Participation

Libya will scrap a proposal for 10 percent of seats in a new national assembly to be set aside for women, a Western diplomat who is engaged in discussions with the Libyan election committee told Reuters on Friday.

The new, 200-member assembly is set to be elected in June to draw up a constitution after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, a best-selling author and internationally-known lecturer, is a qualified psychiatrist and Jungian analyst. She is presently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California Medical Center.

The bishops of Southern Africa have appointed Sister Hermenegild Makoro as the new Secretary- General of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference.

She will replace Fr Vincent Brennan SMA who is to retire in March.

Linda Bordoni spoke to Sr. Hermenegild by telephone and asked her about her background, how she views her appointment, and what issues are currently on the table in the SACBC.

When Tanya Rosenblit boarded the No. 451 bus to Jerusalem last month, she knew that the predominantly ultra-Orthodox passengers would keep their distance from her because of their adherence to strict rules of gender segregation.

But when one of them demanded she move to the rear, Ms. Rosenblit held her ground.

President-elect Otto Pérez Molina, a retired general, and the 49-year-old Baldetti, both of the rightwing Patriotic Party, will be sworn in Jan. 14.

In Papua New Guinea (PNG)l, women in Port Moresby are stepping up pressure on members of parliament to pass the Equality and Participation Bill, which will create 22 reserved seats for women.

The Cambodian authorities must immediately release 24 women and six children detained yesterday while peacefully protesting their forced eviction.