Morning, Sarah here posting this on behalf of Fiona and Chloe in Boston.

There are just under 100 young women between the ages of 15-19 in Boston to attend a conference which aims to support and inspire female leaders from the 19 countries that are represented here. There were supposed to be more but the Air France strike grounded them!

Women 2 Women is a annual event from Empower Peace and we'll be live from the Fletcher School at Tufts University (one of the plethra of colleges in this town) tomorrow they will be discussing and debating issues faced by girls growing up around the world.

So, here are just some of their suggestions but they fall mainly in two main areas. Justice and age.

Is getting a fair trial harder if you are female?
From lenient sentencing for those guilty of attempted honour killings, to female drug mules with heavier jailterms that the dealers, and rape victims imprisoned for breaking sex before marriage laws - is the justice system weighted against women?

And

Are women not allowed to be girls first?
Are girls having sex, getting married, giving birth earlier? Why is that? Is it poverty, exploitation, a more sexualized society? What's the best age for these things to happen? When should girls be working? When was the first time you protested?

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 23 May 2011. Listen to the programme.

Thousand of protesters have been camped in Madrid for the past week demonstrating about the government's failure to solve Spain's ongoing economic problems.

Carlos in Madrid, told the BBC

We are not just asking for jobs. We are asking for a change in the political system. We have no option but to vote for the two biggest parties in Spain, who are more or less the same. They are unable to solve any problem, it is just a nest of corruption. We are tired. In short, we want a working democracy. We want a change.

In Uganda, there are plans today asking for people to honk their car horns in protest at the rising cost of living there. This follows the walk to work movement which has been going on since April.

The uprisings across the Arab world has the cost of food and high unemployment at their heart. This article considers how important a factor they were.

It is entirely possible that the Arab Spring might have happened this year in spite of rather than because of the spike in food prices. But, the context in which the Arab Spring did take place is not inconsequential and should not be lost on policy makers. It certainly needs to be part of the narrative, if not high on the agenda of the G20.

This article by Lester R. Brown talks about the implications of rising living costs, particularly the price of food.

The food crisis of 2011 is for real, and...it may bring with it yet more bread riots cum political revolutions. What if the upheavals that greeted dictators Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya (a country that imports 90 percent of its grain) are not the end of the story, but the beginning of it? Get ready, farmers and foreign ministers alike, for a new era in which world food scarcity increasingly shapes global politics.

We know that the cost of living is something which affects all of you so we're really interested to hear your stories on what differences you have noticed. And we'll be talking to people in different parts of the world to hear what they would like to change.

Is there anything we can do about the cost of living or is it an inevitability that prices will rise?

See listeners' comments about this programme

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court answered your questions ranging from the calls for an arrest warrant for Colonal Gaddafi to his plans to carry out an investigation in Ivory Coast and everything in between.

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 17 May 2011. Listen to the programme.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Stephen Hawking has said that there is no heaven. He said it is "a fairy story for people afraid of the dark"

His comments are being blogged about and tweeted all over the world.

Elizzie in Ohio tweets

Stephen Hawking, you couldn't be more wrong. It's because heaven IS real that we do NOT fear death.

Writing in the Huffington Post, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield disagrees with Stephen Hawking

"Whether he is correct or not is not something anyone can know for sure. We can believe as we choose, but we cannot "know" as a matter of fact, either way."

This article in Live Science argues that his comments don't matter. It's because of what a belief in heaven offers that people are inclined to it.

Daniel Kruger, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Michigan said:

"The idea of an afterlife offers some hope in a world where, historically, life has been pretty harsh. Thoughts of heaven may also stave off fears of death."

But some people agree with his argument.

Melissa posts on Facebook

Mr. Hawking is right. Heaven is a fairy tale and god is a mythological creature. Our world would be so much better without religion.

I feel quite strongly that god and heaven are not real. I don't care if others believe differently. It's unfortunate, but atheism is still seen as such an awful thing. It shouldn't be. It's okay not to believe in god.

This blogger says

There is life after death "for those who are remembered for their good deeds, they maintain a wonderful life after death but only in the minds of those who knew them."

What do you think? Do you agree or is this an unnecessary attack on religion? Is a belief in heaven ok if it offers comfort?

See listeners' comments about this programme

The Queen today is visiting Ireland for the first time since the Republic was formed in 1916.

Not everyone is looking forward to the British head of state's arrival.

Tom writes on the Irish Times:

"Conflicts are still unsolved. When they are rectified we can welcome her and give her a cup of tea, but she is not welcome at the moment. It's also hypocritical of the queen to visit the Garden Of Remembrance on the anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings; everybody in this town has a story of a relative who was killed or nearly killed when the British birds descended on Dublin."

But some people do welcome the visit:

Sean in Navan also posts on the Irish Times

"I think we have to bury the past and look forward. If we can welcome the English rugby team to Croke Park then we can also welcome the queen."

"The visit of Queen Elizabeth is the start of a new era between both countries and it is one based on respect and friendship and mutual recognition of two countries having normalised relations."

So what's your reaction? Would you welcome the visit of a former colonial power to your country? How should former colonial powers be treated by their former colonies? How can colonial relationships be reconciled?

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 16 May 2011. Listen to the programme.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has called for an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi and two others for crimes against humanity.

On Sunday, the head of the British Armed Forces, General David Richards, told the Sunday Telegraph that the efforts by Nato member forces in Libya must intensify to ensure that Gaddafi goes.

Will an arrest warrant make any difference to the effort to remove Gaddafi from power? Is this the right approach to take? Should more be done against the Libyan leader?

We'll be discussing these questions on this evening's programme. Let us know what you think by posting your comments here.

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 3 May 2011. Listen to the programme.

Since we heard the news of Osama bin Laden's death, speculation around the circumstances has been rife, with many people refusing to believe that he is actually dead.

Some feel their questions are going unanswered.

Osibox tweeted

How could Pakistani authorities not know that bin Laden was hiding there?

This person is sceptical about the whole event:

Muhammad posted on Facebook

I'm a Pakistani citizen and honestly it doesn't matter if he is dead or not, lost or found. The only thing making sense is that this is absolute nonsense!

But, not everyone is as prone to doubt:

Mary in the US writes on Facebook

President Obama is a smart man, he would not say OBL was dead unless he was 100% certain. It would ruin his career.

The US news network ABC says that it has heard from a top source that President Obama is discussing the reality of this in order to put to rest any doubts.

Would that be enough? If you don't believe bin Laden is dead, what would change your mind?

We'll be talking about exactly what it is that we do and don't know and hearing from people around the world about why they do or don't believe what they've heard.

You can post your comments here, we'd love to hear from you.

See listeners' comments about this programme

We discussed whether the Arab Spring is losing its momentum with guests from across the region offering their comment.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo - who had been refusing to hand over power to his rival Alassane Ouattara - has been arrested. A French defence ministry official said he had been detained by Mr Ouattara's troops backed by those of the United Nations and France. Earlier those forces advanced on Mr Gbagbo's residence where he was holding out in a bunker. Mr Gbagbo has been taken to the UN-secured Golf Hotel with his wife and son. Ivory Coast's ambassador to the UN said he was alive and would be brought to justice.
Please get in touch with your reaction to the latest development.

ORIGINAL POST:
France is at the centre of three top stories today - and its role in all three areas is controversial.

Facebook and twitter (hastags #voile and #niqab) are humming with debate about the French ban, imposed today, on women covering their face in public with the niqab or burqa.

The first arrests have already taken place after a small group of women - who were wearing veils - staged a protest in Paris.

But Nesrine Malik writes in The Daily Telegraph today and describes the law as "a mix of Islamophobia, busy-bodying feminism and resurgent nationalist sentiment".

Who's right? Is France setting an example? Would you like your own country to follow suit? Or is it getting it wrong?

In Libya, the African Union is struggling to get the rebels to sign up to a peace deal. Colonel Gaddafi has already accepted it. It's less clear that the rebels will agree. Should the West - and France in particular - be pressing the rebels to accept a settlement?

And in Ivory Coast, the French authorities say their special forces in Ivory Coast have arrested Laurent Gbagbo after a military operation. They say they're enforcing the UN mandate. Are they right to be increasing the pressure on Mr Gbagbo in his bunker?

You don't have to be French to comment. Wherever you are in the world, do get in touch.

