News headlines in 2010, page 383

After months of denial, the British government has agreed to release secret documents that lawyers say could prove that MI5 agents were present during the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's torture of a British resident held by the U.S. government for eight years.

On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a small story from the Associated Press came across the wires that an earthquake had hit Haiti. Almost instantly, phones began to ring as Haitian Americans started calling each other to find out if there was more to this story.

When Omar Abdel-Razeq was appointed finance minister following the election of Hamas in January 2006, the BBC characterised the post as the 'least enviable job in the new Palestinian government.'

Amid criticism that the U.S. Defence Department was prioritising military and rescue air traffic to earthquake-stricken Haiti, U.S. officials controlling the country's main airport have agreed to guarantee landing slots for planes carrying humanitarian aid, U.N. officials say.

The world’s largest free trade area that became a reality at the start of the year is being billed as a welcome shot in the arm for the countries comprising it, namely, China and six South-east Asian countries. It offers a route out of the global financial crisis, analysts said.

Under pressure over accusations that ill-gotten money would be siphoned out, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has put the lid on a plan to allow a free flow of foreign currency in and out of the country.

The traditional engagement ceremony of two men on Dec. 26, 2009 has created a lot of controversy in conservative Malawi. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested two days after their engagement and remain in police custody, facing long jail terms.

According to several prominent Palestinians and Israelis another major Israeli military assault on Gaza, even harsher than last year’s Operation Cast Lead, is imminent. But will this change anything and have the underlying causes behind the previous bloody war been addressed?

On Sunday, when this eastern India metropolis of moderate winter experienced one of the chilliest days of the season, the weather was no deterrent for tens of thousands who lined up the streets to catch a glimpse of a 95-year-old communist leader’s body soon after a teary-eyed comrade announced his death.

Looking increasingly desperate after a 15-month-long hunt for a saboteur who has blown up six natural gas installations in northern Canada, police arrested an outspoken oil industry critic and then set him free a day later without pressing charges.