News headlines in 2009, page 19

Replying to growing criticism that the administration of President Barack Obama has not been tougher on abusive governments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday declared a policy of 'principled pragmatism' on human rights designed 'to make a difference, not prove a point'.

The right in Chile has not come so close to winning the presidency since Gen. Augusto Pinochet stepped down in March 1990, bringing a 17-year dictatorship to an end.

An experience which Belita Simpokolwe went through in December last year remains deeply etched in her memory. 'Sometimes I fail to concentrate in class when these things come back to my mind,' laments 13-year-old Simpokolwe, a grade six pupil at Kawale Primary School, in the northern Malawi district of Chitipa.

The atmosphere is heavily charged with political tensions, alliances are already in the offing, expectations are high and the pressure for the country to achieve a successful transition from an interim government to a democratically elected one is immense.

Five years ago, Morocco amended its family law to promote the idea of equality between men and women.

Cutting governmental subsidies for fossil energy could lead to a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as compared to 1990 levels, says a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

When the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announced the grim news that 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record, the U.N. agency also stressed last week the widespread water-related calamities caused by global warming.

The U.N. Climate Change Conference enters its final week under a cloud of uncertainty as the Africa Group led a protest of the developing world against a perceived attempt to abandon the Kyoto Protocol.

In the mountains towering above this southern city, Hizbullah (Party of God) is building a new line of defence on lands where a fierce war was once fought between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel.

Rajbala, 40, learned in the cruelest way possible that poverty exacts an exorbitant price, especially if one is pursuing justice.