News headlines in June 2009, page 15

The political crisis that broke out over the Jun. 12 elections entered a new stage here Saturday afternoon as the government’s security forces moved aggressively - and sometimes with lethal force - against demonstrators throughout Iran’s capital city.

Differences over sharing of Nile waters may have deepened following the failure among the nine countries along the Nile to come to an agreement.

With tens of thousands of police deployed Saturday to suppress the massive crowds that have been demanding new elections, it appears that the political crisis touched off by the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has entered a new phase.

Iceland manages to produce tomatoes, paprika and cucumbers all year round by harnessing geothermal energy locally, even though the growing season is short.

Forty international aid agencies and NGOs have released a joint statement condemning Israel's blockade of Gaza, to mark the second anniversary of the coastal territory being hermetically sealed off from the outside world.

A large highway cuts through the green hills connecting Lebanon's south to the Mediterranean Sea. Here, nestled amid banana trees and colourful bougainvillea bushes, lies the city of Tyre, a bastion of the Shia community and a significant base of the Lebanese opposition. Now, following the parliamentary elections and the victory of the March 14 political group, Shias of the south are asking what lies in store for them.

The Peruvian Congress repealed Thursday two of the most controversial decrees that sparked protests by indigenous groups which ended in bloodshed early this month.

Day labourers looking for casual work are familiar fixtures on corners outside home improvement and garden stores across the United States. Less visible are the workers centres that have grown up in many locales to serve and organise these mainly immigrant and undocumented workers.

The promotion of biodiversity in agriculture needs political backing, Emile Frison, Bioversity International Director-General tells IPS in an interview. This kind of biodiversity can provide food security and promote health, he says.

Philip Alston, the U.N. rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said this practice is 'systematic' in Colombia. But he added that he did not have evidence that it was a state policy, as many victims and human rights defenders argue.