with Maureen Aung-Thwin, Suzanne DiMaggio, Thaung Htun, Scot Marciel, Sean Turnell, Open Society, USA - Asia Society and the Open Society Institute convened a panel discussion to revisit the situation in Burma in light of the military government's announced "roadmap to democracy," including its intention to conduct a national referendum to approve a new constitution in May, followed by a multiparty general election in 2010. How credible is this development given that the new constitution would effectively bar independent political leaders from participating in the process? The panel also assessed recent efforts at the international and regional levels to advance national reconciliation in Burma. What role can and should international actors such as the United Nations and the United States play together with ASEAN and Burma's influential neighbors?

by Constantine Chimakure, Zimbabwe Independent, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe has a mountain to climb if he is to win the anticipated presidential election run-off against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, which is legally expected to take place before May 23. An analysis of the March 29 presidential election results announced last Friday by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) shows that it would be a huge task for Mugabe to beat Tsvangirai if opposition forces unite behind the former secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

by Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune, France - "A security doctrine or a security strategy means power," says Frédéric Bozo, political science professor at the Sorbonne. "This is an issue that most Europeans, with perhaps the exception of Britain and France, do not want to deal with. Since that is the case, it is very difficult to talk about Europe regarding itself as a global actor."

by Jenny Wiggins, Financial Times, UK - Historically, there have been tenuous links between farmers and food producers, with many companies having scant knowledge of how and where their ingredients are grown. But as the prices of raw materials soar – from the barley used to make beer or the cocoa used to make chocolate – leading brewers and food manufacturers from Cadbury Schweppes to Diageo are increasingly recognising their businesses will benefit from investment in agriculture.

by Maya Schenwar, truthout, USA - America has pretty much agreed that, whether or not Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, she will have made history. However, no matter the outcome of the primary season, the struggle for women's voices to be heard in the political sphere will be far from over. Despite all the focus on Clinton's gender over the course of her campaign, there's been surprisingly little discussion of the gender makeup of the political system as a whole.

by Schabnam Tafazoli, Spiegel Online, Germany - Aid organizations are complaining that they are not being allowed to deal effectively with the aftermath of Cyclone Nagris in Burma. Ingo Radtke, director of German aid group Malteser International, speaks about the frustration of not being able to help people who are in desperate need.

by Nicki Bennett, New York Times, USA - So does that mean people shouldn’t be living in flood or disaster-prone areas, as one of my blog readers wondered recently? Having thought about questions like this a lot for the past few months, I would say no. Firstly (as another blog reader was quick to point out), the people of Bangladesh don’t really have that option as the vast majority of their country sits on a flood plain.

by Elizabeth Naser, Ya Libnan, Lebanon - A new motto is needed: Lebanon First. This is the attitude required to unite the country under one government, one military and one ideology - the ideology where Lebanon is the priority, free from the internal bickering, as well as the influence of external actors.

by Ilene R. Prusher, Christian Science Monitor, USA - "The war ended. But since then, we didn't have a year of peace," Horev says. "I thought we were closer to peace 40 years ago than we are today. Look how far away we are from this handshake," he says of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. "I don't believe that we can get to this two-state solution President Bush is promising in 2008, this two-state solution which I myself support."

by Camilla Cavendish, Times Online, UK - The book raises intriguing questions. If Pinker is right, then women who have the luxury of making career choices may actually increase, not decrease, the sexual division of labour. That is certainly what happened in kibbutzes that were studied over four generations, where all choices were freely available to men and women but where, in each generation, men chose to do progressively less childcare and women less construction work. What does that mean for our current notions of equality? If women choose not to be corporate CEOs, does it matter? How can we find ways to better value what they do decide to do?

by Bronwen Maddox, Times Online, UK - The Burmese cannot blame their Government for the cyclone but they can for all the effects. As Laura Bush, the American First Lady, said yesterday: “Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path.”

by Lucie Fielder, France24, France - In the worst internal crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, supporters of pro-Iranian Hezbollah exchanged fire with gunmen loyal to the pro-Western government during a general strike over low wages that has paralyzed Beirut.

by Judy Woodruff, New York Review of Books, USA - Judy Woodruff: You write in your new book, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets, that "we are in the midst of a financial crisis the likes of which we haven't seen since the Great Depression." Was this crisis avoidable? George Soros: I think it was, but it would have required recognition that the system, as it currently operates, is built on false premises.

