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Today, parting thoughts on the Philippines as our correspondent winds up his posting in Manila.

The dilemmas of pregnancy in Poland, where the legal limits on abortion have been steadily

ramped up under now some of the strictest in Europe.

While in Yemen, a shopping mall entirely owned and run by women is a showcase for female

aspiration, whether you're just keen to buy a new bra or hungry for financial and social

independence. First to Kenya, which is gearing up for a general election on Tuesday that

carries some great expectations, many poorer Kenyans' lives were made even harder by the pandemic

as the government brought in strict lockdowns, closed schools, and lost valuable revenue from

tourism. Then came war in Ukraine, and the resulting rises in food and fuel prices. For those

on low incomes that doesn't just mean cutting corners, but the difference between stability and

penury. Politicians everywhere like to talk about how they understand the worries of the

common man or woman, but Kenyan candidates do also like to cut a dash in public. Some skeptical

observers wonder just how they manage to project such an image of success, and so is in Nairobi

covering the contest. There was once a time in my country, Kenya, when citizens would turn the

tables on police officers they caught soliciting bribes and arrested them. That was back in 2003,

a wave of optimism had swept across the land, a new dawn it was after the 24-year tenure of the

country's second president Daniel Moe. Many Kenyans had been impoverished, corruption had

shocked the economy, people were yearning for change, and a new crop of leaders promised to

deliver it. But it didn't last long, a major corruption scandal involving security

contracts shook the new government. The then ethics and governance chief John Gidongo put together

a dossier that named senior government officials. Faced with threats to his life, he fled the country

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