News headlines in July 2009, page 12

Duarnis Perez, a native of the Dominican Republic, became a U.S. citizen at 15 when his mother was naturalised. But he didn't know that meant he was also a citizen. He thought he was an illegal immigrant, and so did the authorities.

With the historical Friday Prayer sermon given by former president and current chair of the Council of Experts and Expediency Discernment Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Jul. 17, and the riposte by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei three days later, lines have been drawn in unprecedented ways in Iran.

The construction of a two billion dollar dam in Metolong, some 35 kilometres outside of Lesotho’s capital Maseru, is being welcomed by people in and around the city who will gain access to clean and safe drinking water when construction is completed in 2013.

A new poll finds that the populations of a majority of nations surveyed feel that their governments are not doing enough to address the global economic crisis. However, respondents are split over whether their governments should use protectionist measures to bring about recovery.

China has welcomed Obama administration’s efforts to lead a global movement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, but it has spawned concerns in Beijing that international pressure to cap emissions could mount, thus slowing the pace of its economic growth.

Shockingly high levels of violence against women in Haiti forced the U.N. to send peacekeepers to the Caribbean country in 2004.

The northern Palestinian West Bank is turning into a flashpoint as Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinian civilians and their property as part of a 'price tag' policy.

Almost two decades after the break-up of former Yugoslavia, people from some of the new states that emerged have been granted visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) from the beginning of next year.

It’s not something out of a Hollywood movie. In a decade’s time, any one of the countries of South America could have a woman as chief commander of its armed forces, Argentine expert Mariel Lucero predicted in this interview with IPS during her visit to the Chilean capital to deliver a presentation on the subject.

Five weeks after the disputed presidential elections, and four days after former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a controversial speech at the Friday Prayers in Tehran in which he sided with the opposition and challenged the legitimacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, the rift between the ruling elites has widened, with some in the conservative camp taking a critical stance against the ostensibly re-elected president.