News headlines in March 2009, page 32

President Raúl Castro announced Monday the biggest cabinet shuffle in decades in Cuba, merging several ministries and sacking more than 10 senior officials, including Vice President Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.

Despite the crater-sized potholes that fill Bulawayo roads, Desmond Hikwa is not slowed down as he speeds across this city of more than two million transporting commuters from sunrise to sunset.

As hundreds of activists from around the world descend on the United Nations Monday for a major two-week meeting on women's rights and equality, the economic crisis here in the host country is continuing to have an especially heavy toll on women of colour.

'There's no doubt there's been a huge amount of damage done, including whole sectors of private sector buildings which have been razed to the ground and, in any event, given the numbers of people that have died, I find the conversation about proportionality not really a sensible conversation to have. What we've got to do is to find a way of ensuring this doesn't happen again.' The pointed comment came from former British prime minister Tony Blair, special international envoy to the Middle East, during his first visit to Gaza after Israel's offensive against Hamas.

The major coup scored by Chinese diplomats in sealing a string of bulk volume energy deals in the past few weeks signals a new phase in Beijing’s energy diplomacy, deployed to secure long-term resources for the country’s power-hungry economy, according to analysts here.

South-east Asian leaders ended a summit here on Sunday by placing greater faith in the United Nations, than their regional bloc in dealing with a member - military-ruled Burma.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak warned leaders in North Korea on Sunday that it would be counterproductive for Pyongyang to pursue a path involving the development of missiles that threaten its neighbours.