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North Korea says it is prepared to return to six-party talks on its nuclear programme as long as the US agrees to bilateral meetings first to improve “hostile relations” between the two countries. The US says it wants to restart negotiations to convince North Korea to end its nuclear programme. A planned visit by special US negotiator Stephen Bosworth is expected this month.

On October 4, the Moroccan capital, Rabat, became a platform for the launch of World March for Peace and Non-violence. During this extraordinary day, the entire city saw a march of residents, associations, artists and elected representatives who wanted to give a public demonstration of their commitment to a world without violence and war.

In the extraordinary place where the Nile River and the arts converge in Cairo, The World March has once again achieved its objective: more than 150 people came together in the spacious concert hall of El Sawy Cultural Wheel, the cultural epicenter of this cosmopolitan city, to issue a worldwide call for peace and the construction of a culture of non-violence.

Midday Friday October 2nd, pedestrians in downtown Sao Paulo leaving their offices to have lunch were surprised by the breath-taking performance of mountain-climbers Bruno Sellmer and Fábio Cascino, who with the help of their young sons, scaled the façade of the Light Shopping Mall and unfurled a 30-meter banner to launch the World March for Peace and Non-Violence in Sao Paulo.

A Press conference was held at 11 am at the Culture House with the participation of several organizations, singers, actors, and public figures who have endorsed the march in Sweden. Afterward, participants played music, gave speeches and formed a symbol of nonviolence with lighted candles in Norrmalmstorg Park, chanting together in concert with the wind: “World Without War”.

Brussels, capital of Europe, is mainly known for hosting many international decision-makers, who, as of late, receive strong protests. An Emotional commemoration at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, initiated with the Embassy of India, was held in Brussels, Friday morning October 2, followed by the launching of the World March.

On 2 October Maximiliano Guerra, Juan Leirado, Jorge Marrale, Silvia Pérez, Miguel Cantilo, Raúl Porchetto, among other well-known Argentinian artists, celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and declared international day of non-violence by the UN in Buenos Aires. This was the context in which these influential celebrities spoke to Pressenza.

A symbolic march through the downtown of the Argentine city Rosario by the longest flag in the world, “High in the sky”, passed through the city’s downtown in order to commemorate the inauguration of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. Students and young people went from Pringles Plaza to the National Flag Monument, where they assembled the Sign of Nonviolence.

The Plaza de la Democracia in Asunción, Paraguay, was the scene of an event which combined art, sport and fun to commemorate the beginning of the World March for Peace and Non Violence on 2 October. Chess was chosen because “it creates a link between people”, and was played by around 400 Paraguayan students from six colleges.

Thousands of people all over the world celebrated the beginning of the World March for Peace and Non-violence. In Spain, there were celebrations in thirty cities and numerous other districts. Everyone shared the emotion of the Base Team which left New Zealand to begin the long road to Argentina which will take them through more than a hundred countries in three months.