News headlines in 2009, page 46

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 102 times to 106 Nobel laureates between 1901 and 2009. Only 10 of those winners were women. Meanwhile, the Man Booker Prize has been awarded to 15 women in 40 years.

In 1998, San Francisco stepped up and joined the world.

Dozens of Sri Lankan migrant workers languishing under a flyover in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, claiming to be stranded, exemplify the crisis of migration that Sri Lankan authorities have faced over the years.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial visit to Brazil further underscored the independence of this country's diplomacy, and gave Tehran a chance to defend its points of view on the construction of a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama met in Washington Tuesday as both leaders sought to reinvigorate the U.S.-India bilateral relationship.

With the flip of a switch, a light comes on or an electric toothbrush revs to power. If service is cut, either for repairs or because of a natural cause, there will most likely be much fuss about how quickly power is restored - to people who live in the developed world.

Latin American governments are considering a bloc response to the Japanese whaling fleet's departure for Antarctica, in a new season of what it claims is 'hunting for scientific purposes' and which threatens to kill 1,000 whales in the protected Southern Ocean sanctuary.

As President Barack Obama ponders escalating Washington's military and political investment in Afghanistan, a think tank close to his administration is urging Washington to ramp up U.S. aid and involvement in strife-torn Yemen, as well.

China and India have been singled out as two countries that have established vibrant economic and financial links with the developing world and played key roles in strengthening South-South cooperation over the last 10 years.

One in every four combat soldiers quit the Afghan National Army (ANA) during the year ending in September, published data by the U.S. Defence Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan reveals.