News headlines in 2009, page 23

In Ghana, because the stigmatisation against gay men is so great, many are forced to have sexual relationships with women to escape prejudice and homophobic violence.

'Decision-makers should stop thinking in realpolitik terms and acknowledge that we are out of time,’’ says Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth (FoE) in Europe.

Original Guatemalan army records on a scorched-earth campaign known as 'Operation Sofía', presented as evidence in a human rights case in Spain, have bolstered hopes for justice among the relatives of victims of Guatemala's 36-year civil war in which more than 200,000 people, mainly Mayan Indians, were killed.

United States Envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth announced Thursday that his three-day visit to Pyongyang has produced no commitment from the North Koreans to return to multilateral talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. However, both sides recommitted to a 2005 joint statement in which the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) committed to dismantle its nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid and other incentives.

What would it be like if the air we breathe was 30 percent more acidic? The oceans are already 30 percent more acidic, and on their way to becoming 120 percent more acidic in 50 years at the current rates of carbon dioxide emissions.

After the fall of the Taliban, the most widely recognised and praised Afghan film has been 'Osama'. Directed by Sediq Barmak, the 2003 production is the heartrending story of a young girl who disguises herself as a boy named Osama so that she might survive the Taliban regime. Osama received awards at both Cannes and the Golden Globes.

As former communist states in Eastern Europe transformed their economies from command to capitalist, over the last 20 years, economists praised the adoption of western-style economic models that created middle classes able to enjoy new levels of wealth and comfort.

Although the links between tax evasion and global poverty are officially recognised, the European Investment Bank, the lending arm of the European Union (EU), has no qualms financing banks known to stash away money in tax havens.

While waiting in one of those interminable queues at a South African state hospital, Jullian Nwadu was asked when she was going back to Zimbabwe. 'In December,' she answered, welcoming what seemed like a stranger’s attempt at making friendly conversation. 'When you go, you mustn’t come back.'

A decision by the government to ban the veil in some academic institutions has reignited debate about personal rights.