by Fatima Bhutto, Tom Dispatch, USA - What the Wikileaks revelations tell us about how Washington runs Pakistan.

by Smita Mitra, Outlook India, India - Stress and obesity are triggering early hormonal imbalances in pre-teen women.

by Ola Salem, The National, United Arab Emirates - Doctors are calling for the laws on suicide to be reconsidered to remove a catch-22 situation that forces them to choose between breaking the law or breaching patient confidentiality.

by Tafataona P. Mahoso, The Herald, Zimbabwe - The idea that African "culture" is responsible for women's suffering and oppression has become the easiest expression of one's implied approval of existing so-called "modern" social and political arrangements.

by Farangis Najibullah, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - Islam is rapidly on the rise in Tajikistan, and observers note that Tajikistan's younger generation is far more religious than their parents, who were brought up during the Soviet era. Some imams, especially graduates of foreign madrasahs, have been accused of using mosque sermons to promote radical agendas of unsanctioned groups, such as Salafiya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

by Dina Ezzat, Al-Ahram, Egypt - The disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza is far from improving, observers warn.

by Christine Shearer, Climate Storytellers, USA - In 2008, a small Inupiat village in Alaska sued ExxonMobil and 23 other fossil fuel companies including Peabody Energy and BP for contributing to the destruction of their homeland, and charged a smaller subset with deliberately creating a false debate around climate change science.

by Tecee Boley, Pambazuka, Kenya - ‘Gender-based violence is still on the rampage. If you walk in the streets you see it vividly. Even in the home it is there... The reasons for which some of those things happen are because women are ashamed to voice it out... Looking at women they are always affected because they want to keep the family pride.’

by Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu, Washington Post, USA - Child marriage is just one factor in the lives of many girls and women, but it affects not just their health, education and employment options but also the welfare of their communities.

by Cordula Meyer, Spiegel, Germany - Contrary to what many people believe, the Iraq war provided few advantages for the US oil industry. The diplomatic cables show that, in most cases, it was competitors to the Americans who often did better in the country. Only one US company truly profited: Halliburton.

by Alice Chimora, Afrik News, France - Zimbabwe is one of many African countries in which homosexual acts are illegal. Zimbabwe, like neighbouring South Africa, there has been a reported increase in what have been termed "corrective rapes" - sexual assaults on women thought to be lesbians.

by Amalinda Savirani, Inside Indonesia, Australia - Casual designs are not just revolutionising batik culture, they’re also giving batik workers new choices.

by Sherrilyn A. Ifill, The Root, USA - In a case before the Supreme Court, California Gov. Schwarzenegger is arguing that judges have no right to tell states to reduce their prison populations.

by Eva Golinger, Venezuela Analysis, Venezuela - The Caracas documents evidence how Embassy employees violate their status as diplomats to engage in espionage against the Venezuelan government.

by Reem Leila, Al-Ahram, Egypt - Egypt signed an appeal to be presented to the UN to ban female genital mutilation worldwide.

by Tiffany Williams, Other Words, USA - Boosting it would help our lowest-paid workers as well as the entire economy.

by Julia Mitchell, Southern Alberta Permaculture, Canada - Trees are more than just the “lungs of the world”. Their role on this earth is pervasive, yet so often taken for granted.

by Shannon Young, Radio Netherlands, Netherlands - Mexico City is the largest urban area in the Western Hemisphere. Its size, location in a valley, and inconsistent urban planning have contributed to a number of environmental challenges. While its smog is world-famous, another major problem is water management.

by Julianne Hing, Color Lines, USA - The arc of the for-profit schools industry, and the disproportionate impact its had on the poor and people of color, mirrors another financial debacle that the country should be in no rush to relive: the subprime mortgage crisis.

by Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera, Qatar - If you drive around Khartoum, one can easily forget that soon there is a referendum that could change the borders of Sudan forever.

by Jennifer Thorpe, Mail & Guardian, South Africa - The maximum sentence for femicide is only half the maximum sentence for fraud, yet 1 400 women die every year because they are murdered by their intimate partners.