by Danila Galperovich, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - Medevedev's inauguration ceremony, throughout which he stood shoulder to shoulder with his mentor, was a powerful statement that Putin is still a force to be reckoned with. Putin has already been named prime minister by Medvedev -- he is due to be confirmed by the State Duma as soon as May 8 -- and was recently appointed leader of the ruling Unified Russia party.

by Manjushree Thapa, openDemocracy, UK - There has been much fast and loose talk In Kathmandu these past weeks, as analysts try to come to terms with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)'s victory in the constitutional-assembly election on 10 April 2008. There has been just as much of the same kind of talk in New Delhi.

by Jenny Booth, Times Online, UK - In a rare press conference, members of the Burmese junta today gave the most detailed description to date of the disaster that killed at least 22,000 people at the weekend, and left a further 41,000 missing, according to Burmese state radio. “More deaths were caused by the tidal wave than the storm itself,” said Maung Maung Swe, Burma's Minister for Relief and Resettlement, at a news conference in the rubble-strewn city of Rangoon, where food and water supplies are running low.

by Anne Applebaum, Slate Magazine, USA - For the moment the Georgians are saying they have no intention of declaring war. But Georgia holds parliamentary elections later this month, under the leadership of a president who might be grateful for a chance to look bold. If the provocation works, or if Russia really does invade Georgia—an emerging democracy, an aspiring NATO ally, a country with troops in Iraq and many implicit assurances of security from Washington and Brussels—then the West will have to come up with a major response, if not military then political and diplomatic.

by Juliana Rincón Parra, Global Voices, Americas - The international food shortage and crisis is doing its rounds on the blogosphere, and videos are no exception. From Haiti: people eating dirt to survive, and a plan to help feed the hungry Haitian children. Haiti is the poorest country in the American continent, and hunger for them has been an important issue since before this crisis took to the headlines.

by Neeta Lal, Asia Sentinel, China - It isn’t all sunshine at the other end of the phone line in India’s stressed-out business processing outsourcing industry. After eight months in a high-paying business process outsourcing job, 21-year-old Anurag Verma’s life metamorphosed completely. The onetime middle-class, bus-commuting college kid was earning big money, had acquired a flashy new car and a Blackberry and was dreaming of investing in a condominium. His euphoria was short lived.

by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, USA - A US military judge dismissed the argument Friday that Guantanamo’s youngest detainee, Omar Khadr, was a child soldier when captured in Afghanistan and therefore in need of protection and not prosecution. US Army Colonel Peter Brownback’s ruling clears the way for Khadr’s trial, which will be the first war crimes trial in history of anyone under the age of eighteen.

by Frida Ghitis, Miami Herald, USA - In a parallel universe, Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace, with vibrant trade and cultural exchanges, neighbors not unlike Belgium and the Netherlands. In a parallel universe each country has less territory than it would like, but both governments focus on progress, freedom and prosperity for their people.

by Charlotte McPherson, Today's Zaman, Turkey - What forms our values, thinking and behavior? Today’s Zaman aims to help foreigners understand Turkey better. Often Turks drop me a note saying thanks for helping them better understand us foreigners. When I taught anthropology I used to remind my students that national boundaries are artificial lines drawn on maps by politicians; cultures are realities in geographical localities.

by Bernarda Claure, IPS, Italy - Efforts by Bolivia’s land reform authorities to free 167 Guaraní families living in servitude in Alto Parapetí, a rural area in the eastern Bolivian lowlands province of Santa Cruz, have brought to light a phenomenon that had remained largely hidden and ignored until now in the country’s vast Chaco plains region.

by Jed Yoong, Asia Sentinel, China - Environmental groups add that top concerns include further deforestation of primary rainforest, wetlands conservation and the displacement of indigenous groups, like the nomadic Penan who live in the forests up the Limbang river. Meanwhile, politicians have asked for more detailed studies and criticized the plan as another ad hoc measure that does not address the real problems behind the food shortage in the country.

by Isabel Kershner, International Herald Tribune, France - The gray walls of Yad Vashem have long documented the horrors of the Holocaust. Now an oddly vibrant exhibition at the official Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority is telling a less known story of the renaissance of the survivors in Israel and the extraordinary role they played in shaping the character of the new state.