News headlines in July 2009, page 32

The financial crisis that started in rich countries has deepened into a global economic crisis that threatens to reverse hard-won gains in education and health in developing countries, and women and children are among those hardest hit. That is why the theme of this year's World Population Day, 11 July, focuses on increased investments for girls and women to boost economic recovery and long-term equitable growth, writes Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Sri Lankan health authorities have had to combat an upsurge in cases of the lethal Dengue flu in the island nation this year. They have used mass man-power, public awareness campaigns and even threatened incarceration to stem the spread of the killer disease that has touched epidemic levels in the past six months. But it won’t be easy to stop the disease from spreading.

Sri Lankan health authorities have had to combat an upsurge in cases of the lethal Dengue flu in the island nation this year. They have used mass man-power, public awareness campaigns and even threatened incarceration to stem the spread of the killer disease that has touched epidemic levels in the past six months. But it won’t be easy to stop the disease from spreading.

The recent Gender Festival in Kenya has underlined the important role that male activism can play in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Outside the gates of Terhan's notorious Evin prison, hundreds wait impatiently – some with blankets spread out in the parking lot on the street below, making time for dinner.

Health ministers and representatives of 43 countries and the World Health Organisation (WHO) began to meet Thursday in the Mexican resort city of Cancun to discuss a common strategy to curb the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.

In the latest in a string of setbacks that could cost the U.S. oil giant Chevron billions of dollars in damages, President Barack Obama decided this week to extend trade preferences for Ecuadorean exports for another six months under the 1991 Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA).

After months of planning and putting pieces in order, aspects of the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan are beginning to be concretely implemented – including a surge of troops and attempts to curtail the poppy trade that allegedly funds insurgents.

Local and international human rights organisations and left-wing legislators condemned the suspension of constitutional rights in Honduras during the night-time curfew, which tightened the state of siege in effect since President Manuel Zelaya was ousted Sunday.

United Nations-backed Congolese armed forces conducting intensified military operations in eastern and northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have failed to protect civilians from brutal rebel retaliatory attacks and instead are themselves attacking and raping Congolese civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday.