Comment: On Wednesday 30 March one of the most politicized sports events this year will take place in Mohali, India. There India and Pakistan will play the semi-final in the cricket World Cup 2011 (ICC World Cup). The cricket match is used as a framework for political talks, the question is whether cricket is the right framework to create a better relationship between the two enemies?

Comment: "The current events in Egypt make me think of what happened in Romania in November and December 1989. Time will show if Hosni Mubarak will suffer the same fate as Nicolae Ceausescu – violently removed as head of state and killed? The similarities are there, but there is one important difference," writes Andreas Selliaas in this comment piece.

Comment: There are still many who discuss a cultural boycott of Israel because of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, and especially because of the Israeli blockade of Gaza. If sport is perceived as part of the concept of culture - the so-called extended concept of culture - the discussion about a cultural boycott might have a new and important element. 20 January Israel and the Palestinians formally entered a sporting cooperation towards the London Olympics in 2012.

Comment: In the bathroom, during the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa this summer, the North Korean ambassador in Pretoria grabbed hold of the arm of his South Korean counterpart and threatened South Korea with non-specific measures unless Seoul stopped accusing North Korea of sinking the South Korean navy vessel Cheonan. The Cheonan was sunk in March this year and 46 South Koreans died.

At the NATO summit this weekend, the alliance decided to enter into closer cooperation with Russia and launched 2014 as the year of withdrawal from Afghanistan. 2014 is not any year for Russia; this is the year when the Russian Federation will host the Winter Olympics for the first time. Security is going to be a hot topic in the Olympics. It might therefore be convenient to have a good relationship with NATO.

The Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) won a 2010 Common Ground Award for its innovative community and peace building programmes with youth in the Mathare slums, with young refugees in the Kakuma Camp in northwest Kenya, with demobilized child soldiers in Rumbek in southern Sudan and with youth in other poor urban and rural communities in East Africa and Botswana.

Somali Youth League the 2nd (SYL 2nd), which is Somalia's main youth umbrella, has started a special program intended to systematically disarm the armed youths in the war-devastated country, through a campaign called "Swap the gun for job and sports".

Sports federations are increasingly fed up with the way that athletes are affected by the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The IOC as well as UEFA are applying pressure on Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinian athletes. And in Iran, there is simmering resistance against the government's policy that Iranian athletes can not compete against athletes from Israel.