Region

A new study is warning highly touted efforts at nuclear disarmament are being canceled out by parallel investments in new nuclear weapons systems. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says more than 5,000 nuclear weapons are deployed and ready for use around the world, including 2,000 kept in a state of high alert.

Five years after the beginning of Nepal’s peace process, there’s a new turn. The main task of the peace process, integration of Maoist combatants, has been fixed to start. A meeting of the Special Committee headed by the prime minister on Monday approved a time-framed plan of action that promises to complete the groundwork by June 24 this year.

In Wisconsin, more than a thousand Wisconsin workers marched today through Madison Monday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget repair” bill that slashes collective bargaining rights and funding for education, health care and seniors’ programs. Eight people were arrested.
Pilar Schiavo is participating with National Nurses United.

Thousands of people took part in a march in central Tel Aviv in support of a Palestinian state. The protest was held under the banner “Israel says yes to a Palestinian state.” World without wars and without violence marched with them in support of active nonviolence as the only methodology than can truly resolve conflicts.

In his latest article for “The New Yorker” magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says that the United States might attack Iran based on distorted estimates of Iran’s nuclear and military threat — just like it did some years ago when it started the war against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq.

An integrated approach to address Africa’s abiding challenges of desertification and biodiversity loss, and the new climate change threat is the subject of the First Africa Drylands Week in Dakar, Senegal, from June 10-17. It will be held back-to-back with the global observance event on June 17 to mark this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification.

Trafalgar Square was the venue of a multitudinous Assembly, mainly of young people, inspired by the Spanish and Greek mobilisations demanding real democracy. At the same time UK Uncut carried out actions in defence of the health service inside and outside banks, to raise awareness about their role in the economic crisis used to justify the impending destruction of the NHS.

Palestinian and Israeli Nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation

The author Maxime Kaufman-Lacusta visited Montreal on May 16th to launch her new book “Refusing to be Enemies”. Kaufman-Lacusta is optimistic regarding the future of Palestinian nonviolence movement. The book is about diverse strategies used by different organizations to struggle against the occupation.

About 1 million people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and across Egypt May 27 for a “Friday of Anger” that showed that revolution against dictator Mubarak and his regime has reached a new stage.
27M demonstrations were called by left organizations in defiance of military rulers, as well as Muslim Brotherhood and liberal groups that were part of the mass protests in February

Exclusive Report on Ousted Honduran President Zelaya’s Return Home 23 Months After U.S.-Backed Coup.

In a Democracy Now! global broadcast exclusive, we take you on the plane of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya as he and his family return home after almost two years in exile. We speak with Zelaya and some of the many who accompanied Zelaya home.