News headlines in April 2009, page 28

Nine NATO member states agreed last month to utilise naval, intelligence and diplomatic resources to combat the alleged flow of arms into the Gaza Strip. Some Egyptian commentators see the move as a surreptitious means of cementing foreign control over the region.

How genuine is Israel's new leadership about peace when the Prime Minister says that he will go a long way towards striving for a settlement with the Palestinians, but purposefully omits to endorse an independent Palestinian state; and, when his foreign minister warns, 'If you want peace, prepare for war', a blunt statement on which the prime minister stays studiously silent?

Despite an impressive show of its increased economic and political stature at the just-finished G20 summit in London, China remains plagued by doubts about the sustainability of its economic miracle.

The global economic crisis makes it even more imperative that investors ascertain the economic and legal conditions in foreign countries.

The Barack Obama administration’s decision this week to seek a seat on the world’s top human rights body has affirmed the hopes of many activist groups that the United States will take a far more multilateral approach to diplomacy than in the past.

The first official test of wills between the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama and the new Likud-led government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could well be waged over the issuance, or restoration, of a simple entry visa.

The Mexican government, legislators and human rights organisations are calling for a review of the outdated military justice system, accused of letting human rights violators off the hook. But only activists seem to actually be doing anything to bring that about.

The stench emanating from the carcasses of thousands of butchered Olive Ridley turtles overpowers seaside visitors in this pilgrimage town in Orissa on India’s east coast.

With an incisive report in hand about what awaits Latin America and the Caribbean in the future if action is not taken to fight climate change, economist John Nash defends the role of the World Bank and underscores the need to expand the so-called 'clean development mechanism'.

On the banks of a remote section of the Mekong River in southern Laos, an area known as Siphandone, villagers quietly debate the question, which is more important to Laos: fisheries or building dams?