News headlines in February 2009, page 19

Israeli voters went into their polling booths Tuesday uncertain about the government they wanted to lead them over the next four years, only to emerge from their vote even more uncertain about their country's future.

Zimbabwe's power sharing deal comes as the country's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) controlled urban councils are facing a multitude of challenges after years of what they claim is interference in the running of their affairs by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Two weeks ago, a day after the government of Iceland fell, outgoing fisheries and agriculture minister Einar K. Gudfinnsson announced a quota for commercial whaling for up to 150 fin whales and 100 minke whales for the next five years.

The intimate involvement of the private sector in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq received international attention in September 2007, when staff with the security firm Blackwater shot dead 17 civilians in the vicinity of Baghdad's Nisoor Square.

With the oceans in crisis, where will our fish - an important source of protein for billions of people - come from?

Migrant construction workers in Russia face widespread abuse by their employers, says a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Tuesday, including withholding wages, failing to provide required contracts, and unsafe working conditions at construction sites across the country.

A German teacher of Visual Cultures and studying documentaries in India organises a film screening in Pakistan. A Pakistani produces an innovative short film series featuring work from India, Pakistan and Britain.

During a tense press conference, in the midst of the current constitutional crisis in this state, peninsualar Malaysia's second largest, a reporter's MP3 recorder/handphone began ringing.

The political maneuvering between President Barack Obama and his top field commanders over withdrawal from Iraq has taken a sudden new turn with the leak by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus - and a firm denial by a White House official - of an account of the Jan. 21 White House meeting suggesting that Obama had requested three different combat troop withdrawal plans with their respective associated risks, including one of 23 months.

President Barack Obama has cast doubt on his promise to put an end to secret government by allowing his Justice Department to follow a path frequently taken by his predecessor.