Wendy Wason

Writer, comedian and world class procrastinator

I'm not sure if there is a cultural shift where it's ok to be demeaning to women or if it's just easier to access now. What I do know is that it is completely unacceptable. Now I'm far from a reluctant feminist. I'm a strident one.

Niall Couper

Press officer for Amnesty International, award-winning author and former journalist for The Independent

This is Romania. This is modern-day prejudice. This is the life of Europe's Roma community.
Today, Amnesty International publishes a new report called 'Pushed to the margins: Five stories of Roma forced evictions in Romania'... It paints a very bleak picture.

Rachael Akidi

Editor, BBC Focus on Africa radio

What do Ethiopia, Mozambique and Angola have in common? Well just under two decades ago, the stories that emerged from these three countries pretty much summed up the state of most of the African continent at the time. Two decades later, the same countries are not only in the news, but on every economic analyst's list.

John Worne

Director of Strategy, the British Council

Sharing culture is hard when you can't entertain another point of view, tough when you have to stick to your line, and impossible when what you say can immediately be turned into a headline and used as a stick to beat you. This is the lot of modern governments.

Sarah Dean

Assistant Entertainment Editor, The Huffington Post UK

Comments on my previous blogs from this trip have noted the tour's "carbon footprint" and how it seemed like "a holiday for rich people". But here, in the words of the women who the hundreds of thousands of pounds it has raised will affect, is why I believe raising money in style is a game-changing concept that shouldn't be sniffed at...

Sarah Tetteh

Showbiz and entertainment contributor and editor, plus new mum!

Is Kanye's bid for a quiet private life, well, screwed? His 'baby mama' is Kim Kardashian, who lives her life in front of the cameras sharing every intimate moment with her fans on her E! Show. It's a ratings hit for the network, and honestly I'm one of the millions addicted to the show.

Matthew Reed

Chief Executive of The Children’s Society

While there are some elements in the new bill that would improve how anti-social behaviour is tackled, The Children's Society is very disappointed that the government has in fact worsened anti-social behaviour measures for children. We fear that the measures could seriously affect the way children go about living their everyday lives.

Soila Sindiyo

Supporting Families Going Through Changes and Transitions

Depending on the age of the child, this moment might be something that they will always remember - the time you told them that you, mummy and daddy, were going to live separately. It is therefore critical that the news is conveyed with caution.

Alice Rigby

Politics and History student, spare time music journalist

Sex is often an instigating element of relationships and the pressure from peers to engage is outstanding. The psychological damage caused by the influence of sexual relationships founded without understanding their emotional implications can be monumental and, more importantly, can alter a teenager's interpretation of a healthy relationship forever.

Planet Ivy

News for the bored generation

Understanding that there is no conscious reason for these feelings puts mental illness on a par with other illnesses. You wouldn't ask a woman with breast cancer why she had it, or why she was ill - saying "I have breast cancer" is a pretty satisfactory argument for most. Mental illness isn't any different, and it's just as much of a scary, alien thing to sufferers than other illnesses.

Realbuzz.com

An inspiring healthy active living community

When it comes to working out, food impacts upon your performance in different ways, and we all want to get the most from our hard work. We present you with seven foods that enhance your performance to make your workout worthwhile.

Kit Vaughan

Director of CARE International's Poverty, Environment and Climate Change Network

You see, Alfred, as the earth warms, the global climate system is spiraling out of control, becoming less stable and increasingly unpredictable. The world's weather is becoming increasingly erratic. In short, the very basis of our societies - a stable and predictable climate - is now rapidly changing beyond our control.

Ziad El-Hady

Researcher of Sociology and Philosophy

The general assumption that 'time heals' makes people do nothing about their emotional pains. It validates the idea that prolonged anxiety or depression will eventually just go away. Even the language of 'moving on' implies that some kind of temporal 'passing' is required to get over something. This is simply not true.

Hazel Blears

Labour MP for Salford and Eccles

Internships offer a chance for a young person to demonstrate their ability and suitability to an employer over a set period of time, usually at least three months. They apply hoping that if they do well there could be a permanent job for them at the end of that period. But many of these internships are unpaid.

Shimon Peres

President of the State of Israel

We don't have enemies. There is no country, no religion, which we consider an enemy. Our only enemies are those who reject peace, sow division, and spread hatred.

Richard Branson

Founder, Virgin Group

It shouldn't just be left to politicians and community organizations to tackle the world's problems -- businesses should help, too. Although individually lots of businesses do great things, collectively they could be far more powerful and do much more good.

Rita Lobo

Journaliste brésilienne, écrivain et activiste

Monday night saw over 200,000 Brazilians in Rio, São Paulo, Brasilia and other smaller cities, rise up and resist the repression they faced last week. Over 200,000 citizens, standing together, willing to take the bullets and make their voices heard. And this time there were no rubber bullets, no tear gas.

Emily Thornberry

Labour's Shadow Attorney General and MP for Islington South and Finsbury

On Monday I wrote to the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, to ask him to consider whether or not the 15-month sentence handed down to Stuart Hall for multiple sexual assaults on young girls was unduly lenient. If he agrees with me that it is, he will refer it to the Court of Appeal who can then decide to increase the sentence. I believe it is his public duty to refer.

Ranvir Singh

ITV Daybreak news presenter

As the plane touched down in Freetown, my thoughts turned to my baby son, at home. I'd come to a country where one in five children dies before the age of five. I'd read that fact over and over again and - as I stepped onto the dusty tarmac in Sierra Leone - a mixture of guilt and relief mingled inside, knowing my own flesh and blood was healthy and safe.

Harry Cooper

A Brussels-based Brit

I find the notion of forcing a group of people to accept a view they do not agree with a horrifying one. I do not believe a church should be forced to marry people they do not want to, even if its policy may seem old-fashioned or bigoted. That change in stance has to come from within the church itself, otherwise it is a disturbing expression of totalitarianism.