Read their most compelling personal accounts and commentary from 2009, touching on subjects ranging from the seemingly-endless war in eastern Congo to pop culture in North Korea.

	INDIA “Slumdog” immigrant waits for U.S. Green Card lifeline	Rajeet Mohan is an Indian living in the U.S. on an H-1B visa. He shares his frustrating immigration experience and offers some solutions to retain and leverage highly-skilled immigrants in the U.S.
	CONGO War still rages on in corners of eastern Congo	Michael J. Kavanagh reports on the conflicting news coming out of eastern Congo. In the region’s most remote areas, Kavanagh has seen victims of attempted massacres, torture and kidnappings, as well as sex slaves.
	TAIWAN Taiwanese baseball fans outraged by game-fixing charges	Hsin-Yin Lee writes how a game-fixing scandal has rocked Taiwanese professional baseball. Fans are wondering whether there is a future for the island’s beloved sport. Evidence says Taiwan’s league is all mobbed up.
	JAMAICA Gay men in Jamaica must lead two separate lives	Lisa Biagiotti shares the story of a gay Jamaican who received asylum in the U.S. on the basis of his sexuality. While he is now free from persecution, he struggles with his identity and still conceals his sexuality from family members.
	SYRIA Watching Oprah in a Syrian refugee camp	Kristen Gillespie produced two signatures stories out of Jordan for Worldfocus. She writes about the global reach of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which has impacted a refugee living in a Syrian refugee camp.
	PAKISTAN Drone attacks deaden diplomatic track in Pakistan	S. Azmat Hassan argues that U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan will not succeed in fighting the Taliban. He outlines Taliban groups on both sides of the border and explains the Pakistani reluctance to take on the Afghan Taliban.
	NORTH KOREA Sweet dreams of Beyonce in N. Korean people’s paradise	Part 4 of 6 of our Inside the Hermit Kingdom series on the people and culture of North Korea. Ben Piven writes about popular music, food and beer in the most isolated country on earth. Believe it or not, North Koreans know Beyonce.
	CUBA Cuba provides free health care without the worry	Apropos of the current health care debate in the United States — what happens when a government you dislike does some good things? Cuba has a startling level of health care, writes Worldfocus blogger Peter Eisner.
	MYANMAR A Burmese family’s story of multiple arrests, weekly bribes	Karen Zusman writes about one Burmese family caught up in the human trafficking on the border. In June, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report blacklisted Malaysia for trafficking refugees into Thailand.
	CHINA Post-Tiananmen, it’s no easier seeking human rights abroad	On the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, Nina Hachigian writes that in the last 20 years, while standards of living in China have risen dramatically, political reform has stalled and dissidents continue to live in terror.

Our signature stories delve into issues around the world — from the long-term effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam and gang violence in Mexico to discrimination against whites in South Africa and Afghan immigrants in Iran.

Here are the 15 Signature stories most popular with viewers in 2009:

