EAST AFRICA: Increasing Women's Participation in Government

Kenya’s poor record of improving percentage of women in decision making positions has come under scrutiny, but its neighbours are doing significantly better.

BURKINA FASO: Grain Shortage Despite Record Harvest

Looking worried, Hadja Mamounata Belegda, commercial grain farmer, rubs the beads of her rosary between her fingers and ponders the consequences of grain shortages on the market in Burkina Faso.

ZIMBABWE: MDC Bites the Bullet

The spirits of a nation were lifted when Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main section of the Movement for Democratic Change declared that his party would enter a unity government under terms negotiated at a special regional summit.

CHINA: Striking Hard in Tibet 50 Years After The Uprising

China is preparing for the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising - which saw the Himalayan territory’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, flee into exile - with a 'strike hard' campaign and propaganda on the evils of feudal oppression in pre-1949 Tibet.

INDIA: ‘Satyam Scam Tip of Corporate Fraud Iceberg’

Three weeks after the Satyam Computer Services promoter-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju confessed that he had cooked the information technology (IT) company's books, the scam continues to send shock-waves through Indian business and industry.

MIDEAST: Mitchell Mission Risks Deja vu

At the start of his Middle East presidential mission, Senator George Mitchell has listened to President Barack Obama's recommendation earlier in the week on Al-Arabiya television that he "should start by listening, because ultimately we cannot tell Israelis and Palestinians what's best for them."

HEALTH: U.S. Urged to Pay Fair Share of Global Fund

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria is facing a critical funding gap of five billion dollars - an amount that could save nearly two million lives in the coming year, leading public health advocates said at a teleconference Thursday.

RIGHTS-US: Close Torture Loopholes, Physicians’ Group Urges

While applauding President Barack Obama's recent executive orders banning torture and other harsh interrogation practices, medical authorities are calling attention to a little-reported section of the Army's Field Manual on Interrogation that they say still allows the use of tactics that can constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under U.S. and international law.

ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: No Money on the Table Yet

Figures indicating how much the European Union should give to poor countries affected by climate change have been removed at the last minute from a new environmental blueprint published in Brussels Jan. 28.

MAURITIUS-RIGHTS: Sceptical Welcome for Equality Law

Nobody shall suffer prejudice in his social life or his place of work because of his or her ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, political conviction or physical handicap. This is the challenge of Mauritius's new Equal Opportunities Act (EOA).

SRI LANKA: Govt Ignores Supreme Court

Far from heeding charges of human rights abuses and stifling dissent, the government has, this week, added blatant disregard for judicial fiat to its list of sins.

SINGAPORE: Domestic Workers Profit From Financial Education

Filipina domestic worker Emily Alson spends her weekends cooking and selling snacks. This venture brings in additional income and also helps Alson learn the ropes of entrepreneurship.

IRAQ: Elections Dawn on Changed Political Landscape

Despite the possibility of isolated violence and other problems, close watchers of Iraq's upcoming provincial elections say that a relatively smooth process there could be a bellwether for better days ahead, according to a new report.

POLITICS-US: Top Defence Chiefs Vow Focus on Afghanistan

Both the top civilian and military leadership of the U.S. Department of Defence had busy days on Tuesday, fielding topically varied questions on their new policy priorities since President Barack Obama took office one week ago.

ECONOMY: ‘Privatise Profits, Socialise Losses’

The Davos delegate seems short of faith this year about anyone's ability to save the world from the financial tsunami that the bosses have unleashed.

PAKISTAN: “We Ask Taliban To Spare Our Schools”

"My school was destroyed by (Pakistani) Taliban. I won’t be able to go back to it," says Sumaira bibi, a grade 5 student from Matta in Swat district.

SRI LANKA: India Speaks Up For Embattled Tamils

As humanitarian agencies warned of a major crisis unfolding in Sri Lanka, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee made a quick dash Colombo to extract promises concerning the safety of some 250,000 ethnic Tamils trapped in fighting between separatist rebels and government troops.

DEVELOPMENT: Urgent Aid Sought for Victims of “Silent” Crises

The United Nations children's agency UNICEF said Tuesday that it must raise over a billion dollars this year to meet the basic needs of women and children in disaster zones worldwide, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

US-EUROPE: Few Welcome Mats for Guantanamo Detainees

International human rights groups have expressed mixed reactions to the European Union's lukewarm pledge to accept some detainees from U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay once the facility closes.

RIGHTS-ETHIOPIA: Strangling Criticism

The Ethiopian parliament has voted into law a controversial bill which bars any civil society organisation receiving more than 10 percent of its funding from foreign sources from engaging in human rights issues.

RIGHTS-ZAMBIA: Vulnerable Children Must Fend For Themselves

There will be as many as one and a half million orphaned children in Zambia by 2010. Deprived of adult guardians by the AIDS pandemic, many of these children will end up living in the streets of the country's major towns and cities.