News headlines in 2009, page 380

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).

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.

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.

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'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.

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.

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.

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.

Despite the Kevin Rudd-led government committing to introduce all ten recommendations of the inquiry into Australian authorities’ bungled terrorism investigation of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, civil rights groups are concerned at the lack of accountability for mistakes made.

The U.S. State Department fiercely denied claims made by Ehud Olmert about his influence over President George W. Bush, in an incident that has stirred up old debates about the role of the Israeli government and the so-called 'Israel lobby' in formulating Middle East policy in Washington.