by Rana Raschid, Turkish Daily News, Turkey - Ms. Sancar, an American author of books on women’s issues says the headscarf is not a political symbol for the people who wear it, but for those who object to it.

by Kim Gamal, The Scotsman, Scotland - Remote controlled explosives strapped to two women with Down's syndrome were detonated by mobile phone, suggesting the women may not have been aware of what was happening – killed at least 73 people and wounded more than 160.

by Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News, Riyadh - Former Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland, encouraged Saudi women to promote change and women's rights from within.

by KA Dilday, openDemocracy, UK - In Morocco, as in most Muslim countries, homosexuality is technically a crime.

by Deborah Siegel, More, USA - Will life change if the 44th president is a woman? More asked some opinionated women who've seen plenty of firsts to imagine the early days of a Hillary future.

by Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail, Canada - “We couldn't claim to be doing the very best of Canadian art if we weren't prepared to wrestle those really difficult subjects".

by Isabel Hilton, The Guardian, UK - The arrest of a leading Aids and environmental activist doesn't bode well for China's human rights record in the run-up to the Olympics

by Bérengère Massignon, Eurozine, Austria - How does the European Union handle the relationships between confessional faiths and the unified body that it is striving to bring about? Being inherently pluralistic, it is incumbent upon the EU to develop a new form of secularisation.

by Janet Bagnall, The Gazette, Canada - For women around the world, Hillary Clinton should be the symbol of a new, egalitarian age: A smart, articulate, capable woman, she has a real shot at becoming the Democratic

by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, USA - As the race narrows, it is a key moment to reflect on what the US stands for as a country.

by Marifeli Perez-Stable, Miami Herald, USA - After berating the three million who voted for him in 2006 but failed to show up at the polls two months ago, Chávez appears to have taken some stock of his defeat.

by Grace Matsiko, Daily Monitor, Uganda - This is a big boost to the peace process aimed at ending the 20 year-old rebel insurgency in northern Uganda.

by Catrina Stewart and Anna Smolchenko, The Moscow Times, Russia - Amid the growing instability on global financial markets, the widening diplomatic spat between Moscow and London over the British Council was potentially damaging to business interests, as foreign investment is more crucial than eve

by Yvonne Roberts, The Guardian, UK - In watching 24-hour coverage of the horrific violence in Kenya, are we keeping abreast of the news - or turning into voyeurs?

by Maria Luisa Mendonça, Worldpress.org - "MINUSTAH tried to build legitimacy by saying that it is fighting criminals. But many people realize that the only things that can truly reduce the lack of safety are public policies and social services. Unfortunately, what we have is a violent military apparatus."

by Laura Miller, Salon.com, USA - Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison have both gone public with their presidential picks. What do their overwrought odes tell us about the candidates they favor?

by Mona Eltahawy, PostGlobal, USA - With U.S. presidential primary season in full swing, there's a lot of talk here about "change" vs. "competence" in leadership. Which does your country have more of? Is that a good thing?

by Zoe Chafe, World Watch Institute - Worldwide, carbon trading reached a value of $59.2 billion in 2007. However, its effectiveness in addressing climate change is uncertain.

by Giannina Milich, IPS News, Chile - The longest hunger strike in Chilean history, to draw attention to the plight of the Mapuche people, has been called off.

by Halima Muzaffar, MEMRI/Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia - She criticizes the Saudi education system for using scare tactics and for instilling in young children the fear of death, as part of their religious education. She claims that this "culture of death" is the reason for the spread of terrorism in Saudi society.

by Sarah Boxer, The New York Review of Books, USA - The whole culture of linking—composing on the fly, grabbing and posting whatever you like, making weird, unexplained connections and references— doesn't sit happily in a book. Yes, I'm talking about bloggy writing itself.

by Kathleen Parker, RCP, USA - The Republican race looks like a Barnum & Bailey elephant walk with every candidate trying to tie his trunk to Reagan's tail. Democrats continue trying to recapture that JFK moment when America was better looking, slimmer by far, glamorous and rhetorically rich.

by Ulrike Putz, Der Spiegel, Germany - Abdul studies by day and builds bombs at night for the Islamic Jihad. He and his fellow militants can produce up to 100 per night.

by Shailja Patel, Mshale.com, USA - The first type of violence, which erupted in the immediate aftermath of the elections, was spontaneous, anarchic protest at the announcement of the presidential result.

by Fatma Disli, Today's Zaman, Turkey - There are currently two main issues dominating the Turkish media. One is the headscarf ban at universities.

by Bronwen Maddox , The Times, UK - The President tried to reassure the West, but he has different ideas about freedom.

by Rosemary Bechler, openDemocracy, UK -
The intractable dispute between Palestinians and Israelis is open to practical initiatives and new understandings that can create the foundation of progress.

by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, USA - President Bush used his final State of the Union address last night to call for quick passage of his tax rebate package, patience in Iraq and a modest concluding agenda that includes $300 million in scholarship money for low-income children in struggling schools.

by Seema Sirohi, Outlook India, India - French presidential visit to India was shortened by a day and India cancelled defence deals and refused to sign a civil nuclear agreement with France.

by Carrie Budoff Brown & Mike Allen, The Politico, USA - “This is the biggest Democratic endorsement Obama could possibly get short of Bill Clinton,” said a high-level Democrat.

by Siobhán Dowling, Der Spiegel, Berlin - Two people have died and thousands of trucks have been stuck at the border between Poland and Ukraine this week after customs officials went on wildcat strikes. They're complaining about bad pay, overwork and a lack of preparation for dealing with the new Schengen zone borders.

by Amy Glass, Arabian Business, Dubai - Saudi Arabia will establish a society dedicated to the rights of the kingdom’s women after two years of negotiations, the society's founder said in comments published on Monday.

by Vanessa Friedman, FT Weekend, UK - Recession is looming, carbon emissions uncapped, the insurgency in Iraq ongoing. What’s to be cheerful about? Yet ask Pankaj Shah, a 35-year-old US entrepreneur endeavouring to prove that a for-profit charitable enterprise is not an oxymoron, how he feels when he wakes up in the morning and he beams a beatific smile and says: “This is such a captivating moment in time. I wake up in wonderment almost every day."

by Sonia Phalnikar, IHT, France - India's boldest English-language news magazine, Tehelka, is struggling to expand and take a bigger slice of a highly competitive print market.

by Erin Anderssen, Shawn McCarthy and Eric Reguly, Globe and Mail, Canada - How did the quest to retrieve the treasure hidden beneath huge swaths of northern Alberta go from fool's errand to monumentous payoff?

by Arundhati Roy, Countercurrents.org - Genocide is an old human habit. I use the word Genocide advisedly, and in keeping with its definition contained in Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

by Bridget Kendall, BBC News - As ties between London and Moscow grow increasingly frosty over the role a cultural organisation, BBC diplomatic correspondent looks back at the history of the British Council in Russia.

by Susan Weinstein, Worldpress.org - He survived seven years in the secret jungle prisons of the Communist Pathet Lao with the idea that one day he would survive to bear witness to his country's shame.

by Bronwen Maddox, The Times, UK - The best part of the resolution against Iran now taking shape is that all the members of the United Nations Security Council will put their names to it.