by Janine Thomas, Times Online, UK - Doesn’t the job require testosterone, aggression and macho behaviour? “I think there is a change in the generation of people flying now,” she said. “Aggression is certainly not a character trait I would look for in a pilot or navigator. I think being competitive (— mostly with yourself — ) and always aiming high is important, but so is being level-headed and ready to deal with, and adapt to, any situation as it arises.”
by Andrea Thompson, Live Science, USA - Tiny particles of pollution known as "black carbon" — and not heat-trapping greenhouse gases — may be causing most of the rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, a key water source for much of Asia.
by Nomi Prins, The Daily Beast, USA - Wall Street’s big banks are playing dangerous new accounting games—and this time taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of billions.
by Angel Páez, IPS, Italy - The Peruvian government is once again being called on to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Voluntary Surgical Contraception (VSC) programme
by Dana Frank, Huffington Post, USA - As the Honduran election approaches this Sunday, let's be clear about the conditions under which it is taking place.
by Mary Susan Littlepage, truthout, USA - Government officials were aware that billions of dollars used to bail out American International Group (AIG) last year were used by the insurance giant to pay off its creditors, according to a newly released government watchdog report.
by Ashwini Srinivasamohan, Upside Down World, USA - The history of popular struggle in Bolivia took an unexpected turn when Evo Morales, the candidate of the socialist party (MAS) was elected into office.
by Marcia G. Yerman, Huffington Post, USA - On the second day she was embedded with Marines during the invasion of Iraq, journalist Mercedes Gallego was approached by several service women. They cautioned her
by Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, Spiegel Online, Germany - When the host of a party predicts a flop, it rarely inspires much confidence in a good bash. With just over a month to go before international climate talks start in Copenhagen,
by Rory McCarthy, Guardian.co.uk, England- There is nothing ordinary about this advocacy campaign for a large UN institution. The lights dim before a packed audience and a slideshow begins.
by Dr. Judith Rich, Huffington Post, USA - While much criticism has been leveled at the Nobel committee's selection of our president as the recipient of this award, I think the committee's award choice was intended to serve a larger purpose than just the acknowledgment of a single human's efforts. Obama has a golden opportunity to take a huge step in that direction by issuing an executive order establishing a Department of Peace with a cabinet level Secretary of Peace as its head, and perhaps even by appointing a female as our peacemaker-in-chief.
by Frida Ghitas, Democrat and Chronicle, USA - A trip to the Palestinian town of Ramallah can shatter preconceptions and compel the mind to dream about the possibilities of peace — and then awaken to the cold realities of a complicated conflict.
by Mona Eltahawy, Malaysia Today, Malaysia - During the recent U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman painted a picture of Malaysia that many like to see -- a multiethnic mosaic of religions, races and beliefs. Yet the same day that Aman extolled the virtues of one Malaysia for all, a judge's ruling back home conveyed an image of the Southeast Asian nation with a two-track justice system that unfairly punishes Muslims.
by Dina Cappiello, Huffington Post, USA - Despite mounting scientific evidence of climate change, the number of Americans who believe there is solid evidence the Earth is warming because of pollution is at its lowest point in three years. Researchers suggest that politics and economics could be drowning out scientific awareness.
by Anne Applebaum, Slate, USA - There is little sense of Afghanistan as being an international operation.
by Sara Schonhardt, Asia Times, Hong Kong - A long-running feud between Indonesia and Malaysia over cultural ownership of traditional dance, music and dress styles has been re- ignited with the former's batik method of decorating cloth now added to a United Nations heritage list. Jakarta claims it as a victory, while Malaysians say an Indonesian inferiority complex is at work.
by Ayesha Siddiqa, Dawn.com, Pakistan - Pakistan observers often wonder what the Pakistan military’s primary ideology is. Is it a secular institution or one which is high on religious values? Since the military is considered the strongest institution of the Pakistani state, the question becomes critical in determining what direction the country will take or how its armed forces will fight the war on terror.
by Leslie Bennetts, Daily Beast, USA - For the major media that romanticized opting out as the soothing solution to the stress of juggling work and family, the devastation that choice has left in its wake represents merely another story.
