KENYA: New Constitution a Winner With Women

A day after Kenyans voted to accept a new constitution, women across the country speak about their hopes and expectations.

The case of Elizabeth Chazima could stand for the story of millions of women in Kenya who have been robbed of their financial contributions to matrimonial assets.

Chile to Straddle Line Between Rich and Poor Nations

The 130 developing countries at the United Nations remain divided over Chile's decision to hold onto its seat in the Group of 77 (G77) - even after it formally joined the exclusive club of rich nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

BURMA: Civil Society Steps into Election Fray, Trains Candidates

Civil society organisations in Burma are stepping into the minefield of pre-election activity in the military-ruled country, giving rise to possible shifts in the political landscape there.

LEBANON: Racism Legitimised by Law

Lebanon has a reputation for openness because of the relative freedom enjoyed by women in comparison to other Middle Eastern countries. But many women face rampant discrimination.

CHINA: A Parade Less, A Step Forward

Understanding that sex workers have rights too may still be some way off in China, but the government’s decision to stop police from parading them in public to humiliate them appears to reflect changing public attitudes toward those in the sex trade.

Dictators Guard Their Death Switch

Abolition movements are gaining momentum in North Africa, but authoritarian regimes appear reluctant to remove capital punishment from the penal code.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: A Cemetery Full of Questions

The most determined attempt by the far-right paramilitaries to establish a presence in this town in central Colombia ended in failure.

Iran Benefits from Arab Disillusion with Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama has suffered a sharp drop in popularity in the Arab world over the past year, and Iran may be reaping the benefits, according to a major new survey of public opinion in five Arab countries released here Thursday.

KENYA: Resounding Yes to New Constitution

Jubilant supporters say it is a new dawn for Kenya. Sixty-seven percent of votes cast endorsed a new constitution more than two decades after reform was first raised.

Few Govts Answer U.N. Queries on Peacekeeper Scandals

As the U.N. investigates new allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, most troop contributing countries continue to evade accounting for how they handle disciplinary actions.

POLITICS: Laos Takes Centre Stage in Cluster Bombs Treaty

After being relegated to the shadows for decades by its more powerful neighbours, Laos is finally taking the lead role in a global campaign to ban the use of cluster bombs.

U.S.: Tough Laws Just One Peril for Day Labourers

Ovidio Perez's brother was planning to return to Guatemala because of a new Arizona law that made it a state crime to be an undocumented immigrant. He returned, but in a coffin.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Removing Barriers to Trade

Cecilia Gondwe waits in the shade of a tree at the Mwanza Border Post between Malawi and Mozambique. Somewhere inside, a clearing agent is completing elaborate paperwork on her behalf.

Q&A: “The World Needs a New Social Contract”

"We have to start thinking about a new social contract on a planetary scale, but also within each country," says Argentine activist and scholar Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.

ZAMBIA: Election Violence Could Mean Fewer Women Participants

There are growing fears that increasing numbers of women candidates and voters may not participate in the 2011 general elections because of an upsurge in election-related violence.

Ecuador Signs Deal Not to Drill in Amazon Nature Reserve

"The trust fund that we have just established is historic, not only for Ecuador but for the entire world," said Rebeca Grynspan, associate administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), after signing an agreement with the government of Rafael Correa to leave 846 million barrels of oil under the ground in a pristine Amazon jungle wildlife reserve.

PAKISTAN: Flood Disaster Means Starting from Zero

"We swam the whole day to get hold of the elderly and women swept away by floodwaters," recalled 27-year-old Shahid Ali of Charsadda district, one of the areas in north-western Pakistan badly hit by devastating monsoon rains.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Social Fallout of Atomic Bombings Hounds Survivors

With her knees shaking and her heart thudding, Toshiko Hamamako rose to address the audience. But it was more than stage fright.

UKRAINE: Punished for Fighting AIDS

Drug users and doctors legally prescribing substitution drugs to addicts -- a key tool in the battle with the country's growing HIV epidemic -- are facing illegal police intimidation and imprisonment, HIV/AIDS activists in the Ukraine say. Fears are rising that the country's approach to the disease could be changing for the worse.

IRAQ: ‘We’re Not Living, Just Not Dying’

Compared to most internally displaced Kurds in northern Iraq, Shamal Qadir is almost lucky. Since the Turkish army devastated his village, Kuzine, in a bombing raid Jul. 1, he's been living in a schoolhouse, where room temperatures are comfortable and basic amenities are accessible.

New Hardships Intensify Debate Over Iran-Iraq War

Ongoing factional disputes and mounting international sanctions have ignited heated debates among Iran's elites about another critical period in the country's post- revolutionary history - the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.