by Lindsey Hilsum, New Statesman, UK - In the face of such suffering, it would be heartless and probably over-optimistic to herald the Sichuan earthquake as the beginning of civil society and accountable government in China. And yet, this natural disaster may have done more than years of campaigning by human rights and democracy activists to force the Chinese government to start opening up.

by Deepa Gauri, Khaleej Times, UAE - "Part of the problem is the fixed mindset. We only look at the supply side of energy and don't focus on managing demand. If you look at Dubai, an efficient public transport sector and better traffic management can reduce the demand."

by Anne Applebaum, Slate Magazine, USA - Invoking the Nazis also changes the tenor of a debate. There may be good, tactical reasons for choosing not to negotiate with Hezbollah or the Iranian regime, for example (the best reason, usually, is that the relevant diplomats are fairly sure that negotiations won't work). But calling opponents of this policy "appeasers" distorts the debate, giving tactical choices a phony moral grounding. In reality, circumstances do change, even where "terrorists and radicals" are involved, as this administration in particular knows perfectly well.

by Barbara Hans, Spiegel Online, Germany - Ahmad O. stabbed his sister more than 20 times because the 16-year-old girl didn't live her life according to his values. Women's rights advocate Seyran Ates is now calling for German society to intensify its efforts to stop honor killings. "A girl isn't a whore if she goes out," she says.

by Ann Wright, truthout, USA - After World War II, Japanese men (and women) have been spared the obligation of serving in any wars. Because their Constitution (written by Americans) says war is not the Japanese national doctrine for resolving international disputes or for ensuring their national security, the Japanese people have been given 60 years of peace.

by Helen Cooper, International Herald Tribune, France - Israel, the United States' staunchest ally in the Middle East, just became another example of a country that has decided it is better to deal with its foes than to ignore them. The announcement that Israel has entered into comprehensive peace talks with Syria is at odds with the course counseled by the Bush administration, which initially opposed such talks in private conversations with Israelis, according to Israeli and U.S. officials.

by Anna Smolchenko, Moscow Times, Russia - Russia is one of the least peaceful places in the world, according to a new study, which ranks it among countries mired in drug trafficking, guerilla wars and political instability. Russia took 131st place out of 140 countries on the Global Peace Index, just below Colombia and above Lebanon, says the study, released late Monday. Iceland was named the most peaceful country, while Iraq came in last.

by Juliette Terzieff, World Politics Review, USA - Kenya's minister of defense and other high-ranking officials should face trial on charges that thousands of civilians have been abused during a government crackdown that began in March in the Mt. Elgon region, the country's state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said in a May 15 report.

by Juliana Rincón Parra, Global Voices, Latin America - With two very recent natural disasters in mind: the cyclone in Myanmar and the Earthquake in Sichuan, China, the topic of getting pure and drinkable water to needy populations has come back into the conversation. Following, several videos which propose different solutions to supply clean water or at least make it easier for people to have a healthful liquid to drink.

by Emily Flitter, Wall Street Journal, USA - When it comes to table manners, the devil is in each culture's details. Eating with one's fingers may be considered slovenly in one place, but the norm in another. In Egypt and other parts of the Middle East, looking at a fellow diner's plate is considered to be rude.

by Frida Ghitis, Providence Journal, USA - While the world's diplomatic and media attention focused on the disaster in Burma, and then China, a lightning-quick coup reshaped the Middle East, handing yet another defeat to Washington and the West and a crucial victory to Iran. In the blink of an eye, the Islamic Republic of Iran conquered Lebanon.

by Liz Fuller, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - Although Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili pledged during his annual address to the nation on April 23 that the May 21 parliamentary elections will be "the most fair and democratic in the history of our country," opposition parties have in recent weeks repeatedly alleged pressure on their candidates by the Georgian authorities, and attempted vote-buying by candidates representing Saakashvili's United National Movement for a Victorious Georgia.

by Alice Poon, Asia Sentinel, China - 'It’s just so strange that when there are numerous complaints from the earthquake victims in the disaster area and from mainland netizens, all the Hong Kong media only focus on reporting the positive but not the negative. If we want to read negative news, we have to turn to news reports from the west, Taiwan and Japan.'

by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, USA - Interview with Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma who spent five-and-a-half years documenting the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims in twelve countries. His subjects include a gay imam in South Africa, an Egyptian who fled to France after his imprisonment and torture, and a lesbian couple in Turkey.

