Termina su período de gobierno Michelle Bachelet, primera mujer Presidenta de Chile. Lo termina en medio del drama del reciente terremoto, uno de los 5 más intensos registrados en el planeta durante los últimos siglos. Sus últimos días no fueron como hubiera querido, recorriendo el país para despedirse y deslizar una sonrisa insinuando que regresa en 4 años más...

Comunidades campesinas y organizaciones sociales de Chiapas realizaron un Foro Social como forma de aunar esfuerzos para defender la selva Lacandona. El Foro se dividió en distintos ejes temáticos: espiritualidad y ética por la vida; interculturalidad y saberes ambientales; globalización y crisis eco-política; derechos y movimientos de los pueblos indígenas; entre otros.

“We work here! We live here! We’re staying here!” This film and its accompanying manifesto are calling out for the regularization of all “undocumented” workers in France. A true film featuring brave immigrants and made by filmmakers respectful of their words. A joint revolt against a type of legalised inhumanity ... with papers!!

India and Pakistan are holding peace talks today for the first time since the Mumbai attacks of 2008. The Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers are meeting in the Indian capital of New Delhi. India has accused Pakistan of failing to confront militants responsible for attacks inside India territory, while both sides remain divided over competing claims to Kashmir.

We often in the peace movement are in a reactive mode. But in order to successfully achieve our goals of ending war we have to flip the switch and become more proactive and force those in power to be reacting to us. Unless we begin to have a strategic discussion within the peace community then this will not likely happen.

Cerca de 15.000 personas se manifestaron ayer martes en Madrid, como en otras ciudades, para mostrar su rechazo al plan del gobierno español de ampliar la edad de jubilación a los 67 años. Se trata de la primera manifestación que los sindicatos organizan contra una medida de Rodríguez Zapatero y han participado en ella formaciones como el Partido Humanista o Izquierda Unida.

In a sign of growing political opposition to uranium weapons, Costa Rica has passed legislation banning their production in its Free Trade Zones. Zonas Francas or Free Ports are common throughout Latin America and are seen as a means of boosting employment in deprived areas by offering favourable operating conditions to foreign companies.

Tras el brote alérgico que sufren desde hace dos días, vecinos y militantes ambientalistas de Gualeguaychú buscan detener definitivamente la contaminación de la pastera finlandesa Botnia. La violencia económica de la empresa, con la complicidad de varias autoridades políticas, viene siendo resistida hace varios años de diversas formas pacíficas por la población local.

Journalist Luis Ammann points out that 2010 may be the tensest year in Argentine-British relations since the 1982 war and the Argentine government must demonstrate the temper necessary to place its actions in a non-violent framework. Recently, the United Kingdom unilaterally authorized the search for petroleum in the islands' undersea platform.

PNND welcomes Edine von Herold Duarte to its Global Council. Edine, a legislator in the Costa Rican Assembly, is a doctor of medicine who has been active in health and disarmament issues. She has submitted a number of bills which have been adopted by the Costa Rican legislature including one to prohibit Depleted Uranium weapons.

Up to eight hundred anti-nuclear campaigners from all corners of the UK and other countries joined a blockade of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, UK, on February 15th in order to prevent the construction of new nuclear bombs making facilities. Every gate was closed by blockaders in the course of the morning. Twenty-six arrests were reported.

Base teams of the Buenos Aires Humanist Party are setting in motion a mass dissemination campaign in favour of ‘Direct election of judges and commissioners’. The humanists assert that the only way to have judges and commissioners who are concerned with meting out justice and ensuring compliance with the law to the benefit of the people, is with the mechanisms of Real Democracy.

Ante los anuncios de Irán de que va a enriquecer uranio al 20% para su reactor de investigación, se han tensado las relaciones internacionales y desatado fuertes críticas por parte de varios de los países que son miembros permanentes del Consejo de Seguridad, comenzando por el Presidente de los Estados Unidos, Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama –recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize- sent a record budget of 708 thousand million dollars to Congress for military expenditure, including 159 thousand million dollars for the missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Simultaneously, US intelligent services are claiming a leading role in the region in order to defend "US interests".

El periodista Luis Amman analiza en este artículo el rol del Fondo Monetario Internacional, especialmente en momentos de crisis como el actual, y aboga por la ruptura de relaciones con este organismo. Recuerda la posición de los humanistas, en su día, en Argentina y alerta a los gobernantes de países como España sobre la conveniencia de seguir las recomendaciones del FMI.

