Michael Jackson is dead

The King of Pop, a faded child star, a musical genius with a flawed personal life, there are so many ways to remember Michael Jackson.

On air: Is white still right in the fashion industry?

It seems to it was more ‘because you’re white’ than ‘because you’re worth it’ when L’Oreal set about recruiting one its sales teams in France. A court has found that it deliberately discriminated against black, Arab and Asian women who applied to sell one of its shampoos. It wanted an all-white sales team and it got one, and so broke French law. (This upholds a ruling in 2007.)

Prosecutors maintained during the case that the reason for wanting white staff was that it was believed white French women would rather buy from white saleswoman. So the finger is really pointed at all white consumers. The story’s been picked up by thousands of news sites and blogs and is raising a number of broader issues. How would you answer the following questions:

Should we all be open about our pay?

If I had to host BBC Staff Have Your Say today there’d be no debate about what subject to do. And as this story is sitting top of ‘most read’ on BBC News Online it seems you’re interested too. We’ve learned who the BBC’s 50 most highly paid managers are (sadly no WHYSers feature) and what they earn.

Have the protesters lost in Iran?

The government crackdown has left Tehran eerily quiet. Although protestors are using other ways to make their point, like calling to God every night from their roofs, or driving with lights on and honking horns. President Obama’s been criticised for being so timid it only encourages the regime…

Why does nothing stick to Berlusconi?

He’s been called a sexist ‘sleazeball’. But it seems Italians just don’t care. His party still made gains in this week’s elections. Is it because Italy is a sexist country? Italian feminists think so. Or maybe Italians are not getting the full story? Berlusconi owns 3 of the main tv channels in Italy and they have been accused of ignoring the scandal.

Return to Gaza

Cast your mind back six months….to late December. That’s when Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters began their fierce air assault on the Gaza Strip. Israel’s stated aim was to stop Hamas rocket attacks into southern Israel, and to – as it said – ‘change realities on the ground.’ The war lasted three weeks, and led to the deaths of more than a thousand Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

But what’s happened in the months since the conflict ended? How has it affected the people of Gaza? How much reconstruction has taken place? And has Israel achieved its war aims?