	MOROCCO Moroccan single moms cope with hostility, shame	Young Muslim women who become pregnant out of wedlock face intense pressures. They are often shunned and scorned. Hoda Osman, Rebecca Haggerty, Megan Thompson and Reda Fakhar report on how mothers are coping.
	HAITI Dirt poor Haitians eat cookies made of mud	The cookie recipe — dirt, butter and salt — has been passed down through the generations, despite a lack of nutritional value. Benno Schmidt and Ara Ayer report on how these dirt cookies are managing to keep Haiti’s poor alive.
	JORDAN Oprah brings taboo topics to Middle East	The Middle East’s MBC-4 began airing “The Oprah Winfrey Show” more than four years ago, and the program now reaches about 6 million viewers in the Arab world each day. Kristen Gillespie reports from Jordan on the ”Oprah effect.”
	VIETNAM Agent Orange devastates generations of Vietnamese	During the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped millions of gallons of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant. Generations of Vietnamese civilians have suffered the consequences. Mark Litke and Ara Ayer report on the devastating effects the toxin has left behind.
	MEXICO Gangsters spill blood and spread fear in Tijuana, Mexico	Over the last year, more than 6,000 people have been murdered in Mexico’s drug wars, more than 700 of them in Tijuana alone. John Larson, Bryan Myers, Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano report from Tijuana.
	SOUTH AFRICA Poor white South Africans blame reverse discrimination	To some extent, the economic playing field has been leveled since the end of apartheid 15 years ago. Martin Seemungal reports on South Africa’s white community, where poverty has doubled since 1994.
	JAMAICA One island, two Jamaicas and a ‘whole heap’ of difference	A public debate erupted when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaican radio and TV. Lisa Biagiotti, Micah Fink and Gabrielle Weiss report on how the ban highlights the divide that dates back centuries.
	ISRAEL Israeli company builds infrastructure for world’s electric cars	One Israeli company is designing an entire system to service electric cars with battery charging stations. Many other countries are expressing great interest. Michael Greenspan, Yuval Lion and Ara Ayer report from Israel.
	LIBERIA Liberia, “America’s stepchild,” searches for own identity	Liberia was settled by freed American slaves, and now, as Lynn Sherr and producer Megan Thompson report, the nation is trying to re-shape its identity. Liberia, a small country in West Africa, has longstanding ties to the U.S.
	LATVIA Empty stores, offices tell tale of Latvia’s economic fall	Until the global recession, Latvia was experiencing rapid economic growth. During the past year, it has tumbled down, with unemployment around 14.5 percent. Daljit Dhaliwal, Sally Garner and Ara Ayer report on the scope of Latvia’s fall.
	IRAN Afghan immigrants find refuge in oil-rich Iran	Though the West has branded Iran a nuclear outlaw and supporter of terrorism, Iran is a model of stability compared to its neighbors. Three million Afghan immigrants in Iran are low-skilled laborers. Richard O’Regan reports from Tehran.
	DENMARK Taxes curb Danish oil use, promote energy independence	In Denmark, a Ford Focus costs $51,000 — $34,000 of which is in taxes. John Larson explains how taxing energy and subsidizing alternative technologies have reduced the country’s dependency on oil and created thousands of jobs.
	INDIA India’s “untouchables” trudge through sewers	While India has largely transformed into a modernized economy, the country remains strongly tied to the traditions of the caste system, which often governs the jobs that people hold. Martin Himel reports on India’s lowest class of laborers.
	TURKEY Rising Islamist movements challenge secularism in Turkey	Secular critics are branding Turkey’s growing conservative groups as fundamentalist. Gizem Yarbil and Bryan Myers report on how traditional religion and modern democracy are trying to coexist.
	PHILIPPINES Journalists risk their lives reporting in the Philippines	Today in the Philippines, journalism is robust. But more than 70 journalists have been murdered since 1986. Mark Litke and Ara Ayer report on the risks that many reporters face doing their jobs — from Manila to rural areas.

Petra, Jordan. Photo: flickr user gr33ndata

Jordan’s King Abdallah named a new Prime Minister yesterday. Samir Rifai, a former minister of the Royal Court, is the third member of his family to hold the post.

Bloggers in Jordan have taken note of the change and are speculating about its meaning.

In the Observations of a Jordanian blog, engineering student Farah writes:

While the decision to dissolve the parliament about two weeks ago was met with pure joy and relief, the appointment of a new prime minister was met with either disappointment or most probably indifference. Sameer Rifai, the new prime minister is the third generation of a family of prime ministers, something that probably happens only in Jordan.

I like to think of the whole thing as a game. There’s this circle of elitists, the ones allowed to play, all of whom at one point or another were ministers or CEOs and every couple of years one of them gets their turn as the top player. Now this top player would proceed to “reshuffle” the current players, or if he’s looking for some change, add a couple of new ones. The field that each player is in charge of is truly irrelevant to their area of expertise. Now once the parliament is elected, the game of who destroys who first begins! Fun fun fun.

So I don’t really think it matters who gets picked as the prime minister, the same cycle of events seems to repeat itself regardless of how optimistic we are of the new government. But not to be part of the blame culture, because we should take the blame as well. We should be part of a responsible, incorrupt election that would result in a parliament that speaks for the citizens rather than attack them, but hey that’s just wishful thinking.

That sentiment was echoed by a commentator at the blog Black Iris.

Just heard the news about an hour ago that Samir Rifai, who as of yesterday headed the Jordan Dubai Capital corporation, has been appointed as the next Prime Minister of Jordan. I don’t really know what to say about this piece of news. It is, from at least this citizen’s point of view, not the most optimistic news about the state of my country’s domestic affairs.

In response to that post, “Musa” writes,

Why is it so hard for anyone with a significant background and vast interest in Jordanian politics to realise/admit the fact that there is nothing called “politics, domestic affairs or governance” in Jordan outside of the autocratic ruler, his police apparatus and his parasites?