On January 29, two families - one Palestinian and the other Israeli - participated in a joint lunch for peace and reconciliation between both peoples. Both families, who have suffered consequences from the Middle East conflict, chose the path of non-violence. The program has been promoted by the NGO Messengers for Peace and the Parents Circle Family Forum.

En medio de los desórdenes reinantes en la distribución de la ayuda internacional a Haití, los primeros campamentos de la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (ALBA) evidencian que es posible poner fin al caos. Allí la distribución se realiza organizadamente y en los pobladores comienza a renacer la esperanza de que es posible mejorar la situación a futuro.

Under the motto “Vicenza fights back” pacifists of the Italian city of Vicenza protested against the expansion of the US military base there. Braving the winter snow and cold, they entered the zone currently under construction making a laughing stock of security guards during their change of shift, and hanging peace banners from the tops of cranes.

In a move expected to heighten tension in the Middle East, the Obama administration is quietly expanding its land- and sea-based missile shield system in the Persian Gulf region. The US is dispatching Patriot defensive missiles to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. In addition, the US is keeping two ships in the Gulf capable of shooting down missiles.

The US President who had made a commitment to reducing his country’s nuclear arsenal, acknowledging the United States’ responsibility for having dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, and pledged to work to achieve a world that is free of nuclear weapons as soon as possible, has let everyone down by breaking his promises.

Not even Simón Bolívar, as brave as he was known to be, had the courage to sign diplomatic recognition of the country of African descendants. Bolívar was able to re-launch his struggle for American independence, when Spain had already defeated him, thanks to Haiti's support. The government of Haiti had supported him with the sole condition that Bolivar free the slaves.

For another year, the International Humanist Party has returned to participate in the Madrid round of the World Social Forum. On this occasion, some members of this party led two workshops: “Nuclear disarmament: social and economic effects of military spending” and “Conclusions of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence”.

“Cultures coming together through nonviolence,” a workshop organized by Convergence of Cultures, took place on Saturday, January 30, at the Lope de Vega High School in Madrid as part of the World Social Forum. More than 50 people who were interested in promoting a positive vision of interaction between cultures participated.

President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address Wednesday night. A full two-thirds of the President’s seventy-minute address was devoted to the economy, the central theme of which was job creation. We get response from MIT professor Noam Chomsky author of Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy.

The subject of how to approach this “other world” that’s possible is being debated in Porto Alegre. The capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul is celebrating ten years of the WSF and is welcoming 30,000 delegates from different organisations that have come to participate in the opening inaugurated by Lula da Silvia, President of Brazil.

With 142 member nations already signed on, the new International Renewable Energy Agency is promoting a fast, global transition to clean, safe, and renewable energy. Alice Slater explains why it's so necessary. "Every 30 minutes, enough of the sun’s energy reaches the Earth’s surface to meet global energy demand for an entire year."

In three languages, Aymara, Quechua, and Spanish, Evo Morales proclaimed that in Tiwanaku, a new ray of hope was born for humanity and a new Bolivian State, after receiving the ceremonial staff of the indigenous peoples, who anointed him as a spiritual guide in the ruins of a thousand-year-old civilization, to mark the beginning of his second presidential term.

Bolivia points the way to emancipation for the world’s indigenous peoples with the consolidation of the process of change and the indigenous leader Evo Morales’ second presidential term. This was affirmed on Wednesday by the Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchú, a well known human rights activist and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The Obama administration will not unveil the results of a major review of United States' nuclear weapons strategy until March 1 2010, a senior Defense Department official told Congress late last month, "Because of the complexity of the issues being addressed". Reports reveal dissension within the Obama administration.

On November 19th, President Barack Obama wrote a stirring tribute in USA Today to the most famous draft resister in US history, Muhammad Ali. On Tuesday, Obama spoke at West Point, calling for an increase of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, with a speech that recalled the worst shadings of George W. Bush's "war on terror."

All is set for the Philippine hosting in early February of an experts workshop of at least 50 participants from 37 States-parties, researchers and non-government organizations which is a preparatory to the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon) on May 3-28 in New York City, United States.

A Rwandan inquiry has concluded that radical Hutus were responsible for the death of President Juvénal Habyarimana in an airplane crash in 1994. The assassination triggered a genocide that killed around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. After hearing over 500 witnesses, the commission that conducted the probe says the President was shot down by soldiers within his own army.

