— For decades, women have been 'holding up half the sky in China,' as the late Chairman Mao Zedong had exhorted them to do. But in recent years, a growing number of Chinese women want to do so with loads of charm and more than a hint of the social graces.

Voter turnout in the Apr. 8 election was one of the lowest in Sri Lanka's post- independence history. But the result was a landslide win that has strengthened the hand of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration like never before.

One of the largest gatherings of world leaders ever on U.S. soil began Monday with representatives of 47 countries gathering here for the Nuclear Security Summit.

Against the backdrop of a major summit meeting of world leaders on nuclear non-proliferation hosted by the United States, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed strong doubts about the longstanding proposal to create a nuclear-free zone in the militarily-volatile Middle East.

The plane crash which claimed the lives of 95 Polish officials and public figures, including President Lech Kaczynski, has dealt a blow to minority rights movements in the country, activists say.

'Women help to reduce poverty and raise family incomes, but they pay too high a price for it, because in every country their working days are longer than men's,' said Sonia Montaño, head of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean's (ECLAC) Division for Gender Affairs.

Voting in Sudan - the first democratic elections in 24 years - has been extended by three days by the National Election Commission in response to widespread problems with voters' lists and ballot papers.

The world's developing nations are still far behind Western industrial countries in the latest Top 20 rankings in one of the most lethal industries: arms manufacture.

For years, Haitians living overseas have been the lifeline of the troubled country, sending billions of dollars to relatives back home.

The front-runner in the polls for Colombia's presidential elections, Juan Manuel Santos, has come under fire from his rivals for his role in the scandal over young civilians killed by the army and passed off as guerrilla casualties, which broke out while he was defence minister.