Myanmar will not seek ASEAN chair after objections to rights record
Myanmar's military-led government announced Sunday that it will not seek the rotating chairmanship of the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) security organization as it was entitled to do. The announcement was made during ASEAN's Ministerial...
Additional Iraq constitution committee members threaten boycott
A spokesman for former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's bloc of secular Shiites threatened Sunday that members of the bloc would join Sunnis members in boycotting the proceedings of Iraq's constitutional drafting committee . Adnan al-Janabi expressed...
Following the deaths by gunfire of two prominent Sunnis involved in the constitution drafting process earlier this week, Sunni Arabs decided Thursday to continue boycotting the drafting committee, putting in jeopardy the August deadline set for the...
Egyptian court rejects law on multiple-candidate presidential elections
Egypt's Higher Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that a new law that would have allowed more than one person to run for president is unconstitutional. The proposed change, seen as an important political reform, was ordered by Egyptian President...
A group of 50 Sunni Muslim religious, political, and tribal leaders Thursday endorsed a list of 15 men to sit on a special committee to help draft Iraq's new constitution . The announcement ends any debate over...
International brief ~ South Africa Assembly approves controversial Children's Bill
Leading Wednesday's international brief, the South African National Assembly has approved the highly controversial national Children's Bill , nine years after its first introduction. The bill, which will be presented to the National Council of Provinces...
BREAKING NEWS ~ Sunnis compromise on makeup of Iraq constitutional committee
AFP is reporting that Sunni leaders have announced a compromise with their Shiite and Krd colleagues on Sunni representation on the parliamentary committee charged with drafting Iraq's new permanent constitution. Under the compromise, the Sunnis will get 15 new...
Italy uncertain if abortion law debate will be renewed after fertility poll failure
After a referendum to liberalize Italy's fertility laws failed on Monday, church leaders and Italian politicians are sending some conflicting signals about the legal future of abortion in the country, which legalized abortion in 1978 and strongly...
A referendum to liberalize Italy's assisted-fertility laws has failed due to low voter turnout. The two-day referendum needed over 50 percent turnout for its results to count, but only 18.7 percent voted Sunday...
Italians began voting at 8 AM Rome time Sunday in referendums to lessen the limitations on existing legislation on fertility treatment and stem cell research. Pre-referendum polls predicted that the referendum would fail,...
