Region

Nonviolent direct action group gets arrested for walking into the home of nuclear-armed Trident submarines in Scotland in a peaceful manifestation and is waiting for possible prosecution as serious crime organizers. They have released the statement that is published below in what they call for the process of disarmament of Trident nuclear weapons to begin.

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought her African visit to a close in Liberia, a country which achieved independence from the USA, in support of the only African woman President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The trip has placed Africa in the spotlight and served to lend support to the International Court of Justice of The Hague, which the USA has still not recognized.

The new president of the Moluccan government-in-exile says an independent Moluccan state is no longer its absolute priority. In an interview with the Nederlands Dagblad, John Wattilete says he is prepared to place the future of the islands in the hands of the people and if they no longer wish to fight for independence from Indonesia then “he would accept the consequences”.

North Korea’s KCNA state press agency says the border has been re-opened for family visits from South Korea. The move is an important gesture at a time of rising tension between the two countries. North Korea has also announced that the whole country is on high alert because of joint military exercises taking place between the United States and South Korea.

United States citizen, John William Yettaw, was released and deported by the government Sunday and left the country along with Democrat Senator of the United States Jim Webb who concluded his three-day visit to Myanmar. Yettaw´s visit was the excuse for Aung San Suu Kyi 18 month extension house arrest that does not allow Ms Suu Kyi to run for next year’s elections.

Right in Nagoya international airport, in line to check in for my flight back to Sao Paulo, I hear a strange noise. Meow, meow.… There was a cat, somewhere close by. I tried to find it but could not. It was coming from a couple who spoke Portuguese. They had lots of luggage. The passengers behind them also had lots of luggage.

Switzerland wants to reduce its army by one third within the next 12 years. Swiss Minister of Defence, Ueli Maurer said there are currently 120,000 professional Swiss soldiers and that that number must come down to 80,000. The number of reservists must also shrink from 80,000 to 40,000. Switzerland wants to place more emphasis on humanitarian missions to foreign countries.

The recent anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prompted Montserrat Ponsa i Tarrés to write the following impassioned article. A journalist with a decades-long commitment to the culture of peace, she will be a member of the core team of the first World March for Peace and Nonviolence that will circle the globe.

The Canadian Punk-Rock group Simple Plan gave a performance at the 1000 Islands Music Fest in Gananoque (Canada) on August 14, 2009.
The group is concerned by teenagers’ problems.
Pressenza met two of their members: Jeff Stinco, guitarist and Chuck Comeau, drummer.
Jeff said he was touched and is inspired by the famous speech of Martin Luther King, “I had a dream”.

Human Rights Watch released a report last week detailing new evidence of possible Israeli war crimes committed during last winter´s operations in Gaza that left over 1400 Palestinians dead. The report says Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including 5 women and 4 children, who were in groups waving white flags.