News headlines in April 2009, page 18

The red brick St. Andrews Anglican Church in wealthy Easton, Maryland, was known for its open door. It hosted family movie nights, and weekend spaghetti dinners. Most people had no idea anything was amiss, until the bank took the key, and the church building was foreclosed and sold at auction.

The effects of the economic recession on employment in Brazil have already been overcome, Labour and Employment Minister Carlos Lupi said, citing statistics that show more hirings than firings since February.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised Russia and Georgia Tuesday for using cluster bombs during their week-long conflict in August, in a statement apparently also directed at a coalition made up of Brazil, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea and the United State, which want to continue producing and exporting the lethal weapons.

For nearly two weeks, Pairoj Chotsripanporn joined the ranks of anti-government protesters gathered outside the prime minister’s office, wearing the trademark red shirt of the movement.

The international community must act immediately to resolve the political and humanitarian crises facing Sudan, said a panel of leading Sudan experts at a briefing here Tuesday, and ensure that any peace process formally include women’s input.

Protecting the earth’s nearly 4 billion hectares of remaining forests and replanting those already lost are both essential for restoring the earth’s health, an important foundation for the new economy.

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered the Navy’s prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by next January, suspended military commission trials, and assigned Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct case-by-case reviews of the 241 prisoners still detained there to determine which ones should be prosecuted, released or sent to other countries.

China’s entrepreneurial south has always been Chinese leaders’ favourite spot for conducting experiments. Ever since markets advocate Deng Xiaoping launched experimental economic zones in the country’s south in 1992, paving the way for China’s emergence as an export powerhouse, the industrious Pearl River Delta has established itself as the epitome of daring in this nominally communist country.

The global recession poses new economic threats to Cuba, hitting its principal exports and reducing its chances of obtaining external financing, although officials seem confident that the situation will remain within manageable limits.

Tonnes of space garbage is orbiting the Earth and posing serious threats to active satellites and manned space missions, and to astronauts when they conduct space walks outside of their ships.