News headlines in January 2010, page 15

Under pressure over accusations that ill-gotten money would be siphoned out, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has put the lid on a plan to allow a free flow of foreign currency in and out of the country.

The traditional engagement ceremony of two men on Dec. 26, 2009 has created a lot of controversy in conservative Malawi. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested two days after their engagement and remain in police custody, facing long jail terms.

According to several prominent Palestinians and Israelis another major Israeli military assault on Gaza, even harsher than last year’s Operation Cast Lead, is imminent. But will this change anything and have the underlying causes behind the previous bloody war been addressed?

On Sunday, when this eastern India metropolis of moderate winter experienced one of the chilliest days of the season, the weather was no deterrent for tens of thousands who lined up the streets to catch a glimpse of a 95-year-old communist leader’s body soon after a teary-eyed comrade announced his death.

Looking increasingly desperate after a 15-month-long hunt for a saboteur who has blown up six natural gas installations in northern Canada, police arrested an outspoken oil industry critic and then set him free a day later without pressing charges.

Sudan is at a crossroads. Its future looks grim. 'Only a miracle can save it from disintegrating. The signs are already on the wall,' says Khamis Lako, a petty trader in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

New York City recently hosted its first Cuban band in five years, after the group Septeto Nacional became the first to win a visa that allowed it to accept a booking there.

Marjorie Louis was sitting in her kitchen eating dinner when she felt the house shaking, but she didn't get up.

Rosemarie Tintin's black hat and veil barely concealed the sorrow on her face. She recently lost her entire family in Haiti's devastating earthquake and the only place she could find solace was at her church.

Recent inter-factional clashes in Lebanon's Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp once more illustrated the fragile security situation in some of its Palestinian camps. Lebanese plans to take over security within the camps are rejected by the Palestinians.