Hopefully, stripping down the theatre of the absurd from all the puppets and proxies that managed to keep people busy for the past decade should help expose the true puppet master using them as his scapegoats, and hopefully that will prompt more people to start questioning the real decision maker who dissolves the parliament, cancels the elections, and assigns a new government of cronies – while on a trip to Paris. Yet still manages to be exempted of any responsibility!

But a post at the blog JordanWatch reads between the lines of the King’s announcement and says it lays out a “really impressive” set of principles - in theory.

What I have been interested in is the content of the letter of designation sent by the King. It had a rather detailed “roadmap” for the new government in a scope that is wider than the conventional letters of designation. What struck me was the King’s emphasis on developing and implementing a package of codes of honor in governance. Here are the King’s exact words:

“We also instruct you to issue a code of honour based on the Constitution and the law that clarifies the moral and legal criteria that the ministers must be committed to throughout their public service. This document will be a public document and an additional reference for Jordanians in judging the performance of the ministerial team. The government should also issue a similar document to which all public servants at every level must commit. For our people are ready to bear any hardship and confront every challenge if they are convinced that those serving them in state institutions are doing their jobs within institutional frameworks and under legal monitoring and are fortified against all forms of corruption, abuse of public office and manipulation of the law.”

Now, regarding the unhealthy relation between deputees and the government, the King says:

“The government should reassess its method of dealing with Parliament so as to restore this relationship as a cooperative and complementary one that serves the national interest, and whereby the authorities each practise their constitutional authority without one trespassing the other or reaching interest-based understandings that would make achieving personal gains a condition for the stability of the relationship between the two authorities. In order to ensure that the mistakes of the past do not recur, we ask you to draft a protocol, to which your team should be committed, that outlines the rules of engagement with Parliament in accordance with the Constitution and the law…

So what we have now at the table is a really impressive set of principles that revolve around the virtue of honesty in governance. If an effective level of honesty can be introduced in the approach to governance in Jordan we will witness a great enhancement of performance and proper use of resources, whether financial, institutional or human.

- Rebecca Haggerty

For more on Sufism in Morocco, read about the music, mysticism and moderation.

In this extended interview — recorded in May, prior to the crackdown following the disputed election — Iranian students discuss how they bypass filters to find music and films, both online and in shops on the streets. They also share their ambivalence about the prevalence of Western popular culture in Iran.

For more, view our Voices of Iran extended coverage page and listen to our online radio show on Baha’i faith and modern Iran.

The Worldfocus signature story “Iranian authorities can’t stop flood of Western culture” explores Iran’s thriving popular culture and the government’s futile attempts to control what Iranian citizens see and hear.

Worldfocus producer Rebecca Haggerty spoke via Skype with Iranian film scholar Negar Mottahedeh, an associate professor of literature and women’s studies at Duke University. She discusses the evolution of Iranian cinema and the impact of the 1979 revolution on the industry, arguing that in adapting to government restraints, Iranian directors have introduced a “whole new language” to world cinema.

Watch a clip from an early Iranian film, “Lor Girl” — the first with sound ever to be produced in the Persian language. In the film, which was made in the early 1930s, a girl is kidnapped by thieves:

Watch a clip from a more modern Iranian film, “Char Changule,” a comedy about a pair of conjoined twins — one devout, the other a party animal:

Producer Rebecca Haggerty describes her experience interviewing Yassine for the Worldfocus signature story “Moroccan single moms cope with hostility, shame.”

Madame Nadia Yassine is not what I expect. We’ve arranged an interview with her in her role as the public face of a Moroccan social movement called Al-Adl wal Ihsane, translated variously as Justice and Spirituality and widely described as Islamist.

By the time we arrive at her home, we’re two hours behind schedule and it’s nearly 8:00 p.m. Yassine has two other visitors patiently waiting — a young British convert to Islam researching her doctoral thesis at Oxford, and a French photographer. This, I learn, is typical. As the charismatic female leader of a conservative Islamic group, Yassine frequently plays hosts to curious journalists and academics from the West. She chats with us in her salon, a traditional Moroccan receiving room furnished with long sofas and her original artwork. Her daughter, Amina Shabani, a graduate student and a fluent English speaker, translates from her mother’s assured French.

We’ve come to see Yassine in part because of her role as a leader of the protests against the reforms of Morocco’s family laws. Yesterday, we spent the day with Madame Aisha ech Channa, a passionate supporter of women’s rights — and the reforms — who has dedicated her life to supporting women shunned by their families after getting pregnant outside of marriage. I assumed that Yassine would oppose the work that Madame ech Channa does. But the reality, like so much in Morocco, is more complicated than it first appears.

