Europe

Klaus Wowereit has been honoured with the Principe de Asturias a la Concordia Award, 2009, before an audience at the Teatro Campoamor di Oviedo (Spain), for transforming the capital of Nazi Germany in World War II into the modern, open and tolerant city of today which, amongst other things, will host the Summit of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Twenty members of the World March Base Team were received by the Director of the Gorbachev Foundation in Moscow to whom Rafael de la Rubia handed the Manifesto for Peace and Nonviolence. The march spokesperson talked about the importance of the Base Team’s presence in Moscow, where he himself founded the association “World without Wars” in 1994.

After several years’ absence, the Belgian anthropologist, Pat Patfoort, an international mediator in the field of the transformation and nonviolent management of conflict, returned to Milan to present her method at the conference, “Building Nonviolence: training in peace and the nonviolent resolution of conflicts,” and the seminar, “Defending oneself without attacking.”

Rajagopal, founder of Ekta Parishad, a movement that promotes non-violent struggle in favor of the landless in India, is currently touring Europe. In Madrid, he held a meeting with various organizations to share information and create a network of support for his initiatives, aimed at making legal changes to assist the poorest segments in Indian society.

Here we publish Mikhail Gorbachev’s open letter to the President of the United States, congratulating him for his efforts to bring about a significant change in the international climate and on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2009, asking the support from Americans and from men and women of good will throughout the world.

One day on from World Food Day, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty aims to raise awareness within the public opinion, about the importance of eradicating poverty and homelessness in all countries, and especially in the developing countries. But the shortfall between the aims of this proposal and the real data grows every day.

*The Alianza Española contra la Pobreza has called for, during the week of October 16-18 in more than 50 cities throughout Spain, demonstrations against the causes of poverty and for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals under the rubric “Rebel against Poverty”. The demonstrators demand that the Government fulfill its promises.*

Dozens of organizations demonstrated this past Saturday, October 17, in Madrid, to demand the discontinuation of the project to reform immigration law. “We are protesting because this law sanctions discrimination against immigrants and signifies a violation of human rights,” proclaimed Sara Tajuelo, spokesperson for the Convergence of Cultures.

Participants of the World March make a silent vigil outside Northwood Headquarters, military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces near London.
It is home to three command and control functions of the British armed forces and NATO; Permanent Joint Headquarters, Commander in Chief Fleet and the NATO Regional Command, Allied Maritime Component Command Northwood.

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), one of the most violent groups that took part in the Northern Ireland conflict, announced in a statement that “the armed struggle is over” and that from now on they will pursue their objectives through “exclusively peaceful political struggle”. The armed group murdered 113 people between 1975 and 2001.