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Soka Gakkai International (SGI) has promoted a worldwide campaign to ban nuclear weapons and has just launched a DVD and a book including testimonies of Japanese women who survived nuclear bombings that hit Japan during the Second World War. Their testimonies of the horror of nuclear bombings call attention to the clear present danger.

This morning, representatives of social and political organisations – the Patriotic Committee of Paso Ancho, the Bolivarian Circle Yamileth Lopez, the Humanist Party, a few media such as Reuters and Pressenza, as well as citizens conscious of the importance of solidarity with the Honduran people – came to the Embassy to talk with functionaries and express their rejection of the coup d’etat in the neighbouring country.

The President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has been taken captive by members of the military. In his recent speech to the OAS, he called on the population of his country to take non-violent options or civil-disobedience and calm organisation against the events that were being prepared.

Inaugurating the recent OAS Assembly in San Pedro Sula, President Zelaya spoke about nonviolence

“The topic of nonviolence is essential during this century. Violence has grown exponentially and has many faces. Nonviolence must be the guiding principle of society, of the state vis-à-vis citizens, and of the state vis-à-vis states.

Nonviolence must take the form of ongoing dialogue for the creation of a just, equitable, and inclusive world order, based on solidarity and respect for human beings, the dignity of individuals, and restructuring of the international community and its institutions.

Nonviolence is the principle of action that rejects force, which is the major cause of violence. While the causes of violence are numerous, as you all know, so too should be the responses and the actions of nonviolence.

This is the approach we must have in the short, medium, and long terms if we are to build a society based on other principles, principles that must steer our ways of acting and thinking in our society.”

During the event presentations were made about national and international initiatives for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. There were also testimonies by citizens who have endorsed the project.

In North Korea, more than 100,000 people attended a government rally Thursday denouncing the United States. Government speakers promised “a fire shower of nuclear retaliation” in the event of US or South Korean military action.

The US and Venezuela have announced plans to restore their expelled ambassadors after a nine-month rift. Both countries withdrew their ambassadors in a dispute over the Bush administration’s destabilization efforts in Bolivia.

For its 30th edition, the Montreal International Jazz Festival of Canada offers a program with great musicians, artists and singers, with dedication to the utmost quality in diversified music. The plethora of concerts captures the mood, from jazz fusion to American rock, with trips through free jazz, ’80s gypsy music, pop music, the legendary R&B, Afro-Cuban, Afrobeat and visits from the music of Mexico and Eastern Europe. American music legend Stevie Wonder will perform at the Festival’s opening, as an outdoor free event on June 30th.

Amid the clutter of calls for a revamped response to the Iranian presidential elections, Shirin Ebadi defends the constitutional right to public protest and appeals for protection, not violence.

A new initiative has been launched in the Czech Republic: a virtual art gallery of pieces inspired by peace and nonviolence, called “Art for Peace”. It is gathering images created by artists around the world to be freely used by the World March for Peace and Non-Violence activists in their events.