North America

2 days before the NPT conference begins in New York, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon addresses the anti-nuclear movement in a conference, “For a Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World”. He talks of his shared view of a world free of Nuclear weapons and says, “The time for change is now”. A delegation of World without Wars travels to New York in support.

Two Hollywood film-makers joined a queen from the Middle East and a computer multimillionaire along with diplomats from the United States in order to demand from world leaders meeting next week in the United States a world without nuclear weapons. The promoters of the film say “our only choice is eradicating every last missile”

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament described today’s United States’ Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) as timid, with the modest advances not living up to the ambitious goals the Obama administration has set itself.
“We had hoped this review would mark a sea-change in US nuclear policy. The result is markedly disappointing”, Kate Hudson, Chair of the CND, said.

The United States President Barack Obama and the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have sealed an agreement on a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty. Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev plan to officially sign the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on April 8 in Prague, Europe, cutting by about a third, the nuclear weapons that the United States and Russia will deploy.

This weekend, while US Congress voted to pass a historic health care bill, more than 100,000 activists gathered in Washington, D.C. to mark the dawn of a new civil rights movement. These activists included students, parents and children. They are young and old, Asian, African-American, Latino and Caucasian, and they are demanding immigration reform and economic justice now.

In a major victory for President Obama and congressional Democrats, the House has approved a landmark measure that would expand healthcare to over 30 million uninsured Americans while forcing millions to purchase health insurance. The 219-to-212 vote late Sunday night came nearly three months after the Senate’s approval of the bill on Christmas Eve.

Antiwar and peace activists held a protest to mark the seven-year anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Organizers say around ten thousand people took part, making it the largest antiwar protest since President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan last year.
At least eight people were arrested after laying coffins at a White House fence.

**Support for nuclear disarmament has spread to the heart of the Atlantic alliance and beyond.**

Obama’s call for a nuclear-weapons-free world in Prague unleashed a great outpouring of support from international allies and grassroots activists demanding a process to actually eliminate nuclear weapons. One recent and unexpected initiative has come from America’s NATO allies.

We often in the peace movement are in a reactive mode. But in order to successfully achieve our goals of ending war we have to flip the switch and become more proactive and force those in power to be reacting to us. Unless we begin to have a strategic discussion within the peace community then this will not likely happen.

Finance ministers from the G7 Industrialized Nations have pledged to forgive some $1.2 billion in debt owed by Haiti following last month’s devastating earthquake. Canadian Finance Minister, Mr. Jim Flaherty, made the announcement to the press during a two-day G7 meeting that took place in the Canadian Arctic town of Iqaluit.