by Marlies Glasius, Open Democracy, UK - Now is the time to begin to repair the weakness of the weapons clauses in the International Criminal Court Statute and get the threat or use of weapons of mass destruction defined as a crime.

by Ginger Strand, Orion, USA - Hard-core may be the new green for a town at the end of the line.

by Lila Kiwelu, Pambazuka, Kenya - A report released by the World Bank entitled Engendering Development reemphasised that improving rural women’s access to productive resources including education, land, and fertilisers in Africa could increase agricultural productivity by as much as one-fifth.

by Patricia J. Williams, The Nation, USA - America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 is being turned upside down as the neat equivalent of Germany's Bankrupting Forced Death Act of 1939.

by Fatma Disli Zibak, Today's Zaman, Turkey - Just as Turkey is making intense efforts to solve one of its most pressing problems, the Kurdish issue, with a democratization initiative announced by the government last month, a statement released by the Foreign Ministry late on Monday boosted hopes that Turkey is readying to solve yet another critical issue, the normalization of ties with Armenia.

by Yifat Susskind, RH Reality Check, USA - There's no need to airdrop women's rights programs into poor and embattled communities. It makes a lot more sense to team up with the women who are already doing that work and provide the resources and training that they say is useful to effect the change they need.

by Lela Gilbert, Jerusalem Post, Israel - From 1948 to 1970, 850,000 to a million Jews fled or were expelled from Arab lands. From then until now, they have received no reparations, no inventory of their lost possessions and virtually no consideration in negotiations for Middle East peace.

by Bonnie Malkin, Telegraph, UK - The Great Barrier Reef faces "catastrophic damage" from climate change and chemical runoff, according to a major report carried out by the Australian government.

by Stephanie Ho, VOA News, USA - Refugees are continuing to return to Burma from China, after about 30,000 Burmese nationals fled across the border in recent days to escape fighting between government troops and a local militia.

by Rachel Sylvester, Times Online, UK - For some time America has regarded this country as Little Britain. The Lockerbie bomber case is seen as the final straw

by Esther Han, ABC News, Australia - For a long time, it was thought a war zone was no place for a woman. But now, female reporters are just as likely as their male counterparts to be sent to cover wars.

by Ambika Ahuja, The Irrawaddy, Thailand - The global financial crisis has highlighted a curious success story: A bank that doles out loans to some of the world's poorest, least-creditworthy people continues to have a payback rate of nearly 100 percent.

by Gail Pellet, Truthout, USA - "We would never want to have a plan like the Canadians" is a comment I heard from an interviewee on NPR the other day. Sadly, this speaker has never visited Canada, because if they had they would probably witness that the average working-class or middle-class person in Canada lives longer, works less, is a tad wealthier and has better sex.

by Linda Nordling, SciDev, UK - Time is running out for African countries to ensure that a global climate deal addresses their needs.

by Aunohita Mojumdar, Eurasia Net, USA - In a hurry to score quick public relations points, some international observers and foreign diplomats cast Afghanistan’s August 20 presidential vote as an unequivocal triumph for the democratization process.

by Mary Ekah, This Day, Nigeria - An alliance of African students attending world-class universities are converging with representatives from relevant agricultural institutions in Nigeria with the aim to build Nigeria’s first online agricultural network for youth.

by Dalia Acosta, IPS, Italy - With a good job as a professional in Cuba’s public sector, Mariela Sánchez takes advantage of the flexible hours to take on another, part-time job and collaborate with a specialised publication.

by Nancy J. Blake and Kathleen Blake Bohne, Open Democracy, UK - President Calderon has committed himself to a much needed judicial reform in Mexico. But Mexico's history of centralisation, corruption, anti-clericalism and its culture of secrecy are a challenge to overcome.

by Chiara Volpato, New York Times, USA - Many outside Italy seem to assume that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gets away with his sexist behavior because Italian men condone it and the women at least tolerate it. But this is no longer true.