“We are for abstinence, “ she affirms, dismissing Western sexual mores as irrelevant to Moroccan women. “But to be a Muslim is also to be a realist. I am against punishing single mothers, because these people are the victims.”

According to Yassine, 30 percent of her movement’s followers are women. Founded by her father, Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine, the group claims to be flourishing despite –- or perhaps because of — its opposition to the ruling elite. Four years ago, Madame Yassine faced criminal charges after publicly criticizing Morocco’s system of monarchy in a newspaper interview. Insulting the king remains a crime in Morocco, one that the government takes seriously. Last month, officials seized copies of a newsweekly that reported a public opinion poll on the King.

Ironically, King Mohammed VI holds a reputation as a moderate and a reformer, particularly when it comes to women. His sweeping reform of Moroccan family law in 2004 granted women greater rights than in many countries throughout the Arab world. But Yassine dismisses these and other reform efforts by the King as window dressing in a poor, closed society. Nearly 50 percent of Moroccan women can’t read – and the percentages climb even higher in rural regions . The concerns of most women, Yassine argues, remain largely economic and spiritual.

To her many critics among Morocco’s secular intellectuals, Yassine offers a disturbingly palatable version of fundamentalism that — if given a chance — would turn Morocco into a theocracy. Yassine counters by taking pains to avow her group’s commitment to non-violence. She also claims a “true” reading of Islam – including sharia, or Islamic religious law — in fact offers significant protection for women.

Yassine touches on a tricky area between secular feminists and Islam. According to a 2006 Gallup poll of women in the Muslim world, most Moroccan women believe sharia should be a source –- if not the only source –- of law in society. And the survey also reveals that while women throughout the Arab world admire many things about the West, including gender equity, they also disapprove of some aspects of women’s status here –- primarily the overtly sexualized images of movies, television and magazines. Freedom of expression may be laudable, but the West, after all, also provided the world with endless reruns of Baywatch.

This summer, Moroccan courts once again postponed Nadia Yassine’s trial. Presumably, the case will eventually settle. But the debate over women’s roles in Morocco seems likely to continue.

- Rebecca Haggerty

Worldfocus correspondent Hoda Osman and producers Rebecca Haggerty, Megan Thompson and Reda Fakhar traveled to Morocco to explore how these mothers are coping.

For more coverage of women in Morocco, visit our Women in Islam extended coverage page.

Daisy Khan of The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality and the American Society for Muslim Advancement joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss social taboos for women in Muslim societies.

Women don jelabas in Morocco. See more photos from producer Rebecca Haggerty below.

Worldfocus producer Rebecca Haggerty is currently reporting from Morocco and explores the meaning behind the country’s clothing, from tight jeans to heavy headscarves.

Everywhere I travel, I check out what people wear.

Goth kids in Mexico City, in solidarity with mopey teenagers worldwide, stick to a uniform of skinny pencil leg jeans and abundant black eyeliner. French Canadians of a certain age protect their footwear from wintery slush with sensible rubber galoshes, whose design hasn’t changed since I was a child. Young Finnish women, bucking the global trend of revering blondeness, have a marked affinity for dark brown hair dye.

Here in Morocco, the traditional outfit for both men and women is a long-hooded caftan called a jelaba. Men pull up their hoods and stroll city streets with their hands clasped behind their backs. The deliberate pace, combined with the vaguely medieval silhouette, makes nearly all jelaba-wearing Moroccan men look like they’re contemplating weighty philosophical issues — even if they’re just headed to the store to buy milk.

After Worldfocus’ excellent story last year on women in Egypt choosing to wear the hijab –- the Islamic headscarf — I was looking forward to checking out Moroccan attire. I saw plenty of variety. On the streets of Casablanca, young women with tight jeans, hip sunglasses, and big hair jostled old-school grannies in jelabas and leteh, the traditional Moroccan veil that covers the mouth and cheeks.

Students wore the hijab along with form-fitting jeans and bright sweaters, and I spotted a very sharp pair of leopard-skin mules paired with an olive-green tunic and a black head scarf –- proof that stylish women can adapt to pretty much anything culture throws their way. Most chose a pretty embroidered jelaba in a range of colors and added a coordinating hijab, although plenty left off any head covering at all.

