News headlines in 2009, page 155

People try to illegally enter foreign countries for many different reasons, and in many different ways. But they all have something in common - they are largely 'invisible' to authorities and the media.

In response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed Tuesday that the government had failed to disclose 11 more deaths in immigration detention facilities.

Afghanistan's presidential election has long been viewed by U.S. officials as a key to conferring legitimacy on the Afghan government, but the evidence that Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his powerful warlord allies have planned to commit large-scale electoral fraud that could have the opposite effect.

Byron Ranulfo Rustrián was just 12 years old. He loved playing football and was a good student. On Jul. 23, a group of youngsters he didn't know invited him to play a match and he agreed, but it was a trap: he was kidnapped and his body turned up five days later.

In the past physically challenged Theophilus Ayim would have been kept behind closed doors by his family because they feared he would be scorned and ridiculed by the community.

He has not yet decided where and when it will be, but Ethiopia’s sensational musician Tewodros Kassahun a.k.a. Teddy-Afro, will stage a major concert for the first time after his release from controversial imprisonment.

The jungle church was once again filled with devotees camping out for days to take part in the feast of the Virgin Mary of Madhu. It had been over 27 years since the last occasion when tens of thousands of believers streamed into the church located at Madhu, in the north-western Mannar District, about 300 km from the capital Colombo.

Trials for human rights crimes committed by the 1976-1983 dictatorship in Argentina, reopened four years ago after amnesty laws were struck down, are moving at such a slow pace that so far only 50 people have been convicted. At this rate it is estimated proceedings will continue for another 15 years.

Dr Saleem Azam cannot get MN and FM off his mind. These two died recently in two of Karachi’s government-run hospitals, unable to get timely medical treatment and denied the compassionate attention that they desperately needed.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been busy pursuing one aspect of the Obama Administration's agenda - carrying to Africa the U.S. message of accountability. With a rather different agenda, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Liberman also has Africa in his sights.