News headlines in June 2011, page 25

Journalists, analysts, and policymakers have struggled to separate truth from fiction as the political situation in Syria steadily deteriorates. The lack of accurate, credible information has mired the Syrian situation beneath a fog of war that has complicated the world's understanding of the regime, its opposition, and the realities behind the uprising's latest developments.

Frequent and long-distance transfers to remote detention facilities are jeopardising the political and human rights of immigrants detained in the United States, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The growing awareness that the ongoing U.N. climate change talks here won’t deliver a treaty to extend the international governance regime on reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2012, is driving environmental experts to foster alternative solutions to global warming.

Almost 17 months after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and three other cities, reconstruction of the capital’s downtown appears stalled, and over 800,000 people still live in tents — some 30,000 of them right across from the collapsed National Palace.

The rule of law - a critical element of good governance - thrives best in Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand and worst in Pakistan, Liberia, Cameroon, Cambodia, Kenya and Venezuela, according to the latest edition of a four-year-old index released Monday by the World Justice Project (WJP).

The countries of Central America should adopt community policing as a strategy to fight organised crime, say experts in the region ahead of a key summit on security to be held Jun. 22-23 in the Guatemalan capital.

Clean the air, cool the planet and prevent millions of deaths with fast action on soot and smog, a new report urges.

GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisation, secured pledges of 4.3 billion dollars from donors in London on Jun. 13 with the aim of securing funding to ensure life-saving vaccinations for every child on the planet.

Between 2011 and 2012, 6.4 million children could die of preventable diseases, a number greater than the total population of Denmark or Norway.

Threats to biodiversity, spreading pollution, degraded river basins and disappearing forests are problems in oil-rich, megadiverse Venezuela, where climate change is knocking on the door.