News headlines in January 2010, page 14

A rare fleet of 20 luxury cars and snazzy jeeps has remained parked in front of the heavily guarded special court in the capital for days now.

Juliana Kweais has a small scar on her bottom lip, from the first time she witnessed an abortion. The sharp blow to her mouth was delivered by her grandmother, after the then-13-year-old Kweais had asked why her auntie had given 'birth' to a bloody sack.

The United Nations, which has come under heavy fire for its relatively slow relief efforts in earthquake-devastated Haiti, hit back at the international news media for 'sensational' reporting.

The devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti last week has brought into sharp focus the threat of another natural disaster waiting to happen: a sea-level rise that could obliterate the world's small island states, triggering fears of mass migration.

After 52 years without a victory at the ballot box, the political right is coming back to govern Chile, as multi-millionnaire businessman and former senator Sebastián Piñera narrowly won the run-off against Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle in Sunday's presidential election.

After months of denial, the British government has agreed to release secret documents that lawyers say could prove that MI5 agents were present during the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's torture of a British resident held by the U.S. government for eight years.

On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a small story from the Associated Press came across the wires that an earthquake had hit Haiti. Almost instantly, phones began to ring as Haitian Americans started calling each other to find out if there was more to this story.

When Omar Abdel-Razeq was appointed finance minister following the election of Hamas in January 2006, the BBC characterised the post as the 'least enviable job in the new Palestinian government.'

Amid criticism that the U.S. Defence Department was prioritising military and rescue air traffic to earthquake-stricken Haiti, U.S. officials controlling the country's main airport have agreed to guarantee landing slots for planes carrying humanitarian aid, U.N. officials say.

The world’s largest free trade area that became a reality at the start of the year is being billed as a welcome shot in the arm for the countries comprising it, namely, China and six South-east Asian countries. It offers a route out of the global financial crisis, analysts said.