by Anne Thomas, Yes!, USA - A letter from a Sendai teacher describes the strange and “magnificent” community that survived last spring’s devastating earthquake.

by Sophie Pilgrim, France 24, France - A World Health Organisation (WHO) report published in the US last week signalled French people as the most likely to suffer from a “major depressive episode” in their lifetimes, provoking sensational headlines among the more neurotically-inclined members of the Gallic press.

by Aparna Kolar, OpenDemocracy, UK - It strikes me that most of the recent conversations I have had with the people I meet seem to be rooted in these four core questions of identity: “Who am I? Where am I? Whom do I belong to? Where do I belong?” These conversations are not reflective in themselves, but do expose a growing sense of insecurity that stems from being unable to answer those questions precisely and sans contradictions.

by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times, USA - Californians are among the most highly polluted people in the world with flame retardants UCSF study finds. The levels in pregnant California women were 10 to 100 times higher than pregnant women in Europe and Asia, about two to three times higher than pregnant women in other parts of the U.S.

by Zubeida Mustafa, Dawn, Pakistan - PWAG, a Swiss-based agency, believes that the absence of war does not necessarily translate into peace. Although the number of wars has declined today, the level of violence has gone up. It believes that without women’s involvement there can be no permanent peace as they are the ones who come up with solutions that reduce conflicts, strengthen civil society and heal wounds.

by Beri̇l Dedeoğlu, Today's Zaman, Turkey - The escalation of violence in Syria despite the beginning of Ramadan has caused international pressure to grow even stronger on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Turkey, too, is becoming increasingly critical of the Syrian government's methods.

by Erin Keane, Salon, USA - Roseanne Barr put the working class in prime time. Even if her presidential campaign is a joke, we need her voice.

by Inshah Malik, Countercurrents, India - In laymen terms as it demands recognition, to consider oneself belonging to a particular region or simply being Kashmiri. But discourse presents to us rather not so simple picture of belongingness. In Kashmir secularism is earmarked to a cult which professes Sufism, where religion is not centric but merely one of the many other important manifestations of Kashmiri life.

by Khadija Sharife, Pambazuka News, Kenya - The ‘international and continent-wide issue is not so much whether Gaddafi's regime should be removed’, but rather ‘how this should be approached, and why it is being approached at all,’ writes Khadija Sharife.

by Deborah Mazon, Women News Network, USA - International members of the media and advocates around the globe speak with alarm and concern about the death of Mexican journalist Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz and the dangers for women journalists throughout Mexico.

by Sarah Grainger, BBC, UK - Created 36 years ago, the programme, known as El Sistema, is famous for its pioneering work teaching children from poorer backgrounds how to play classical music and has produced the world-famous Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.