News headlines in March 2011, page 2

Bahrain is considering slashing or putting on hold levies on businesses to help them cope with the deteriorating economy, with losses topping an estimated at 500 million dollars since the beginning of unrest here in February.

Zimbabwe's veteran women politicians fear there are no younger women coming up through the ranks to replace them. Measures to improve women's representation have achieved little and young women are absent from the traditional entry points into politics.

While a NATO-led coalition continues to enforce a no-fly zone in a Libya that seems to be on the brink of catastrophe, the Barack Obama administration has yet to formulate a set of guiding principles in dealing with ongoing protests throughout the region in countries like Bahrain.

Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of Cote d'Ivoire's presidential election, say they have seized control of another two central towns in their advance toward the country's capital.

Across Zimbabwe, economic and political crisis has forced students to do without books, classroom furniture, teachers - the basics of a conducive learning environment. These learners cannot go to libraries, so the libraries have gone to them.

Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. A decade of applying research to midwifery practice in one Malawi district demonstrates that PPH is quite easy to prevent.

Despite the clear opposition of the Barack Obama administration and apparent ambivalence on the part of the right-wing government in Israel, neo-conservative hawks here have set their sights on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who they hope will be the next domino to fall to the so-called 'Arab Spring'.

During former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's three-day visit to Cuba, which ended Wednesday, the main problems to be resolved in order to reduce tension and move towards an eventual improvement in relations between the two countries were put on the table.

When Malika, 21, fled her parents' house in the U.S. state of Virginia three years ago to escape a forced marriage in Iran, she did not expect to end up homeless and living in shelters.

While a NATO-led coalition continues to enforce a no-fly zone in a Libya that seems to be on the brink of catastrophe, the Barack Obama administration has yet to formulate a set of guiding principles in dealing with ongoing protests throughout the region in countries like Bahrain.