Almost 26 years after its founding, the International Humanist Party, which proclaims "active nonviolence" as its method of action, began a new phase with a global meeting. At the Park of Study and Reflection at Punta de Vacas members of Humanist Parties from all over the world converged. Exchanges were conducted and a short term plan was defined.

Today, Cristina Fernandez welcomed the international team from the World March for Peace and Non-Violence in the presidential office. In the meeting, which lasted close to half an hour, they discussed international military conflicts and investment in weapons, among other topics. The activists said they felt very satisfied with the president’s reception.

Elogia Quispe, Mayoress of the Tiahuanaco locality, reported on Friday that at least forty thousand people are expected in the town, among them presidents, authorities, tourists and ordinary people, for the symbolic tenure of president Evo Morales’ second mandate which will take place on 21 January at the ancestral temple of Kalasasaya.

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that a world conference of social movements is to take place in Bolivia, as a response to the failure of the 15th Summit on Climate Change, recently held in Copenhagen. “The problems of climate change are directly linked to the irrational development of industry,” said the president from the region of Chuquisaca.

This proposal developed by Tomás Hirsch and delivered to the President of Ecuador, Mr Rafael Correa, comes from the Humanist Movement, as the World March for Peace and Non-Violence is approaching its final destination, arriving at Punta de Vacas, at the foot of Mount Aconcagua, on border between Chile and Argentina on 2 January 2010.

A diverse group of social organizations have launched a campaign nominating the former Cuban president Fidel Castro for the Nobel Peace Prize this coming year 2010. The nomination is based on Cuba’s achievements in health, education and reduction of infant mortality, among other improvements made under Castro’s leadership.

In 2009 Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented human rights violations against migrant women, men, and children in every region of the world, publishing dozens of materials, including 14 reports. This issue is treated by the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers ratified by 42 countries since the UN adoption on December 18, 1990

While Uruguay awaits the arrival of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence on 27th December, writer Eduardo Galeano reflected on the initiative’s proposals, the business of war and its consequences. The members who are steering the project in Uruguay will hold a welcoming festival on 29th December on calle 18 de Julio and at the University.

Obama attempted to justify his concepts of "just war" and "just peace" in a tense speech that veered between the idea that "war is sometimes necessary" and the idea that "war is an expression of human error"; between his ideals of non-violence inspired by Luther King and his role as Commander in Chief of a country whose army is currently embroiled in two wars.

More than sixty percent of Bolivians have decided that Evo Morales should continue to lead Bolivia’s social, political and cultural transformation process. This categorical support of Evo´s government takes place in spite of the act that the great majority of the print and tv media are constantly campaigning with venom against Evo.

Guillermo Sullings, economist and spokesperson for the Humanist Movement in Argentina, spoke at the II International Conference on the abolition of military bases, held in Buenos Aires. He stated the main proposals of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence, which is passing through Latin America today, and referred to the role of international organisations.

Different residents from the communities of San Marcos walked with the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. The residents made their concerns known to the Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence about acts committed by the transnational company Union Fenosa in the department of San Marcos in Guatemala.

In response to a question by SF Dail Deputy Caoimhghin O Caolain, the Minister for Defence Mr. Willie O'Dea TD admitted that the annual cost to the Irish people to have 7 Irish soldiers taking part in the war and occupation of Afghanistan was €270,000. Roger Cole, Chair of Peace and Neutrality Alliance, responds to him here.

Having obtained 63% of the votes among the 5.1 million eligible voters in Bolivia and 168,000 voters living outside Boliva, Morales becomes the most popular and most re-elected President. With this mandate, the first Assembly will allow Morales to draft an indigenous Constitution and reform institutions to reflect the will of the people as demonstrated by the election results.

Manuel Zelaya criticized the position of various governments, among them the United States, for supporting the efforts to "whitewash" the coup d'etat of June 28. In a letter to presidents of the Americas, to the OAS and to the UN, Zelaya referred to the countries that recognized the election carried out in Honduras under the de facto regime.

The conference was held from Monday November 30th to Wednesday December 2nd in the Centro Cultural de la Cooperación (Cultural Center of Cooperation) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The speakers, hailing from the spheres of academia, politics, and culture, gave talks on various aspects of the issue of foreign military bases in Latin America.

Members of the international team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence met with US Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Capitol Hill as well as staff members of Congressman John Lewis, Congressman Keith Ellison and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Congressman Lewis was to introduce a resolution in support of the World March to Congress that afternoon.

