turning to a new strategy to end homelessness: moving families into vacant, foreclosed houses that are currently owned by banks or the government.

Former president Nestor Kirchner, while having no official government post, calls and receives ministers and governors, confidently choosing staff and distributing funds for public works projects.

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe last week presided over the formation of a new unity government. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general Tendai Biti was appointed to the post of finance minister.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he is sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, marking the start of what many believe will be an escalation that will ultimately see the U.S. forces there double.

The kidnapping of John Solecki of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees(UNHCR)in Quetta, Balochistan province seems to confirm the perception of international humanitarian organisations that aid work in Pakistan is becoming increasingly hazardous.