by Rose-Anne Clermont
-Germany-

A version of the following article was originally published April 8, 2011. Last month, German parliament approved plans to shut down the nation’s nuclear plants by 2022, becoming the first industrialized nation to abandon atomic energy. The following article has been updated accordingly. – Ed.

When I moved here for the first time in 1998, I found environmental issues impossible to ignore. Public trash cans already had four separate compartments. I watched people in business suits ride their bikes to work. Plastic shopping bags at the grocery store were not free. Trash collection was a significant bill, and filling up my car cost three times as much as back home.

by Holly Kearl
-USA-

Carrying banners and signs with messages like, “We will not tolerate harassment,” “Islam forbids men from insulting women,” and “I have the right to walk freely in my city,” on July 14, 50 brave women and men marched together from Kabul University to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. As they marched, they handed out fliers to raise awareness about the problem of street harassment in their country.

by Jessica Mosby
-USA-

Life, Above All tells the story of 12-year-old Chanda who takes responsibility for her family after her baby sister dies and her mother falls ill. Fueled by rumors, the rural village outside Johannesburg quickly ostracizes the family suspecting that Chanda’s mother has AIDS. The mother flees the village to live out her last days in a deprivation that may shock viewers.

by Nola Solomon
-USA-

The United States had tough competition in Wednesday’s 2011 Women’s World Cup semi-final game against France. Though team USA will move on to the finals against Japan this Sunday, the French team gave them a real run for their money. Nola Solomon's story reflects her experiences playing with the Paris University Club (PUC) women’s semi-pro team in 2010.

The young woman’s nails clawed into my back.

“Pardon!” she exclaimed.

After having pulled me off the soccer ball by my skin, her contrition sounded bizarre. My American college coach had taught me “never say sorry for banging into someone.” But here in France, as traditional etiquette dictated, an apology followed every foul.

by Joyce J. Wangui
-Kenya-

As the quest for working abroad heightens for many skilled and semi-skilled Kenyans, only a handful understand the implications of working in countries where labor laws are ignored. Media reports of brutality toward foreign laborers in Saudi Arabia have done little to deter determined Kenyans from seeking greener pastures. But has the search for a better life become modern-day slavery?

by Jessica Mosby
-USA-

If you could take a pill that would let you live for another 500 years, would you do it? Director Mark Wexler poses this question in his new documentary How to Live Forever. The film is a thought-provoking and notably lighthearted exploration of what it means to be alive in a world where people are living longer than ever before.

by Zubeida Mustafa
-Pakistan-

A version of the following article was originally published August 12, 2009. In light of recent reports of illegal kidney transplants in Pakistan, the author has updated the article. – Ed.

Several years ago Pakistan’s newspapers and magazines were awash with pictures of shirtless men displaying scars on their torsos indicating they were organ donors. There were villages where practically every male adult claimed to have sold a kidney to earn extra money to repay his debts.