News headlines in 2009, page 49

Israelis were perturbed when new recruits at a recent passing-out parade at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the remains of Judaism's holiest site, suddenly unfurled banners reading, 'Our Sons Do Not Evacuate Jews'.

Fifteen years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the glass is half full, according to Purnima Mane, deputy executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). And not much better for the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) after 30 years.

Despite getting suitably politically empowered, the Indian fair sex continues to lag behind on almost all crucial developmental parametres like education, health and economic participation.

As the number of people living in poverty swell to over two billion, Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan makes a strong argument for human rights to be made central to development and eradication of poverty.

The outbreak of the global financial crisis that followed the collapse of the U.S.’s major financial institutions last year sent many economies into a downward spiral. Many were also forced to rethink their economic development models.

The promotion of women's rights at the global level should not be limited to treating the female population as a gender that is discriminated against and must be protected.

While the world's top military elites gather inside a fortified hotel to discuss NATO's future, protesters question the organisation's legitimacy, secrecy, and the lack of democratic debate about the increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan.

His is a classic case of a man’s fight against nature in this trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, as he battles climate change.

He is well known as India’s ‘glacier man’, but for 74-year-old retired government civil engineer, Chewang Norphel, accolades have made little dent in his quiet determination to build more high-altitude water conservation systems, or ‘artificial glaciers’, to beat the lack of water from receding Himalayan glaciers.

The close of U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Asia this week brought rampant speculation about what a new U.S.-China relationship will look like, but next week's state visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will broaden the focus on the rising powers which Obama must balance during his administration.