While it recently played host to the Oslo Freedom Forum, Norway's capital is gripped by the Anders Breivik trial. What happens at the Breivik trial has a bearing on the libertarian and humanitarian values that underly the Forum -- one that is neither left wing nor right win, and has highlighted oppression and dissident courage in places as various as China, Singapore, Turkish Kurdistan, India and Sudan.

Environmental NGOs in Ontario are hoping to make a promised new provincial law to protect the Great Lakes as strong as possible. The Great Lakes Protection Act, promised in the Premier's 2011 Throne Speech, is a big deal. And why not? The drinking water of 37 million people depends on healthy Great Lakes.

While other major development initiatives -- schools, medical clinics, roads, human rights laws to protect women -- will take years to reach their potential, the digital age lies as a present powerful tool to assist women.

The crisis in East Africa has prompted Canadians to open their wallets and their hearts, but with the sheer number of government agencies, NGOs and private sector organizations responding to humanitarian crises, it remains difficult to know who to support and how much of the money will actually get there.