In a tribute to Martin Luther King from the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, Tomas Hirsch honors Dr. King's dream. Mr. Hirsch spoke at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, and referred to present dreams for a world without nuclear weapons and without wars. He declares his disappointment for President Obama's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan.

EEUU espera que el borrador del nuevo tratado ruso-estadounidense sobre reducción de armas estratégicas nucleares (START) esté listo para finales de este mes de diciembre, declaró ayer el portavoz del Departamento de Estado norteamericano, Ian Kelly. El actual tratado START-1 que obligó a ambas potencias a reducir sus ojivas nucleares, expira el 5 de diciembre

The Obama administration is moving further away from its stated support for the reinstatement of the ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Porfirio Lobo, a wealthy landowner, emerged victorious with 55 percent of the vote. Zelaya’s supporters boycotted the election, and many Latin American countries have refused to recognize its outcome.

A Western Saharan human rights activist is in the third week of a hunger strike after being deported against her will by Moroccan authorities occupying her homeland. Aminatou Haidar, known as the “Sahrawi Gandhi,” is at the airport on the Canary Islands and is demanding that she be allowed to return to home. Morocco has occupied most of Western Sahara since 1975.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stressed Brazil would not recognize the Honduran election results as legitimizing the process to ensure a serious president for Latin America. "Brazil does not have to rethink the situation in Honduras”, da Silva added, highlighting the need for one´s position to remain firm, serving as a warning to anyone else harboring similar notions.

El presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva subrayó que Brasil desconocerá el resultado de las elecciones de este domingo en Honduras, pues legitimar ese proceso puede abrir un grave precedente en América Latina. "Brasil no tiene porque repensar la cuestión de Honduras" y agregó la necesidad de mantener firmeza en las posturas para que sirva de alerta para otros aventureros.

On his stop in Spain, Bolivia’s Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, asked for the vote of Bolivians residing there. He listed before the press the domestic accomplishments achieved by the government of Evo and the improvements for Bolivians living abroad. Regarding the future, he made clear the next big challenge for the coming years: the industrialization of the country.

Cientos de personas, convocadas por la Plataforma contra la Guerra de Afganistán, se manifestaron ayer en Madrid para exigir la salida de las tropas españolas de este país. En el acto de cierre, se cuestionó el papel que está desempeñando actualmente el gobierno español dentro de la OTAN y, más concretamente, en Afganistán.

El documento final de la reunión del Consejo de Defensa de UNASUR propone mantener a la región libre de armas nucleares. A su vez, proscribe a los países miembros al uso de la fuerza y cualquier tipo de agresión militar e integridad territorial de otros Estados. La ausencia de altas autoridades colombianas impidió agregar la condena a las bases extranjeras en la región.

Aminatou Haidar, defensora de los Derechos Humanos de los saharauis, fue expulsada a España por el gobierno de Marruecos. El Partido Humanista demanda el retorno de Haidar a su tierra con garantías para el ejercicio de sus derechos. También exige el cumplimiento de las resoluciones de la ONU respecto al Sahara Occidental y afirma que la no violencia es la única salida posible.

“In the next 60 seconds, 10 children will die of hunger,” says a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) online video. It continues, “For the first time in humanity, over 1 billion people are chronically hungry.” In addition to this online campaign, United Nations is hosting the World Summit on Food Security in Rome this week

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence was welcomed to Rabat by Siba, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by Dermolini, the Secretary General for Youth. The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Popular Movement, a party which includes many former members of the resistance who chose peace as the only method for conflict resolution.

The three-day World Summit on Food Security ended today after committing the international community to investing more in agriculture and to eradicating hunger at the earliest date. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, who hosted the event, said the Summit marked "an important step towards the achievement of our common objective - a world free from hunger".

Excellent news for the Quebecois! The organising committee of Non-violence Week in the Saguenay region in partnership with Stéphane Bédard, deputy of Chicoutimi, obtained the introduction of a bill on non-violence at the National Assembly of Quebec on November 12. This bill aims to designate 2 October every year as International Day of Non-violence.

The Peace Torch will be outside the public entrance at Holyrood from 13:00 hours, Tuesday 17th November. SNP MSP Bill Kidd has joined Minister for Parliament Bruce Crawford to welcome the World March for Peace and Nonviolence to the Scottish Parliament today, as the peace torch arrived at the Parliament at 13:00 hours.

