Coco Chanel. How important was she? Did she have more impact than most world leaders?

I don’t know much about fashion but I did learn how powerful it is today. I went to a regular high street store in London with a fashion expert for the programme. He showed me how in almost every corner of the shop you could find something linked to Chanel; a little black dress; a tweed jacket; the trim on a cardigan; a rack full of fake pearl necklaces; a dark toed-shoe. All these things were either inspired by, or popularised by, Coco Chanel … decades ago. It is fascinating to me that most women in the western world probably have at least one thing in their wardrobe that they think of as classically simple but is, in fact, classically Chanel. It could be nothing more than the cut of a collar but there it is, tucked away in the outfits of millions of women as they go about their day. That means Chanel affected the lives of most women in the western world and many beyond. It may be cosmetic but it also affects the way they feel. How many world leaders can claim to have had such a widespread, and lasting, impact on humanity? Just a thought …

Your comments below, please! We'll read the best ones out on air tonight at 9pm London time.

Reckon you know you way around this week’s news and personalities? Then see if you can take up our Six Degrees of Separation challenge.

All you need to do is connect two newsmakers who have hit the headlines in six moves.

This week we want you to link now-former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who resigned her post over the weekend, to legendary Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, who announced his return to racing this week.

Leave your submissions in the comments section below. On Friday the Connect the World team will pick the most creative connection, with Becky announcing the winner on the show.

Last week’s winner was Sally, who connected footballer David Beckham to astronaut Neil Armstrong. Here’s how she did it…

David Beckham has been interviewed by...

...yours truly, Becky Anderson, who attended a journalism school named for...

...Walter Cronkite, who was succeeded on CBS by...

...Dan Rather, who was once attacked by a man shouting "What's the frequency, Kenneth? which was immortalized in song by...

...Michael Stipe, who donated more than $80,000 to the Democratic Party last year, just like

...Robert Zemeckis, who attended the same university as...

...Neil Armstrong.

Reckon you can better Sally? Then try your hand at connecting Sarah Palin and Michael Schumacher. Remember -– you need five other people between those two, no more, no less. If you want your friends to take the challenge as well, then click the “share post” button below.

To see previous challenges, click here. Happy connecting!

Is it right that a soldier refuses to go on fighting in a war that (s)he does not believe in, and then publicizes the fact? That's what Lance Corporal Joe Glenton from the British Army has done. He is refusing to go back to Afghanistan and, in the full glare of the media, delivered a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to "bring our soldiers home" from the mission which he claims is being fought in the interests of U.S. foreign policy. His opinions are in stark contrast to his superiors who may accept the mission is not perfect, but who also say there is no better alternative.

The rights and wrongs of the argument over the mission are one thing, the other is whether L/Cpl Glenton is right to let personal feelings and opinions get in the way of his role in the military. If he is allowed to get away with it, where does it end? Every member of the military could come up with one reason or another for avoiding combat. The reality is you sign up to do your duty, not question it. Or are things changing, and for the better?

Take a look at my interview with him below. Your comments have been pouring in - Keep them coming!

Mikhail Gorbachev's not the first statesman with a penchant for crooning a little now and then, but very few politicians actually go so far as to record an album. Gorbachev's CD is entitled ‘Songs for Raisa’ and is dedicated to his wife, who died from leukemia in 1999. 

Now, while he insists it was recorded as a one-off for auction, the team here at CNN in London think he's a bit of a star in the making.  If he could persuaded to cut a new CD, we'd want to hear the former-Soviet leader cover: Back in the USSR, Rocking in the Free World , and Give Peace a Chance.  What would you want Gorby to cover?

You have precisely three hours and counting to get your best suggestions to us either by email: connecttheworld@cnn.com; on twitter: cnnctw; or of course, you can leave us a comment below. 

We'll air the best tonight on the show at 9p London time.

Operation Panther's Claw is over, and the British military is declaring it a "tactical" success.  So, what happens next? 

I've been talking to U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who says the Taliban in Helmand province have been driven back in confusion and that NATO forces now have the upper hand.  Now, Ambassador Holbrooke says, it's time to talk to the enemy. 

You can almost hear the sigh of relief in Whitehall, London.  Britain’s been calling for talks with the more "moderate elements" of the Taliban for some time.  Indeed I'm told President Hamid Karzai has had such an initiative underway since 2005, but it has lacked money and support from the U.S. and NATO.  So things on the ground may now change, but has this shift in strategy come too late? 

Poll after poll shows that support for military action in Afghanistan is dwindling by the day.  I put that to Ambassador Holbrooke, who wouldn't be pinned down on a time-frame or an exit strategy for U.S. engagement in Afghanistan, suffice to say that he agrees with U.S. officials who say they must see visible, tangible progress by the summer of next year.  When I pushed him on what he meant by that, he simply said: "You know it when you see it".  So, will the US still be on the ground in two, three or four years time?  That's for soothsayers, Holbrooke told me.  "We're not going to repeat the abandonment of Afghanistan that happened before in 2004-2005," he said. 

Should the U.S., the UK and the Karzai government be talking to the Taliban?  And if not, why not?  Who should we blame for the mistakes of the past?  Are you more or less confident that we'll see peace in Afghanistan in our lifetime?

