by Suad Hamada
- Bahrain -

Getting a divorce and custody of one’s children is very difficult in Bahrain, even in cases where a husband sexually attacks his wife. The issue was exposed to the public last year, when an Arab woman married to a Bahraini was granted a divorce by the courts after she lost part of her breast during a violent sexual encounter with her spouse. A medical report submitted during the case citing the need for corrective surgery was valid enough evidence for the judge to call off the marriage. Though such cases are rarely highlighted in the media here, the plight of this woman made top headlines in many regional newspapers.

by Anna Clark
- USA -

See’s new novel, Shanghai Girls, follows the lives of Pearl and May Chin—two sisters enjoying the glamorous life of “the Paris of Asia”—Shanghai in 1937. Their father owns a prosperous rickshaw business while the sisters, as “Beautiful Girls,” pose in silk dresses for paintings on cigarette and soap ads.

Pearl and May don’t know it yet, but their lives are on the brink. Japan will soon invade China, bringing a world war to their country, and they are about to set off on a terrifying journey that takes them through wartime China, across the Pacific Ocean, and through interrogation and detainment at Angel Island (called the Ellis Island of the West). They find Los Angeles’ China City, experience the odd relationship between Hollywood and Chinese actresses, and brave the Communist witch-hunts that targeted Chinese during the 1950s. Shanghai Girls focuses on the tense and loving relationship of sisters in an epic context of war, immigration, racism, wealth and marriage.

by Shreyasi Singh
- India -

The UNDP’s Human Development Indices 2008 gives India a rather embarrassing rank in its crucial Gender Development Index (116th out of 157 countries). But, for many of us tracking politics in India today, the factoid is somewhat difficult to interpret.

by Sarah-Eva Carlson
- USA -

The concept of investing in what matters is not new to me. In fact, it’s where my life as an investor began. I was in the 8th grade and had won a cash award. Since I wouldn’t need the money until college, my father suggested that we invest. “It’s a good time to invest in the U.S. market,” he advised, “you’ll end up with $3,000, maybe more.” These returns were good news in my family of four children, but I was looking to get even more out of my investment. I wanted it to piss off my older brother.

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

For almost two years, I have been reviewing documentary films for The WIP. I have spent countless hours in dark movie theaters so moved by what is on screen that I promise myself that I will completely change my very existence, especially when the film is environmentally themed. I do make changes, real changes. Yet, at times I feel that I am failing as a burgeoning environmentalist.

by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

Couched in a story from Indian mythology, Deepa Mehta’s newest feature film, Heaven on Earth, blurs the line between reality and fantasy to provide a nuanced and authentic look at the struggles of a young Punjabi woman who has immigrated to Canada from her homeland for what turns out to be an abusive marriage. Never one to shy away from heavy and complex issues, Mehta’s film addresses arranged marriage, Indian family dynamics and expectations, domestic violence, and love.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Some people no doubt find it exciting to adjust to a new society or a new city. My time in Copenhagen – nearly nine months so far – has not been completely negative, but even as time passes and I meet more people, I don’t feel particularly at home or settled in my new country. I haven’t found a place to belong since I arrived.

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

This summer Don Draper and company return to AMC for the third season of the hit TV show Mad Men. The stylized drama has made the 1960s advertising industry seem like the glory days of creative freedom, complete with noontime cocktails in the office and young feminists breaking through the almost impenetrable glass ceiling.

by Charukesi Ramadurai
- India -

“First day in Parliament. From the sublime (the historic Central Hall for the Cong legislators meeting) to the bureacratic (8 forms to fill)!” - 12:17 AM May 19th from TwitterBerry

"We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks." [Source: @BarackObama]

by Alice Alech
- France -

When the Tour de France started in 1903 as a stunt to promote a sports newspaper,
no one realized then that this bicycle race would turn out to be the biggest annual sporting event in the world. Today, another cycle race is taking place in France; major cities are hastening to adopt a collective bike scheme, a mode of transport which is proving to be affordable, workable and most importantly, produces zero C02 emissions. Cycling is beginning to play a major role in sustainable transport in France.

by Vera von Kreutzbruck
- Germany -

When I told British director and choreographer Sally Potter, 59, that I am from Argentina, she broke into song - “Don’t cry for me Argentina.” She has many fond memories from the time she spent in Buenos Aires in 1997 shooting her film The Tango Lesson with tango dancer Pablo Verón and herself as the protagonists. And her passion for tango has grown fervently ever since. “Next week I’m flying to London to dance with Verón,” she tells me before starting our interview at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

by Nancy St. Clair
- USA -

“Going green is not going to transform our planet unless everyone can embrace the movement on their own terms and scale… If we don’t embrace reducing and reusing, the green movement cannot make a real impact. Recycling alone isn’t enough to save us.” - Jessica Mosby

Long ago, when I was young, I regarded the sight of discarded roofing, lumber and cars rotting in fields as junk. Now I see these materials in an entirely different light and ask myself: Can we afford to throw things away?

by Saskia van Alphen
- Argentina -

The current Argentinean government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has made Justicia or human rights one of the main items on its political agenda, so much so that it aims to judge and imprison all military staff involved in the army’s illegal activities during the country’s latest dictatorship (1976-1983). It also intends to give (financial) reparations to the victims or their surviving relatives. With this Juicios por la Verdad or Judgements for Truth campaign, Fernández de Kirchner continues the work of her husband, former president Néstor Kirchner, who converted the ESMA, a navy school that operated as one of the biggest clandestine detention and torture centers during those years, into state property and a Space for Memory. By pursuing these initiatives, Fernández de Kirchner hopes to establish a collective memory for this tragic episode in Argentinean history.