Máirtín Ó Muilleoir

Lord Mayor of Belfast

Today, the Obamas saw a Belfast transformed by two decades of peacemaking which only bore fruit because of the dogged determination of Irish America. President Obama reaffirmed America's commitment to stand with the peacemakers of Belfast as long as we continue to push forward.

Gordon Brown

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; UN Special Envoy for Global Education

Malala Yousafzai -- the 15-year-old Pakistani girl militants tried to assassinate -- is the first signatory of a new worldwide petition launched today after terrorists, hell-bent on preventing girls being educated, murdered 14 students at an all girls' college in Pakistan.

Karren Brady

Businesswoman, Vice Chairman of West Ham FC and a LifeSkills Ambassador

I, like every parent, want my children to achieve more than I can imagine for them. It's why we need to ensure we send them into the working world with their eyes open and some experience under their belt.

Douglas Alexander and Ivan Lewis MP

This summit offers the Prime Minister a chance to show Britain at its best, and the test for its success will be reaching agreement on some of the most challenging issues facing the international community. We hope he seizes that opportunity with both hands.

Dr Ion Jinga

Ambassador of Romania to the UK

For Romanians living in the UK it is hard to understand why they have became targets in a political and media game they neither want nor need to play. Anti-EU rhetoric and misleading predictions from nearly a decade ago have combined to create a culture of blame which allows misguided stereotypes of 'bad' Romanians to flourish, unchecked.

Luke Massey

Freelance journalist; Press Officer & Campaigner; Features Editor of Brixton Blog.

While public interest and a macabre voyeurism are evidently powerful drivers in the media's coverage of Charles Saatchi's apparent assault on Nigella Lawson - the headlines everywhere should be a collective rejection of domestic violence.

Sarah Dean

Assistant Entertainment Editor, The Huffington Post UK

Six hours after setting off from Barcelona Team 6 reached a very sunny Cannes in the south of France. However, not everyone on the Cash and Rocket tour arrived in such good time... One team made it to Cannes swiftly, only it was the Cannes in the north of the country. It was when they started to see signs for Paris that they realised they might have gone awry.

Planet Ivy

News for the bored generation

As the coalition government tortures itself with an ongoing conveyor belt of poor decisions, internal squabbling and defections to that Ukip lot, are young people beginning to lose interest in politics? Or, with so much to divide us, from immigration, welfare, taxation to that big dirty European conundrum, are we at the beginning of a new and politically aware generation?

Michael Grant

Founder and managing director of UCi2i

If we were all forced to work from home, we would collectively benefit in ways that are often overlooked. I propose a notion to flip the idea of work on its head - because work is a thing you do and not a place you go.

Professor Damien Ridge

Professor of Health Studies at the University of Westminster

When I was a teenager, the myth was that men thought about sex every 15 seconds, that's around 4,000 times a day! I didn't know if this was true back then, but it seems much less plausible given what we know now. Men turn out to be nowhere near as heroic as this urban legend suggests.

Pierre Omidyar and Matt Bannick

While market-based approaches -- and impact investing in particular -- are not a silver bullet, they must form part of the solution to our development challenges. We call upon G8 leaders to grant them the thoughtful due diligence that they deserve.

Frankie Hobbs

Sixth-form student and Arsenal fan

Under-21 football is less about the results and more about developing the players and playing football in a way that should mirror a bigger vision for football in the country. Stuart Pearce's tenure has not only failed to deliver results, but it has provided no vision, no hope and no entertainment for those brave enough to watch.

Veronica Montgomery

PR & Marketing consultant and organiser Virgin Holidays Music Festival Barbados

So I was wandering around the supermarket last November when I received a call asking if I was willing to take part in a topless photo shoot! "Err, OK" was my feeble response but the more I learned about the project, the more I wanted to get involved. And I was not alone, I was joined by women the length and breast (pun intended) of the country!

Jack Target

Broadcaster, sports journalist, food enthusiast

Roger Goodell isn't wrong when he says that the UK is hungry for more NFL games. The speed in which tickets sell out every year shows you that we are willing to pay up to watch American football here. But do we just want to see the game or can we come round to supporting a side, week in, week out?

Gary Walton

Consultant Head & Neck & Reconstructive Surgeon, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust

The recent news that Michael Douglas' oral cancer may have been caused by the sexually transmitted disease, Human papillomavirus (HPV), has attracted international media attention, but it has also revealed low awareness about the condition.

Carla Buzasi

Carla Buzasi is editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post UK

We are all living through history; that much is certain. There are, however, specific times or incidents when it is possible to imagine the school lessons in decades to come, when pupils will be studying with rabid intensity the very events unfolding around us right now. The saga of Prism, or the saga of Edward Snowden as Hollywood will surely repackage it, has to be one such event.

Baroness Lane Fox

Cross-bench peer, UK Digital Champion and Chair of Go ON UK

Information is power - this is well-known. This recognition of the power of information is why I support the Government's efforts for transparency to be at the heart of the G8 discussions in Northern Ireland this week.

David Morrissey

British actor, director, and supporter of human rights organisation Reprieve

Nabil was just 22 years old when he was sold for a bounty to US forces and taken to Guantanamo Bay. In 2007 Nabil was cleared for release. Then, in 2009, Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay. Nabil thought that maybe, finally his time had come to be released from his indefinite detention. Instead, the President did nothing.

Laura Bates

Founder of the Everyday Sexism Project

Imagine a country - a country with a population of, say, 63million people. Imagine that in that country one in three girls age 16-18 report experiencing unwanted sexual touching at school and nearly a third of girls in relationships aged 13-17 have experienced physical or sexual violence. Imagine that within that society, in which one in four women will experience domestic violence, half of 16-18 year olds wouldn't know where to go to get support if it happened.

Bonnie Greer

American-born, London-based playwright, author and novelist

Fox's breakfast programme, the one on which the EDL leader was assured that his back would be watched, is a kind of "wake-up-to-how-horrible-it-all-is" fiesta. To get Fox viewers ready for the day ahead. But it is the evening, East Coast time, (1am and beyond here) slots where Fox News comes into its own...