by Grace Mukasa, The Guardian, UK - With gender empowerment, you only stop to take a breath. You do not quit. There is no one single way to do it. And it is a lifetime commitment

by Sara Schonhardt, Asia Times, Hong Kong - Shootings, protests and violent attacks are on the rise in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province, home to a low-level separatist struggle and the operations of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan.

by Natalia Antelava, Transitions Online, Czech Republic - Seven years before the town of Gori lost its Stalin statue, the late dictator’s museum was largely empty, but his admirers were steadfast.

by Sarah Wambui, Capital FM, Kenya - Questions about our country’s fight against HIV/AIDS come up. Is it time for us to repackage the HIV awareness message and include homosexual persons as well? Are we fighting a losing battle by ignoring gay persons in our HIV messages?

by Sarah Posner, Religion Dispatches, USA - On matters of faith, why do the Democrats opt for evangelicals over their progressive allies?

by Anneris Ivette Leyva, Periodico 26, Cuba - A year has passed since the streets of Honduras were filled with horror, and the air waves, with silence. Neither the radio waves, which lost their frequencies, nor the television newscasts, inconceivably replaced by cartoons, could warn Hondurans about the fact that democracy had been buried by a sinister arm: the military, and by an unequivocal technique: the coup.

by Sara Mojtehedzadeh, openDemocracy 50.50, UK – G20 countries are asking why rich nations should continue to direct the form and substance of development programmes when many health innovations now originate in the developing world.

by MG Zimeta, The Prospect, UK - It gets a disproportionately large slice of Africa's aid, but the Ethiopian regime does not act in the best interests of its citizens or its neighbours. So why has the G20 made the country a spokesman for the entire continent?

by Julia Kuckelkorn, Deutsche Welle, Germany - In Kenya, a unique football project aims at teaching some 3000 girls self esteem and gender equality as well as being competetive on and off the pitch. Tunaweza, the Swahili expression for "We can do it" is their slogan.

by Nazma Muller, BBC, UK - Barely 24 hours after she was sworn in as the first woman prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar donned a life jacket and waded into the flood waters to tour areas affected by torrential rains sweeping across the Caribbean.

by Denine Walters, Consultancy Africa Intelligence, South Africa - “From scouting for diamonds in the deserts of Botswana to signing oil deals with Sudan and sending peacekeepers to [the] volatile [Democratic Republic of the] Congo, India is busy trying to match China’s ever-growing clout in mineral-rich Africa and secure energy resources for its booming economy." Is India following in China’s footsteps with regards to its continuously growing involvement in Africa?

By Medi Nahmiyaz and Nathalie Alyon, Zeek, USA - In the aftermath of the flotilla raid, media outlets were bombarded with reports, as journalists, analysts and first-hand witnesses, who returned to their homes in Turkey, described their versions event. For our part, after two days spent translating for nearly 100 Turkish passengers from the flotilla, we were still confused about what had really happened.

by Rebecca Conway, The National, United Arab Emirates - For nearly five brutal years, Ijaz fought in the Pakistan Taliban. Under a pseudonym, the former militant tells about his life as a Taliban fighter and what made him turn away from a harrowing life of radicalism and bloodshed.

by Lisa Shannon, New York Times, USA - We in the West too often find it easier to perceive rape as an accepted part of an unfamiliar culture rather than as a tool of war that we could help banish.

bu Shailaja Chandra, The Hindu, India - In the absence of whole-hearted steps to implement the provisions effectively, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 is falling short of expectations.

by Rasna Warah, Daily Nation, Kenya - Somalia celebrates 50 years of independence this week, but many people are wondering whether there is anything worth celebrating.

by Naomi Klein, Common Dreams, USA - When the G20 met in the London in 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, the leaders failed to band together to regulate the financial sector so that this type of crisis would never happen again.

by Leslie Cannold, National Times, Australia - By proving wrong those who said there would not be a female prime minister in our lifetimes, the likes of Gillard kindle hope and incite rebellion.

by Molly Stevenson, Ecologist, UK - Returning to age-old, chemical-free farming techniques is improving crop harvest for Malawian farmers.

by Isabel Hilton, The Guardian, UK - In calling for a large salary increase, India's MPs can again turn themselves into servants of the poor. The argument about MPs' salaries stands for a deeper anxiety about India's direction, the uneven benefits of growth and the painful transition of a society with deep roots in tradition to a difficult modernity.

by Bella Akhagba, The Weekend Observer, Nigeria- Around the world, women and girls are confronting the devastating combination of violence and HIV/AIDS, either of these threats alone is challenging enough, but in many cases they go hand in hand whether in the private or public spheres, in times of peace of conflict, in situations of generalized or concentrated epidemics, violence plays a crucial role in increasing women and girls’ vulnerability to HIV infection.

by Adele Horin, Brisbane Times, Australia - Since the advent of the single parent benefit and job opportunities for women, mothers have been able to leave violent men, taking their children with them. Now the women can leave, but are being forced to send their children back for part of the week or month.

by Faith Karimi, CNN, USA - "I believe something's got to be done ... and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman."

by Fatma Demirelli, Today's Zaman, Turkey - Turkish-Israeli ties appear headed for a collapse if Israel refuses, as it does now, to offer a formal apology and compensate families of victims.