by Ariana Melamed, YNet, Israel - At the amazing summer camp run by the Shalva organization, mentally and physically challenged children, and their parents, have the one thing they all need but have almost forgotten: Fun.
by Lys Anzia, Women News Network, USA - Like many Filipinos, 20-year-old Analyn dreamed of a brighter future for her family abroad, but instead of a well-paying job, she was forced to marry a man more than twice her age from South Korea to get an entry visa to that country.
by Alison Sider, Bloomberg, USA - The global economy may fall back into a recession by late 2010 or 2011 because of rising government debt, higher oil prices and a lack of job growth, said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economist who predicted the credit crisis.
by Li Datong, Open Democracy, UK - China's ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) announced on 8 June 2009 that all computer manufacturers would be required, from 1 July, to install the Green Dam filtering software on machines sold in China - in order to "protect the psychological health of the young." The unprecedented measure met with uproar.
by Purita Rimal, Women News Network, USA - "On March 20, Kumari was accused of practicing witchcraft by the villagers, and was mercilessly beaten up and forced to eat her own excreta in public," said the Asian Human Rights Commission in an urgent April 2009 appeal letter to Nepal’s leading legislators. During the incident the local police did not come to Kumari’s aide. She was victimized by a teacher from Gadi Bhanjayang Primary School in the Lalitpur District near Kathmandu.
by Natacha Yazbeck, AFP, Lebanon - Arab states must take measures to combat an expanding list of issues including rising populations, trafficking, unemployment and water scarcity, a UN-sponsored report said on Tuesday.
by Simba Russeau, Menassat, Lebanon - Lebanon has the highest proportion of working kids aged 10 to 17 in the world, with over 100,000 children in the country who are victims of child labor and illicit trafficking. Rights groups say better coverage of the often misreported story could help inform people about the realities of child labor.
by Patricia Grogg, Havana Times, Cuba - The Cuban Constitution and numerous laws assure women’s equality and the protection of the family, but the abuse that occurs in the intimacy of the home doesn’t always escape the fear and prejudice, nor is it reported to the authorities or tabulated in statistics.
by Lindiwe Mlandu, iafrica, South Africa - When it comes to water, South Africa has a big problem; some have even compared it to the power crisis, except that this one is being kept under wraps.
by Dafna Linzer, Pro Publica, USA - "Making the Justice Department memos on the CIA's secret prison program public was an important first step, but the Obama administration needs to reveal the fate and whereabouts of every person who was held in CIA custody."
by Sarah Touahri, Magharebia, Morocco - Morocco trails Algeria and Tunisia for access to in-patient mental health care. With Moroccans often struggling to care for sick family members, the country hopes to boost psychiatric treatment options.
by Tashi Dema, Kuensel, Bhutan - A six-hour climb from Bhurchu, about 94 km away from Dagana proper, up on a hill, is Phuensumgang community primary school.
by Madhusree Chatterjee, Thai Indian News, Thailand - The 800-year-old Tibetan Drukpa lineage of Buddhism - based in Nepal and practised in Bhutan and India - is empowering women, reviving the ancient tradition of women masters and monks that the Buddha encouraged.
by Anne Bartlett, Sudan Tribune, France - The obnoxious reality is that there is a business to “saving” Africans in Darfur (and elsewhere for that matter). It is a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
by Elor Nkereuwem, Next, Nigeria - The Nigerian strange palate for primates as a source for animal protein is already making a hollow mark on the ecosystem. Monkeys, according to experts, will soon be eaten into extinction.
by Kalpana Sharma, India Together, India - Creating a supportive environment for maternal and newborn health requires challenging the social, economic and cultural barriers that perpetuate gender inequality and discrimination.
by Eve Ensler, Kavita Ramdas and Zainab Salbi, The Huffington Post, USA - As war rages in Gaza, it is clear that the time has come to dismantle militarism as the dominant ideology in world politics. We must ensure that women take the lead in building lasting peace in the Middle East, ending genocide in Darfur, stopping femicide in the Democratic Republic of Congo, fighting the War on Terror in Afghanistan, and ending the war in Iraq.
by Amy Goodman, Truthdig, USA - Strong voices for peace have left us this year, people who used their art for social change, often at a high personal price.
