Region

The world team of the humanist organism Convergence of Cultures denounces the growing violence that the non-resolved post-electoral crisis is causing in Ivory Coast, and demands a non-violent solution that lets the country overcome the social fracture. There have been many victims of indiscriminate violence, among them the humanists Lacina, Drissa and Moumouni.

When they were just a few years old, they marched with Gandhi against the laws of an oppressing regime. This weekend a few of the veterans from the 1930 salt march took to the streets again. They were protesting against the democratic government for which they had once fought. The latest nationwide battle is against corruption.

Reverberations from Fukushima crisis are being felt around the world, as plans to build new nuclear power plants are being challenged. The safety of existing plants is being questioned. The cost of nuclear power is projected to rise, and the bottom has fallen out of the uranium market. Here’s a quick glimpse of what’s happening.

UN Secretary General leads a host of world and civic leaders supporting Earth Hour 2011 as a powerful symbol of a shared wish for a sustainable and secure future.
“All over the world individuals, communities, businesses and governments are creating new examples for our common future – new visions for sustainable living and new technologies to realize it,” Ban Ki-moon said.

New York City: At the New School’s Eugene Lang College on Wednesday, March 23, the NY Coalition to Expand Voting Rights held a free public forum on non-citizen voting rights and a discussion about Intro. 410, legislation recently introduced in the City Council that would restore municipal voting rights for legally residing non-citizens in New York City.

At least 55 people are believed to have been killed during a week of unrest in and around the Syrian town of Dera’a, Amnesty International said today as protests spread across the country.
Security forces opened fire on protesters in al-Sanamayn and carried out arrests in Damascus, according to reports on Friday, a day after the authorities pledged to investigate the violence

According to information received by European Humanists Peter Noordendorp and Benoit Mangin, the situation in Ivory Coast has become increasingly violent: at least three Humanist non-violent activists are amongst those who have been killed. Ceremonies of Well-being (from Silo’s Message) for those involved in the non-violent struggle will be held throughout Europe and beyond.

Cote d’Ivoire faces a humanitarian tragedy, with aid access becoming increasingly difficult, hospitals and schools closing, law and order collapsing and casualties mounting, France’s representative to the United Nations said on Friday.
The crisis has displaced up to a million people, according to the UN refugee agency. Some 90,000 people have fled to neighboring Liberia.

Reports of civilian casualties are mounting in Libya amidst ongoing U.S.-led air strikes and the Gaddafi regime’s assault on three rebel-held towns. At least 16 civilians were reportedly killed after forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi resumed an attack on the coastal city of Misurata, shelling an area around the city’s main hospital.

Documents reveal that the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan had not been properly inspected, safety procedures had been bypassed and economic considerations had been put first in spite of the risk posed by decisions such as prolonging the life of an obsolete model and accumulating more spent radioactive fuel rods than the plant was supposed to handle.