See listeners' comments about this programme

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 7 April 2011. Listen to the programme.

With fighting still going on in cities across Libya and the no-fly zone still being enforced by Nato, reports from rebel forces in eastern Libya say that a Nato air strike has killed at least 12 rebel fighters.

I have to say I am puzzled. They [the coalition forces] seem to take the view that there should be no on the ground co ordination, to avoid suggestions that they are the rebels' air force, but that lack of co ordination is making them a bit counter productive.

And Canada Phil posts on the same website to say:

It should be absolutely NO SURPRISE to anyone that this was going to happen and will continue to happen.

What's your reaction this news? We'll be talking to people in Ajdabiya to find out what is happening there. If you have any questions for them you can post them here.

See listeners' comments about this programme

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 31 March 2011. Listen to the programme.

The situation in Ivory Coast continues to deteriorate.

Overnight, supporters of Alassane Ouattara siezed control of Yamassoukro, the administrative capital, and San Pedro, the cocoa port.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council approved a resolution imposing sanctions on the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo.

South Africa's foreign ministry has just announced that Laurent Gbagbo's army chief has taken refuge in the South African Embassy in Abidjan.

We know that many of you have been wanting to talk about Ivory Coast for a while. Over the last couple of weeks I've been talking to people in Ivory Coast about how this ongoing conflict is affecting their lives. Today we'll be speaking to as many of them as possible to find out what is going on. And one of our regular contributors in Abidjan has written this post for us.

As the impasse in the post electoral dispute goes on in Ivory Coast, the bright daily life of Ivorians has ceased to exist. The atmosphere on the ground is indescribable. I have therefore the privilege to cast light on the convulsion in my country through a series of questions.

What does the city look like and sound at the moment?
The confused role of the UN and the bloodthirsty rebel exactions in Abidjan and in the West of the country have forced Ivorians into a pitiful forced migration of the disinherited to Liberia and Ghana. It's true that the situation in Libya has obscured the tragedy in Ivory Coast, but the reality on the ground indicates that if we don't care we helplessly see the future Somalia- isation of Ivory Coast.

Is it safe to leave your house?
It's almost impossible to move in Abidjan because one never knows when he will undergo rebel's torture in town. On the road traffic is not regular as it was in the past few days. People only move when there is an emergency. Today it's wiseless to be on the street without any given purpose.

Are you able to buy things you need?
The main issue that dominates discussion here in Ivory Coast is survival. In fact after the ridiculous sanctions issued by the international community it's very difficult to provide ourselves and our families the smallest need. Here in Ivory Coast the humanitarian assistance consist of the closing of banks, embargo on the port and the evil embargo on medicines. How can we buy things if we can not cash our own money from the banks? I'm currently living in Ghana and sometime i return to Abidjan to see what the situation is like there. Unfortunately banks are still closed and i don't for how long i'll be able to take care of me and my family.

Can you easily travel from Abidjan to Ghana?The way from Abidjan to Ghana is quite safe and it's obvious enough that Ghana is an attractive land for those who are running away from Ivory Coast.The latest development of the crisis in Ivory Coast has doubled the number of refugees at the Ghanaian border. We could have avoided all these things if the international community had had another approach of the situation in Ivory Coast.

Touray is also a resident of Abidjan who has spoken to us regularly over the last few months. He wasn't able to send an email because gun fights in the city have prevented him from leaving the house. I talked to him on the phone and this is what he told me. These are his own words.

There was shooting yesterday afternoon in the city so no one could leave their house. All the shops are closed and there is no food around. All the markets are out of food and what is there is very expensive. Ouattara's supporters are close to Abidjan, I am very happy about that.

[noise in background] Can you hear that? That is gunfire. The shooting is now happening everywhere. They [Alassane Ouattara supporters] want to take control today or tomorrow.

The only thing for me to do now is try to get out. The problem is where to go. You can't move around easily because there are armed militia everywhere and if you can't pay them they will shoot you. Most of the time they shoot people without even thinking.

The streets are empty, people in town are scared. Lots of people have tried to move out of Abidjan but lots of people on the roads were ambushed by militia. Now in town, everyone is scared. We lock ourselves indoors and we pray that they don't come for us.

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