News headlines in 2009, page 391

The U.S. government’s calls for civil society to work for 'regime change' in Iran has increased pressure on activists on the ground who are engaged in a peaceful process of improving their society and addressing social problems, according to Sussan Tahmasebi, a prominent women’s right activist in Iran who has not been allowed to leave the country for the past two years.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered the Salvadoran state to fully comply with its sentence in the case of the murder of businessman Mauricio García Prieto, and to put an end to threats and harassment of the victim’s parents by government agents.

With a stunning landslide victory under her belt, prime minister-elect Sheikh Hasina Wajed has a second opportunity to put the ghosts of the past to rest and release Bangladesh from a cycle of crises that has plagued this country since its violent birth in 1971.

If the global financial crisis slams the brakes on worker remittances from the Middle East, Sri Lanka’s top foreign exchange earner, it could severely exacerbate this country’s economic woes, analysts say.