by Daisy Sindelar, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - As ties between the United States and Pakistan continue to sour, speculation is mounting that Uzbekistan may become a new ally of convenience in the U.S. war on terror

by Blagorodna Grigorova, Deutsche Welle, Germany - Hundreds of Bulgarians rallied for a third night in major cities on Wednesday to protest against the Balkan country's Roma minority. The death of a 19-year-old in southern Bulgaria had triggered the protests.

by Claudia Costa, European Journalism Centre, Netherlands - The Italian media landscape is a good case study for such degenerating ethical behaviour. With the main newspapers and television channels deeply immersed in the country’s never ending political struggles, unquestioned reports breaching ethical and legal codes seem to be becoming increasingly frequent in the mainstream media.

by Carol Thompson, Pambazuka, Kenya - With their eyes firmly on the money making potential of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) global food market, profit-seeking corporates punt food security through the enhancement of the global food value chain.

by Amy Lockwood, Ted, USA - HIV is a serious problem in the DR Congo, and aid agencies have flooded the country with free and cheap condoms. But few people are using them. Why? "Reformed marketer" Amy Lockwood offers a surprising answer that upends a traditional model of philanthropy.

by Olivia Bina, OpenDemocracy, UK - While growth remains as our main goal economic and environmental crisis will persist. A green economy requires us to aim at development rather than growth, through the responsible promotion of justice, the common good, and environmental sustainability.

by Elsie Cloete, Pambazuka, Kenya - With her death on 30 August 2011, Wambui Otieno-Mbugua joins the pantheon of African women activists who devoted their lives to struggles against colonial and post-independence political regimes and against systems that favoured and still do favour men over women.

by Zubeida Mustafa, Dawn, Pakistan - When it comes to education, I feel that enough concern has not been expressed. If there is agitation it is by teachers for higher salaries and by parents complaining against the incessant and arbitrary rise in the fees of private schools. Both have my sympathy. But their lack of concern at the poor quality of education is shocking.

by Yoko Kubota, AlertNet, UK - Japan faces the prospect of removing and disposing 29 million cubic metres of soil contaminated by the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years from an area nearly the size of Tokyo, the environment ministry said in the first official estimate of the scope and size of the cleanup.

by Katherine Lucey, Making It, UK - More than 125 years after Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, 1.6 billion people – a quarter of the world’s population – still rely on kerosene lanterns and candles for light.

by Yasmine El Rashidi, Index on Censorship, UK - In post-revolution Egypt, street art has become one of the symbols of ongoing resistance.

by Sandra Steingraber, Orion, USA - On the desire to change lightbulbs instead of paradigms.

by Amira Al Hussaini, Global Voices, Netherlands - Twitter is abuzz with excitement tonight as the names of Arab netizens are being circulated as possible candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize for the roles they have played in the Arab revolutions.

by Wangari Maathai, Yes!, USA - When we can eat healthier, nonadulterated food; when we breathe clean air and drink clean water; when the soil can produce an abundance of vegetables or grains, our own sicknesses and unhealthy lifestyles become healed.

by Adi Hagin, Haaretz, Israel - Thousands of Israelis, among them many artists, have chosen to live in Berlin because of its relaxed atmosphere and relatively low cost of living, even if it means living in a country with a fraught history.

by Elizabeth Drescher, Religion Dispatches, USA - What role should churches play in economic change?

by Namrata Hasija, Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies, India - With the de-collectivization of land a surplus of labour was generated in the rural areas which led to a large scale migration to urban areas in search of jobs, in turn leading to the feminization of agriculture. Adding to this, their already heavy domestic burden and the usually hostile environment of the groom’s family, which traditionally sees the wife as a “purchased commodity”, has led to an acute male-female imbalance.

by Nora Barrows Friedman, Al Jazeera, Qatar - The sentencing of the Irvine 11 demonstrates how voicing Palestinian solidarity is becoming more risky for activists.

by Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen, Washington Post, USA - The National Science Foundation (NSF) will announce new steps to make it easier for women to pursue careers in engineering and the sciences — fields that are critical to our nation’s economic growth.

by Emma Farge, Lorraine Turner & John Irish, Reuters, UK - If French and British politicians are tallying up the contracts, business executives are leaving little to chance. Foreign companies withdrew from Libya at the outset of the NATO bombing campaign; sanctions imposed on Gaddafi's regime since February have added to the difficulty of doing business.

by Kristin Engh Førde, Kilden, Norway - The disciplining and control of women and the feminine are intimately related to notions of cultural and racial purity. As a result, racist ideologies are almost always also misogynist and anti-feminist.

by Amanda Knarr, COHA, USA - As globalization has carried with it a greater degree of potential for economic integration among different nations, the tiny English-speaking Caribbean states are fighting for their place in an ever-shrinking world.