News headlines in April 2009, page 5

Cash-strapped residents of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city are digging in their heels and refusing to pay utility bills despite the municipality teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. At the heart of the dispute are dismal service delivery and the conundrum of using multiple currencies in an economy that boasts world record inflation.

It is highly unlikely that the Peruvian Supreme Court will overturn or reduce the 25-year sentence handed down to former president Alberto Fujimori, because the verdict is well-supported, said chief prosecutor José Antonio Peláez.

While industrialised countries like Canada continue to emit ever-higher levels of greenhouse-effect gases, indigenous peoples around the world are working to survive and adapt to an increasingly dangerous climate.

Puerto Rican Juan Melendez spent more than 17 years on death row in a Florida prison for a 1983 murder to which another man had repeatedly confessed - evidence prosecutors withheld. He was only released in 2002. Now a documentary by Luis Rosario Albert tells Melendez's story, the multifaceted circumstances that surrounded it and the human rights struggle in Puerto Rico that followed.

Mohammed Al-Sheikh Yousef could save his eyesight if only he could cross the border out of Gaza. He was denied a permit by Israel; he got one from Egypt, but not for someone to accompany him. And he can't go on his own because he cannot see very well.

The deadly new influenza strain that originated in Mexico has led to the closure of schools, universities, museums, libraries, cinemas, theatres and churches here, while it continues to spread to other countries.

Egyptian authorities announced earlier this month the discovery of a Hizbullah 'cell' allegedly planning to carry out violent operations in Egypt. Although Hizbullah chief Hasan Nasrallah insists the group was only tasked to assist the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the government has used the episode to launch a blistering media campaign against the Lebanese Shia resistance group.

Iceland's Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party won the majority of the seats in the Apr. 25 election, and will continue to work together for the next four years as the ruling coalition.

When Brunila lost her job as a flight attendant after 10 years on the job, she realised she needed to find a more stable career.

Indonesian voters had a large pool of candidates to select from during early April polling here, 38 parties nominated 12,000 candidates to vie for the 560 seats in the national legislature.