As these icons are laid to rest, their voices continue to inspire millions. Barack Obama will soon take the reins of the most powerful nation on Earth, promising change. But it will now take the actions of those millions, heeding these echoes of the past and transforming them into their own voices, to effect real change.
by Joan Walsh, Salon, USA - 'Tis the time of year to take stock, and I thought it was worth looking at what I got wrong, and right, in this amazing 12 months. It was a huge thrill and something of a blur for me. As the first presidential race I covered with a blog as well as frequent television appearances, it certainly gave me more chances than ever before to get things wrong, and right. Consider this my accountability moment and also a way of clearing my thinking for the epic four years ahead.
by Gemma Dursley, Democratic Voice of Burma, Burma - One of the more distinctive aspects of recent repression in Burma has been the involvement of apparently non-state agents – ‘patriotic citizens’ in the words of the SPDC.
by Frida Ghitis, World Politics Review, USA - Last week, when the financial system threatened to unravel in the United States, European Union leaders called an emergency summit to devise a common approach to the crisis. In Washington, unseemly bickering between political parties had already defeated one attempt to pass a $700 billion rescue package. The American political and economic system looked seriously wounded. This might have marked the moment for a unified Europe, viewed by many as a counter-balance to the U.S., to act decisively and effectively in a time of peril.
by Unnati Narang, Meri News, India - Microfinance is often called the path to self-sufficiency. In India, the Self help group (SHG) model epitomizes the strength of small finance through women empowerment. The SHG-bank linkage, though in its nascent stages in northern India, provided me a fuller experience of the realised capabilities of the rural Indian women.
by Megawati Wijaya, Asia Times Online, China - Endemic corruption has long dragged on Indonesia's economic development and taken a heavy toll on foreign investor confidence. Indonesia ranked 143 out of 179 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perception Index, while the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranked Indonesia third, trailing only the Philippines and Thailand in a survey of Asia's most corrupt economies. Indonesia slipped two spots down to 129 in the World Bank's most recent "ease of doing business" survey.
by Vaihayasi Pande Daniel, Rediff News, India - If you drive 100 km due east from the dusty, overpopulated town of Siliguri, located in the scrawny chicken's neck of northern West Bengal, a three-hour journey brings you nearly to the border of the remote kingdom of Bhutan. You are now rolling through attractive, very lush tea country called the Dooars, under the foothills of the towering eastern Himalayas, in Jalpaiguri district (adjoining Darjeeling district).
by Lys Anzia, Women News Network, USA - “The strategy used in women’s prisons now is one of humiliation rather than rehabilitation,” said Jane Evelyn Atwood in her 2007 Amnesty International video documentary, “Too Much Time.” For nine years, Atwood photographed and documented the conditions for women in 40 women’s prisons worldwide including the US, Europe and Eastern Europe.
by Kate Sheppard, Grist, USA - John McCain's surprise pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate has a lot of environmentalists in the state worried about the influence she might have on the presidential candidate's environmental policy.
by Mona Eltahawy, Middle East Online, UK - It is time for the Olympics Executive Board to insist Saudi Arabia abides by the IOC charter, which bans discrimination of any kind.
by Heidi Kingstone, Independent Online, South Africa - The Congo is now the stage for what some have described as the largest humanitarian disaster in the world.
by Sekina Joseph, UPI Asia Online, Malaysia - Our world is choked with ethnocentric arrogance and economic blindness. What we need is more dialogue and openness toward other ways of life.
by Mona Eltahawy, Middle East Online, UK - The disturbing trend in the never-ending duel of “Islam v. West”: women as the soft targets of both radical Muslims and secular governments, argues Mona Eltahawy.
by Mona Eltahawy, Middle East Online, UK - Does Sri Lanka have bread? Is there fruit in Egypt? Is Barack Obama a radical Muslim? ‘Inquiring’ Americans want to know these things. Sheesh, says Mona Eltahawy.
by Stephanie Hanson, Garowe Online, Somalia - As global demand for energy continues to rise, major players like the United States, European Union (EU), and Japan are facing a new competitor in the race to secure long-term energy supplies: China.
