News headlines in April 2009, page 9

Former Colombian paramilitary chief and drug lord Diego Murillo, alias 'Don Berna', testified in a U.S. court that he helped finance President Álvaro Uribe’s first election campaign, in 2002.

Despite a growing sense of anticipation coming out of the Trinidad Summit of the Americas last weekend regarding the possibility of a historic breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relations, specialists here remain uncertain about how and even if that breakthrough will be achieved.

'Mother Earth is not an object or merchandise. Mother Earth cannot be bought or sold,' said Bolivian President Evo Morales, speaking at a heavily-attended news conference here at U.N. headquarters on Earth Day.

An indignant Iran has lodged a 'strong protest' over critical statements made by two senior U.N. officials against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at an anti-racism conference in Geneva early this week.

In 2008, 190 homosexuals were killed in Brazil, one every two days, representing a 55 percent increase on the previous year – a veritable 'homocaust' according to gay rights activists.

Pentagon interrogators continuously ramped up their abusive techniques against prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan in a vain attempt to establish a link between the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. on Sep. 11, 2001.

Electoral quota laws that set a minimum threshold for women on candidate lists have enabled more women to be elected, contributed to gender empowerment and driven cultural changes, says Marcela Ríos, the Chilean editor of a book that carries out an in-depth analysis of the impact of such laws.

Over a quarter of Armenian women have been hit or beaten by a family member and about two thirds have experienced psychological abuse, yet the state grossly fails to prevent, investigate and punish domestic violence, say researchers and rights activists.

Getting into the United States – even for citizens, let alone immigrants and other visitors – is a notoriously difficult process. But a new report says that the questioning, detention, and oft-extended searches are going too far, especially when they are trampling on the basic rights of citizens returning home.

Just when it seemed that the international community was gearing itself up to put pressure on the new Israel government to engage the Arab world and the Palestinian Authority seriously on peace, Iran's president hijacked the moment. But, in again lashing out against Israel, he handed the Israeli prime minister a whip of his own with which to question the merit of dialogue with Iran which the Obama Administration has been promoting.