by Melody Kemp, Asia Times, Hong Kong - Laos carries the tragic distinction of being the most heavily bombed country in the history of modern warfare. Thirty-five years after the United States wound up its so-called "secret war" against communist guerillas, the impact of its unexploded ordnance (UXO) continues to take a heavy human and economic toll.
by Tara Ali, Guardian, UK - What has my Iraqi family gained? They can criticise the government publicly without fear, but they fear being in public.
by Sarah van Gelder, Yes!, USA - The Pakistani people need our help. Here's what we can do today, and how to reduce the number of future disasters.
by Hajiya Bilkisu, Daily Trust, Nigeria - Last week women aspirants from all the states of the federation gathered at the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre of the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja.
by Indu Nepal, Nepali Times, Nepal - Why do most people think it's okay to say they're not feminists? Being a woman is tough all over the world. In Nepal, you get to sing about it.
by Jan Anton Hough, Consultancy Africa Intelligence, South Africa - Current initiatives to mitigate global warming such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD projects), vulnerable local communities in Africa that depend on such forests, might face a renewed form of marginalisation.
by Elizabeth Drescher, Religion Dispatches, USA - Or, why "living simple" is so hard.
by Lina Sinjab, BBC, UK - As you drive along the Euphrates river in northern Syria, you see lush green fields, but keep traveling east, and the land that was once filled with life is now dry, barren and empty.
by Katie Allen, Guardian, UK - Charity predicts more food shortages in Africa because of EU target to produce 10% of all transport fuels from biofuels by 2020.
by Simona Sikimic, Daily Star, Lebanon - The high rates of unemployment have had a devastating knock-on effect on living standards, and per capita product (GDP) fell by 30 percent in OPT in the last ten years alone, largely as a result of the intifada and the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
by Rachel Maddow, The Rachel Maddow Show, USA - Activist Tracie Washington is fighting to restore and keep flood-destroyed New Orleans neighborhoods in the hands of their previous communities.
by Farangis Najibullah, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - With wounds still raw from ethnic violence in June that killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands, whole families' emotions are running high.
by Charlene Munhenga, The Herald, Zimbabwe - Rural folk across Zimbabwe are beginning to experience the effects of climate change, with crop yields declining as prolonged droughts and erratic rains start taking their toll.
by Tamar Sharabi, Upside Down World, Canada - It is estimated that one third of the best agricultural lands in Honduras are owned by one percent of the country’s producers.3 Meanwhile, 67 of every 100 persons in Honduras live in extreme poverty, without the ability to generate sufficient income even for the basic food staples.
by Suvendrini Kakuchi, IPS, Italy - Since their first child was born 16 years ago, Hiroyuki Ozaki has taken care of the household, relinquishing his traditional role as the main breadwinner while his wife held on to her career in the travel industry.
by Kelly Knaub, Havana Times, Cuba - For the moment people are afraid to propose solutions, and that’s the main problem. This is the encumbrance, and this is what limits the country’s evolution.
by Harriet Alexander, Telegraph, UK - Pensioner René Galinier has become the face of a fierce debate in France over their Roma community and the limits of liberté, égalité and fraternité.
by Britta Sandberg,Spiegel, Germany - French philosopher Elisabeth Badinter cut her teeth in the women's liberation movement of the 1970s. In a SPIEGEL interview, she discusses her worries about how a new back-to-nature movement is persuading many Western women to forsake the gains of emancipation and embrace their grandmothers' values instead.
