by Frida Ghitis, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA - Every time we become distracted, the generals in Burma manage to jolt us back to attention. The world’s most despotic regime is alive and well, inflicting suffering on its people after five decades in power, while the world does little more than issue an occasional statement of outrage.

by Anne M. Khaminwa, Pambazuka News, Kenya - Today Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, beset by environmental problems, violence and lawlessness.

by Fazile Zahir, Asia Times, Hong Kong - Turkey hasn't seen a woman's funeral like it since feminist hero Duygu Asena was laid to rest in 2006.

by Anastasia Moloney, Reuters, UK - Hundreds of Colombia's displaced families are camped out in a makeshift settlement in downtown Bogotá, demanding jobs, subsidies and a permanent place to live.

by Mona Eltahawy, New York Times, USA - It’s wonderful to see the power of women put the fear of God into countries. At least that’s how I like to explain Saudi Arabia’s decision to delay municipal elections for two years.

by Grace Livingstone, Venezuela Analysis, Venezuela - How far do Obama’s policies so far and his rhetoric for the region point to a real change in US/Latin America relations?

by Sarah Boseley, Guardian, UK - A quiet sexual revolution, brought about by the overwhelming success of bright young women applying to medical schools, is about to deliver the NHS into female hands. Within eight years, according to a report published today, most doctors will be women.

by Siobhán Dowling, Spiegel, Germany - Voter turnout for this week's European parliamentary election is expected to be the lowest since direct elections began 30 years ago. Is this the fault of the parliament itself? Inadequate media coverage? Or are national governments failing in their responsibility to educate the electorate?

by Denise Grady, New York Times, USA - Abortion is illegal in Tanzania (except to save the mother’s life or health), so women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally.

by Nirupama Subramanian, Frontline, India - The army’s anti-Taliban campaign in Swat makes progress, but the government is stunned by the exodus of refugees.

by Melissa Harris-Lacewell, The Nation, USA - I believe the murder of George Tiller was an act of domestic terrorism whose aim was not only to assassinate a single man, but also to frighten a generation of doctors and to shame and terrify women and families who are making difficult choices.

by Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - Reformists in Iran are hoping that a high turnout in the June 12 presidential election would help prevent a second term for the hard-line incumbent, Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, USA - The actions of the Israeli army during its twenty-two-day assault on the Gaza Strip earlier this year are back in the spotlight with the arrival of a United Nations delegation in Gaza this Monday.

by Ayse Karabat, Today's Zaman, Turkey - The commencement of crude oil exports from northern Iraq via Turkey to the European market on Monday is not only a historic moment for regional economic cooperation, but also, according to experts, can contribute positively to the solution of the long-standing Kurdish problem in Turkey.

by Natalya Krainova, The Moscow Times, Russia - Russia's current system of fighting child sex crimes is ineffective, especially when compared to that of the United States, Russian and U.S. experts concurred at a recent conference on fighting child sexual abuse.

by Anne Barrowclough, The Times, UK - The Western Australia sky is raining dead birds in what is becoming a regular, and mysterious, event for the region.

by Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check, USA - The American media has no qualms about turning non-stories into huge controversies, if they can stoke religious and cultural tensions in doing so.

by Sarah Leduc, France 24, France - Despite Romania’s entry into the European Union, the Roma people are not wanted in several European countries.

by Patricia Grogg, Havana Times, Cuba - The Cuban Constitution and numerous laws assure women’s equality and the protection of the family, but the abuse that occurs in the intimacy of the home doesn’t always escape the fear and prejudice, nor is it reported to the authorities or tabulated in statistics.

by Frances Kissling, Religion Dispatches, USA - Today’s killing of a doctor who performed abortions—and saved many women’s lives—may be the result of a culture of religious extremism around the issue of abortion. Is violence the inevitable result of hate speech?

by Alecia D. McKenzie, IPS, Italy - Fourteen women are gathered in a Jewish kosher bakery on a sunny afternoon in Creteil, a multi-ethnic commune southeast of Paris. Bent over bowls of flour, tubs of butter and cartons of eggs, the women share jokes and anecdotes, speaking in both French and Arabic, as they knead dough and crack eggs open.

by Madeline Ostrander, Yes! Magazine, USA - As Congressional leaders and the coal industry try to tell Americans what is and is not possible to do to protect our communities from the disasters of climate change, Obama needs to call on all of us to put our hands and our imaginations to work.