Occasionally, I came across women wearing outfits of flowing head-to-toe black drapes and heavy veils. A Moroccan journalist told me it was called a nakob, and was worn by followers of the fundamentalist Wahabist school of Islam from Saudi Arabia. The black-clad figures contrasted starkly with the vivid colors of Morocco, with its intricately tiled mosques and exuberant jumbles of red and yellow hibiscus blossoms.

They also served as a reminder that everywhere in the world, clothes carry a meaning far beyond their simple elements of thread and cloth.

- Rebecca Haggerty

Watch for Worldfocus’ series from Morocco in the coming weeks.

But for many, Canada’s universal health care model comes with flaws — long lines have sent some Canadians to private clinics.

Worldfocus special correspondent Edie Magnus, producer Rebecca Haggerty and shooter Megan Thompson report from Montreal.

View an extended half-hour interview with economist Uwe Reinhardt: How the U.S. measures up to Canada’s health care system.

Those savings are already being realized in Canada, where basic health care is universal and, in most parts of that country, free — and where remarkably little paperwork is involved.

Each hospital in Canada gets a global budget, a set amount which is all they have to spend for the year. They don’t price things like bandages, drugs or even overnight stays individually. The cost for these things and for doctor service is negotiated in advance.

Worldfocus special correspondent Edie Magnus, producer Rebecca Haggerty and shooter Megan Thompson report from Montreal.

View an extended half-hour interview with economist Uwe Reinhardt: How the U.S. measures up to Canada’s health care system.

View the story here: U.S. money to Mexico slows.

A road climbing through the Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico, where villagers are feeling the effects of fewer remittances. Photo: Martin Savidge

Outside of Ixmiquilpan, the road climbs up the Sierra Madre mountains and into several small villages populated mostly by indigenous Mexicans from the Hnahnu tribe.

For centuries, the Hnahnu scraped a living growing corn from the rocky, semi-arid land. But in the last few decades, they started traveling to the U.S. to work in construction, agriculture and restaurants. Those journeys changed the landscape of the countryside – literally.

Migrant money builds new roads and public buildings in the villages, and countryside is dotted with two-story concrete houses embellished with flourishes worthy of suburban McMansions.

In Puerto Dexthi, a town of about 800, the town hall/health center was built with money sent from abroad. That’s where we met Hillario Cerroblanco, who worked in the U.S. for 15 years. Before he went North, Hillario made baskets from the tough fiber of native plants. He showed us the traditional house that he and his extended family still use.

It was one room, made from wood and thatch. But after years working construction in Florida, Hillario designed his own dream house. His hand-drawn plans show two stories and four bedrooms.

When we met him, he was building his own house full-time, along with help from his neighbors. Hillario had returned from the U.S. because he missed his family, and he also couldn’t find full-time work. He wasn’t sure how long his money would last, but he was determined to keep building.

Down the road, in the village of San Nicolas, Maria Felix Garcia still lives in the traditional style, with an open air courtyard where chiles and corn husks dry under the fierce mountain sun. The 45-year-old mother of five paid her doctor’s bills for eye surgery using the money her oldest daughter earned working in a restaurant in Georgia. Maria and her youngest daughter spend the afternoons embroidering the elaborate blouses traditionally worn in the village.

They hope to sell them in the craft market, but it takes a month to complete the elaborate designs. Her husband makes $8 dollars a day working in the fields. In contrast, the money that her oldest daughter was able to make working in a restaurant seemed like a fortune, and it helps send the younger children to school. Still, that cash comes at a high price. Maria doesn’t have a phone, and her contact with her daughter is infrequent. “I miss her,” she confessed, breaking down in tears.

Across the valley, Maria’s worries echoed. Forty percent of Mexicans live in poverty, and the InterAmerican development bank study estimates that another two million families - most in Mexico - will be pushed below the poverty line if remittances continue to fall. We left the valley as the sun set, tired and sobered by the trip. Just days after we returned, the Mexican Central Bank published the newest monthly figures — remittances dropped even further.

– Rebecca Haggerty

Remittances, or money sent home by Mexicans working abroad — mostly from the U.S. — are Mexico’s second largest source of foreign cash.

Things aren’t as good as they previously were in America, which means the money flowing south has dropped to its lowest level in 13 years according to the Central Bank of Mexico.

Anchor Martin Savidge reports from two Mexican hillside villages with producers Rebecca Haggerty and Ara Ayer about the local effects of the U.S. economy’s downturn. The story grew out of a small news item about remittances, which fell by about two percent in July.

Read the backstory in Rebecca’s “In the Newsroom” blog post: As migrant money drops, Mexican villages worry.