News headlines in July 2009, page 18

Egyptian courts have handed down unprecedented numbers of death sentences in recent months, most of them for violent crime. 'Two hundred and thirty death sentences in six months', read the Jun. 24 headline of independent daily Al- Dustour. 'Fifty in the last week alone'.

Apart from sporadic civil society initiatives, Bosnia has attempted little by way of inter-ethnic reconciliation.

Civilians who fled the Malakand region in northwest Pakistan after the army launched operations against the Taliban, are starting to trickle home. On Wednesday, the government said 2,885 families have returned to Swat and Buner.

The story of ethnic strife engulfing China’s far-western province of Xinjiang may have been relegated to the inner pages of the country’s state-controlled newspapers, but it found space on the front pages of almost every other Chinese daily.

The United States and the European Union are cranking up the pressure for talks brokered by Costa Rican President Óscar Arias to bring about a restoration of democracy in Honduras, while urging both sides to refrain from violence.

A new survey released on Thursday shows that the publics in four majority Muslim and African nations, contrary to the positions of their governments, largely approve of the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Approximately 1,350 Palestinian refugees from Iraq are being considered for resettlement in the U.S. after being referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programme by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In her first comprehensive policy address since becoming secretary of state nearly six months ago, Hillary Clinton Wednesday called for a 'multi-partner'' - as opposed to a 'multi-polar' - world' and defended President Barack Obama's policy of engagement with adversaries, including Iran.

Two Sierra Leonean radio stations have been stripped of their licences. The national regulatory body, the Independent Media Commission (IMC), says the stations failed to comply with the country's media code.

The indefinite postponement of a referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan's controversial draft constitution just days after a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has given rise to speculation that Washington may have played a role in the delay.