Email me: connecttheworld@cnn.com – and we’ll use as many of your replies as possible on air.  Tune in to the show – Connect the World – at 9pm London time.

They're all at it!

Barack Obama's been doing it very publicly. British PM Gordon Brown's certainly at it and today we learn that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's been hospitalized for it.

What is it about today's Western leaders and their insistence on keeping in shape?

It seems Sarkozy has recovered his breath after collapsing while jogging Sunday in woodlands near his weekend home. But it does make me wonder whether keeping fit is a prerequisite for the demands of high office these days or whether it isn't simply good for the "brand"! Soon after Obama was elected president, the Washington Post newspaper wondered out loud whether the new job had forced the man to take inventory of his life: "... gone are the hours he once spent reading novels, watching television and obsessing over the daily transactions of Chicago's sports teams ... but one habit endures: Obama has gone to the gym, for about 90 minutes a day, for at least 48 days in a row." Ok, so stripping his schedule down to the bear essentials is nothing new for Obama.

However, don't tell me that Gordon naturally puts pilates ahead of public policy! And yet, the burly British PM, whose New Year's resolution was to get fitter, has moaned that newspaper cartoonists always draw him as a hulking man and has taken to low impact exercise to improve his core strength and battle the bulge.

And then there's Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. Apparently anxious to lose a little weight, "Papa" invited guests for a so-called week on an empty stomach. This involved seven days on a high-protein and vitamin-rich diet, meditation, studying classical literature, and plenty of sport – tennis, swimming and lots of jogging. And the rest Silvio. . .

Asked what he did for exercise, Winston Churchill once replied: "Whenever I feel the urge to exercise, I sit down and wait until the urge passes."

Do our leaders really need to be so public about how fit they are?! I want to hear from you. As ever leave your comments below or email me at ConnectTheWorld@CNN.com

Who won the petty diplomatic spat of the year so far? It's North Korea vs the United States?

A statement from the North Korean foreign ministry read; "Sometimes she (U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping." By way of justification the statement reads; "We cannot but regard Mrs Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community". The rhetoric they are referring to came earlier in the week. In a U.S. television interview, Clinton had discussed North Korea's nuclear programme and said US should not over-react to Pyongyang's provocation. "Maybe it's the mother in me, the experience I've had with small children and teenagers and people who are demanding attention: Don't give it to them."

Was Clinton being patronising? Did she indeed show a lack of etiquette? Or are the North Koreans being personal and rude? You decide. Your responses on Thursday's show - comments below, or on e-mail at ConnectTheWorld@CNN.com please.

Seventy five years ago today, the United States' "Public Enemy #1" was gunned down by Government agents outside a movie theatre in Chicago. In a new Hollywood film, Johnny Depp plays that legendary bank robber and gangster, John Dillinger; and a Depression-era United States is re-created by director Michael Mann. The pursuit of Dillinger and his associates led to the formation of the FBI and captured the American public's imagination.

Throughout history and across cultures, charismatic criminals have become cult heroes - loved by the public - hated by the authorities.

From Robin Hood, to Bonnie and Clyde, what is it that we admire about these criminals? Was it their disregard for authority, when authority figures were tough to respect? Who's your favorite, and why?

I want to hear from you.  We'll share the best of your comments on Connect the World, CNN 9p London time tonight. So get your thinking caps on, send me an email at connecttheworld@cnn.com or reply below.

Swag bags at the ready...

Reckon you know you way around this week's news and personalities? Then see if you can take up our Six Degrees of Separation challenge.

All you need to do is connect two newsmakers who have hit the headlines in six moves.

This week we want you to link football star David Beckham, who has upset some of LA Galaxy's supporters to legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong, who became the first man to walk on the moon 40 years ago this week.

Leave your submissions in the comments section below. On Friday the Connect the World team will picks the most creative connection, with Becky announcing the winner on the show.

Last week's winner was Brian Petersen, who connected golfer Tiger Woods to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Here's how he did it...

Tiger Woods played golf at age two with...

...entertainer Bob Hope, who played alongside...

...comedian Steve Martin in "The Muppet Movie," who wrote a movie called "Traitor" starring...

...actor Don Cheadle, who helped carry out a heist in "Ocean's 11" with...

...actor Brad Pitt, who starred in "The Devil's Own" with...

...actor Harrison Ford, who was interviewed by Sacha Baron Cohen's character Bruno in the film of the same name.

Reckon you can better Brian? Then try your hand at connecting David Beckham and Neil Armstrong. Remember -– you need five other people between those two, no more, no less. If you want your friends to take the challenge as well, then click the "share post" button below.

To see previous challenges, click here. Happy connecting!

The longest total solar eclipse this century begins just hours from now, sweeping east across China and into the Pacific Ocean. Millions of sky gazers across the region are looking for the best spots to catch six minutes and 39 seconds of darkness (iffy weather permitting) and scientists will be hoping to capture crucial data as the stunning phenomenon unfolds. But not all of us are fascinated by the experience. Since time began, solar eclipses have been associated with bad luck. Nearly ten percent of respondents to a CNN.com quick poll today said they find the whole experience "freaky". So, will you be watching, and if so where? Are you excited, or just a little scared?

Help us Connect the World at 9p London time – email me at connecttheworld@cnn.com or leave a comment below. We'll do our best to share as many of your thoughts – superstitious or not – on air!