by Sue Turton, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Have Muammar Gadaffi's forces used rape as a weapon to suppress Libya's uprising?

by Farangis Najibullah, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - Should animal rights trump religious freedom? Muslim and Jewish religious communities in the Netherlands are about to find out.

by Anne Landman, PR Watch, USA - While the U.S. media has been occupied with Anthony Weiner, the Republican presidential candidates and Bristol Palin's memoir, coverage of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster has practically fallen off the map.

by Hildegard Willer, Latin America Press, Peru - The gold industry has one of the worst reputations due to the environmental destruction and social conflicts it causes. But a Peruvian gold mine shows that it is possible to combine ethical consumption and production of gold.

by Ayelet Banai, Open Democracy, UK - The constitutional debates that took place in the run-up to the formation of the current Iraqi constitution provide a blueprint for the questions Islamic parties must address if they are to be insiders to the process of consolidating democracy.

by Khadija Sharife, Pambazuka News, Kenya - Is microfinance helping families out of poverty or merely plunging them into debt? Khadija Sharife speaks with one recipient about her experience.

by Mai Yamani, Daily Star, Lebanon - Skyscrapers rise out of the desert, yet women are not permitted to ride with men in their lifts. Nor are they allowed to walk in the streets, drive a car, or leave the country without the permission of a male guardian.

by Sarah van Gelder, Yes!, USA - Why the warden of Hawaii’s only women’s prison creates a sanctuary for its residents.

by Marianne Meunier, La Croix, France - Not far from the Ukrainian border, the small Polish town of Przemyśl is one of the eastern gates of the Schengen area. But people on both sides continue to keep up close ties, and small trade thrives under the tolerant eye of the customs officials.

by Susan Abad, Latin America Press, Peru - “Not only does intolerance, lack of respect for freedom, to live and let live, persist in society, but the police, government officials and state bodies are the ones who stand in the way and put up resistance to this population´s ability to fully exercise their rights.”

by Alexia Kefalas, France 24, France - The wealthy Greek Orthodox Church is under pressure to do more to help the country while it struggles through a debilitating financial crisis.

by Katie Soltis, COHA, USA - The standard ammunition of many semiautomatic rifles can even pierce through the armor worn by police officers. As drug trafficking organizations have acquired these more dangerous and expensive weapons, it has become even harder for the Mexican authorities and police to counter drug-related violence.

by Astrid Sverresdotter Dypvik, Kilden, Norway - A record number of women want to study technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). More men are applying for pre-school teacher training. But most students still make traditional choices.

by Wiebke Hollersen, Der Spiegel, Germany - Brazil's Marta is regarded as one of the most talented women to ever play soccer. During the upcoming Women's World Cup, she will bear the hope and pride of her booming country. But the modesty of her everyday life testifies to the massive gender divide in professional sports.

by Julie Upton, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., ESPN, USA - While gluten is safe for most, it's no picnic for the 3 million -- or one in 133 -- people with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder. For people with this hereditary condition, gluten triggers inflammation and damage in the small intestine. That blocks absorption of nutrients, leading to anemia, osteoporosis and other problems.

by Helena Smith, Guardian, UK - In the 18 months since the crisis erupted, Greeks have suffered a wave of belt-tightening that has seen wages cut, pensions slashed and benefits lost.

by Amy Niang, Pambazuka News, Kenya - The picture of Karim Wade being introduced to US President Obama during the last G8 Summit in Deauville by Nicolas Sarkozy was at once a banal case of society events and a scandalous gesture of powerful symbolism that reeks of conspiracy, arrogance, neocolonialism and the sort of all too common western meddling which has produced illegitimate leaders across Africa, especially in former French colonies

by Leela Jacinto, France 24, France - “We are all afraid that history will repeat itself,” said Imamudin, referring to the brutal civil war following the 1989 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. “I’m very worried about what’s going to happen. People are now saying, ‘he is from the North, he is from the South’. These differences are now showing.”

by Natana J. DeLong-Bas, The Daily Star, Lebanon - In stark contrast to the image of Arab women in charge of nothing but their homes, these women are picketing outside supermarkets, staging sit-ins with their children, organizing protests, networking with each other, teaching workshops on the tactics of nonviolence, tearing down security fences and marching through checkpoints to connect with people on the other side.

by Sylvia Earle, The Independent, UK - What is shocking is that it has taken so long for us to make the connection between the state of the ocean and everything we care about – the economy, health, security – and the existence of life itself.

by Barbara Spinelli, La Repubblica, Italy - The financial crisis has exposed the deception and subterfuge of politics, yet the leaders of Europe continue to deny the obvious. Only honesty, and the courage to tell the truth, can save Europe.

by Houda Trabelsi, Magharebia, Tunisia - A recent court ruling in Tunisia ordering internet filtering is raising concerns of a potential return to censorship.