News headlines in March 2009, page 9

A British court ruled Monday that U.S. authorities had asked a Guantanamo Bay detainee to drop allegations of torture in exchange for his freedom.

After Joel Haule developed a crippling childhood disease that left him wheelchair-bound, his parents began calling him ‘‘Matatizo’’, the Kiswahili word for ‘‘problems’’.

When tourism officials met at the start of the year to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis on Egypt's tourism industry, the prognosis looked bleak. But now, three months into 2009, a better picture is emerging - and some experts believe the battened-down sector can weather the storm.

This tiny island republic sits on trillions of dollars in foreign reserves. Yet, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a BBC interview this month that his country cannot spend its way out of the economic downturn, until the global economy heals.

Ramani, 26, sits inside her small, dimly-lit boarding house room, cutting vegetables, in this industrial town outside Colombo. She plans to return to her rural village in May to get married.

Malawi does not have accurate statistics that define the extent of tuberculosis (TB) cases within its borders, and there are fears that only half of those infected with the disease are able to access testing and treatment.

The armed forces occupied Venezuela's main ports and airports over the weekend to enforce the transfer of their administration from regional authorities to the central government, in the face of protests by a handful of state governors belonging to the opposition.

Political leaders, activists, scientists and even Catholic bishops all joined in the chorus of criticism against the stance taken by Pope Benedict with respect to the use of condoms to curb the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

As President Barack Obama’s Justice Department issued sweeping new guidelines to reverse the secrecy policies of former president George W. Bush, a federal judge ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to produce unedited summaries of some 3,000 documents related to its admitted destruction of 92 videotapes of prisoners being subjected to extremely harsh interrogation techniques.

As he resumes office as Chief Justice of Pakistan on Tuesday, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will doubtless mull over the years since Mar. 9, 2007 when he was first unceremoniously sacked by then president Gen. Pervez Musharraf.