News headlines in March 2009, page 21

Although the successful campaign to keep Amb. Charles 'Chas' Freeman out of a top intelligence post marked a surface victory for the pro-Israel hardliners who opposed him, the long-term political implications of the Freeman affair appear far more ambiguous.

The British government has announced it will hold talks with the political wing of Lebanon’s Hizbullah. The Barack Obama administration sent two envoys to Syria to discuss steps to improve relations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has invited Iran to take part in a conference on the future of Afghanistan.

For the residents of Recreio, an upscale district on the west side of Rio de Janeiro, it is hardly a surprise these days to find alligators holding up traffic along their streets or slipping in for a dip in their swimming pools.

Sport could be one way of alleviating the thousands of children drawn into armed conflicts around the world. Certainly Prince Feisal Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, also president of the Jordanian Olympic Committee, believes this, and has been using sports to heal traumatised children all his life.

While much hope is focused on China as the one bright spot in the current financial gloom, Chinese leaders are drawing a line on global expectations, reminding the world that their country’s priorities come first.

The campaign for next Sunday’s presidential elections in El Salvador wrapped up at midnight Wednesday, muddied by complaints of irregularities and fear mongering propaganda that could influence the outcome.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s pick for his new drug czar signals a radical shift from the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, by focusing on treatment for drug offenders rather than jail time.

Business Track, a private security firm, was engaged in spying on non-governmental organisations, environmental activists, social movements and opposition groups in Peru, sources in the police, prosecutor’s office and courts investigating the case told IPS.

As the United Nations grapples with global problems related to collapsing economies, rising poverty and the devastating impact of climate change, there is apparently a new threat looming over Earth: plummeting asteroids.

Almost two months after the war on the Gaza Strip, the border area between the battered coastal enclave and Egypt continues to come under frequent Israeli aerial bombardment. Israeli officials say the strikes target cross-border tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Palestinian resistance factions.