Region

In the episode of the two journalists freed by North Korea, a dangerous game was played when Bill Clinton genuflected at North Korea´s Kim Jong-il. Myanmar has no foreign enemies that it needs to deter. Instead of being an international pariah the Myanmar´s generals would win a lot of respect if they would become nuclear. There are signs that this could happen.

Altogether 18 participants of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence met in Vieste, Southern Italy, to receive all of the information necessary for the challenge which awaits them for three months around the world.
The members of the team committed themselves to exhibit flexibility, tolerance, humility, and an open heart in order to incarnate the spirit of this initiative.

Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its foundation with a concert tour of Europe, during which it will visit some of Europe’s leading festivals and concert halls. This orchestra “represents an alternative model, based on the idea of equality, cooperation and justice for all, to the current situation in the Middle East”.

Thirteen years after the opening for signature, the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty has finally come into force with the twenty-eighth ratification by Burundi on 15 July 2009.
This milestone follows efforts by the Institute for Security Studies and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, with the support of several other organizations.

Since August 12th, 1949, 194 countries have signed the 4th Geneva Convention which regulates civilian protection, prisoners of war, wounded and humanitarian workers during war conflicts. The Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols are the backbone of the Humanitarian International Right, that determines the limits to war methods and procedures.

(IPS) – When U.S. President Obama presides over a meeting of world leaders in the Security Council on Sep. 24, he will provide a high profile political platform for two of the most sensitive
issues at the UN: nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. Obama is expected to make his maiden appearance at the U.N. when he addresses the global summit on climate change.

In Mexico, 20 prisoners have been released who, were found guilty of the massacre of 45 residents of Acteal, a village in the southern state of Chiapas. The Supreme Court has ruled that their convictions were unsafe.

The 45 villagers, were murdered in 1997. It is said to have involved a local dispute over land and that the Mexican government played no role in it.

New non violent lights looming on the horizon in Iraq.

It is a far cry from 2006, when a bomb set off at the sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra killed no one, but ignited a fury at the sacrilege that set off two years of sectarian warfare.

This year more than a hundred people were killed, but there was no retaliation.

When we think about the best examples of women’s presence in politics, the Scandinavian countries automatically come to mind. However, Rwanda, a landlocked country found in the heart of Africa, has the highest level of female representation in parliament. No fewer than 56% of representatives are women – a world record.

North Korea has freed a South Korean factory worker who was arrested in March for insulting North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The man was detained at a joint factory site situated just over the border in North Korea. The release of the factory worker is the first goodwill gesture Pyongyang has made to South Korea since conservative President Lee Myung-bak came to power.