by Lisa Tolin, Time Magazine, USA - The numbers are almost too large to fathom, so many Americans stop trying. As bodies pile up in disaster after global disaster, even the most sympathetic souls can turn away. Charities know this as "donor fatigue," but it might be more accurately described as disaster fatigue — the sense that these events are never-ending, uncontrollable and overwhelming. Experts say it is one reason Americans have contributed relatively little so far to victims of the Burma cyclone and China's earthquake.

by Antoaneta Bezlova, IPS, Italy - The national mourning observed this week for victims of the Sichuan earthquake is the first public remembrance in modern China’s history ordered to commemorate ordinary people rather than political leaders. At 2:28 on Monday afternoon, exactly a week after the quake hit the remote hillsides of southwestern China, the country came to a standstill, mourning the 50,000 people estimated to have perished in the tragedy.

by Bronwen Maddox, Times Online, UK - More than 100 countries are turning up in Dublin with the aim of signing a pact by May 30 to ban at least some of these weapons, which fire clusters of little bombs. They are controversial because of their propensity to kill people — often civilians — outside the target, and to stay lethal across a wide zone, laying an instant minefield. Campaigners say that at least a tenth fail to explode on impact. But the line-up of countries in Dublin does not include the US, Russia, China, India or Pakistan — all of whom have significant arsenals — which have made clear they have no interest at all in such a pact.

by Hannah Beech, Time Magazine, USA - "There aren't any," says the hotelier, with an embarrassed laugh when asked about the best tourist attractions in Burma's new capital. That's no surprise, really: Naypyidaw — the name translates as "Abode of Kings" — was built from scratch just three years ago, on 1,800 square miles of land carved out of scrubland on the orders of the ruling junta. Naypyidaw doesn't even exist in the Lonely Planet's latest Burma travel guide; there's not much tourist charm in a dusty bunker town that is little more than the wish-fulfillment of paranoid generals.

by Sue Branford, openDemocracy, UK - The unexpected resignation 0n 13 May 2008 of Brazil's internationally renowned environment minister, Marina Silva, is a dramatic demonstration of the power of the "developmentalist" faction within the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. It is now likely that the government will move rapidly to build more highways and hydroelectric power stations within the Amazon region, making it easier for agribusiness and mining companies to move in.

by Farangis Najibullah, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - In the new park, called "Mothers' Paradise," women can walk, jog, and engage in other athletic activities without having to cover their heads. Men can reportedly not see inside the park since it is surrounded by green walls and covered by bright-colored materials. Some Tehran residents welcomed the launch of the park as an opportunity for women to act freely. Many others, however, criticized it as yet another step in what they call widespread discrimination against women.

by Katy Barnett, New Statesman, UK - We rattled through the child protection landscape at speed, pausing to consider the dilemmas. How can we best coordinate our family tracing efforts, so that a separated child identified by an agency in one area can be reunited with their parents in a different area, where another agency is working? Should we use photos of the separated children as a way of tracing their parents? If the photos are displayed in public areas, children might be spotted by their parents who are looking for them. But do we have the right battery powered printers to do this without any power?

by Janny Scott, International Herald Tribune, France - Barack Obama was a first-time author and rookie politician embarking upon his first run for public office. Hermene Hartman was the publisher of N'Digo, a magazine in Chicago aimed at upscale black readers. As Hartman tells it, she got a call from Obama in the fall of 1995 saying he wanted to come and talk. He wanted her to read his newly published memoir.

by Isabel Ortiz and Anita Kelles-Viitanen, Daily News Egypt, Egypt - More than half of Asia’s population — 1.8 billion people — live on less than $2 a day; more than 600 million of them try to survive on less than $1 a day. With food prices now soaring, most of Asia’s “working poor,” who are already struggling on degraded lands, in sweatshops, on streets and at homes, risk further destitution. Yet the Asian Development Bank — an institution whose mission is to reduce poverty — last month approved a new corporate strategy (ADB Long Term Strategic Framework 2008-2020) that is ominously silent on the importance of employment and social protection for the poor.

by Laura Bashraheel, Hassna’a Mokhtar and Somayya Jabarti, Arab News, Saudi Arabia - “When a door is locked, it is not going to open on its own. You’ve got to bang on it, on and on for it to open,” said Al-Angari. “Women are afflicted with ignorance. We can’t claim our rights unless we know them.”

by Sara Miles, Salon.com, USA - I never bothered taking off the ring. A little over four years ago, I swung by a jeweler and bought a $40 gold band, rushing to an event I'd never expected would happen -- my wedding. Martha and I, who had been together for 11 years then, were married, with our daughter as witness, at San Francisco's City Hall, in the great Valentine's Day uprising of affirmative civil disobedience.