The World March for Peace and Non-Violence base team was festively greeted by local organising teams at the Barcelona airport. Later, a delegation participated in various receptions held in Barcelona’s City Hall, the Generalitat (Catalonia’s autonomous government), and the Parliament of Catalonia. The Charter for a World without violence was given to Catalonian authorities.

World leaders convened at FAO Headquarters for the World Summit on Food Security today unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date. The Summit declaration vows better governance, increased investment and proactive climate change strategy.

Famine can be defeated using only 10% of what is currently spent on arms. This is the demand that volunteers from the international humanist organisation “World Without Wars and without Violence” put to the Presidents of the world, meeting this morning in Rome at the Summit proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Representatives of the honourable municipal council of Moreno, in the province of Buenos Aires, gave Silo the title of ‘Guest of Honour’ of the municipality. The authorities also invited the founder of Universalist Humanism to participate in a caravan for non-violence that will take place on December 27th and will pass through various spots in Moreno.

The Zero Nuclear Weapons Forum was held in Toronto this weekend, bringing together renowned experts and activists for informative discussions on nuclear disarmament. Over 250 people attended, and what was perhaps most notable throughout all the talks was the sense of optimism and hope that achieving a world free of nuclear weapons was now becoming possible.

Deposed President of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya, writes an open letter to US President Obama from the Embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa. In the letter, Zelaya cites his reasons for refusing any agreement to return to the presidency while also denying justification for military intervention under the guise the coup d'etat is the new form of State terrorism of the XXI Century.

En el presente artículo de opinión, el autor –afecto a las investigaciones sociales y políticas y miembro del organismo Centro Mundial de Estudios Humanistas- indaga sobre la raíz de las contradicciones manifiestas del actual mandatario norteamericano y elabora escenarios posibles para una resolución favorable de dichas dicotomías

Various events marked the Base Team’s first day in Madrid upon their arrival from Barcelona, including a meeting with the press, an honorary ceremony at the monument for the 11th of March victims, and a demonstration full of color and rhythm along main avenues. Thousands of people and diverse groups marched for peace and non-violence.

The Hiroshima Flame promoting the abolition of nuclear weapons was successfully carried from Paris to Perpignan form 6th to 12th of November. It will continue its journey to New York where it will arrive in May 2010 where there will be a huge manifestation for the abolition of nuclear weapons and where the 8th Review Conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty will be held.

Humanist activists change the names of several streets in Malaga from those of military figures from the Spanish civil war. The names chosen for temporary "substitution" have been key non-violence figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kyi or the generic “Non-violence Avenue”. This action is part of the introductory discourse from the arrival of the World March in Malaga.

Nobel Peace Laureates, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and youth representatives, gathered in Berlin on 10-11 November having considered the historical implications of the fall of the Berlin Wall and global developments during the 20 years since then, call on the international community to break down the national, international, personal and institutional walls

The World March Promoting Team in Ireland, from Kilkenny, Dublin, Cork, and Shannonwatch, a group of human rights and peace activists from the West of Ireland came together on Sunday the 8th of November to march for peace and nonviolence, which coincided with the regular every-second-Sunday-of-the-months Shannowatch vigil.

Activists from all over the world participated in Climate Action Day events that ranged from a human sun symbol to a show of flags from mountaintops. They called for an exigent, fair, and binding agreement based on the most recent scientific data that would be enforced rigorously enough to meet the target of an atmospheric CO2 level of 350 ppm.

(PL) Some 110 candidates for mayor and 55 candidates for congress will withdraw from elections set for next November 29 in Honduras as a protest against the military coup, announced one of the withdrawing candidates today. A candidate for the legislature until today, Alfredo Montalbán explained that the decision was adopted by candidates opposed to last June's coup d'etat.

Human rights and youth organizations, among them the Youth Network of Medellín (RJ) and the Foundation for Journalists for Peace (FUPERPAZ), are taking actions to highlight the role played by all of the conscientious objectors to the obligatory military service in Colombia. As such, they are trying to confront the militarization and violence that youth suffer in that country.

The non-recognition of the current government of Honduras has led to administrative collapse, according to Honduran associations in Spain. Representatives of these Honduran organizations are requesting the International Community, particularly the Spanish Government, to consider the vulnerable situation of Honduran immigrants as a consequence of closing Honduran consulates.

The proposal to include nutrition as a human right in the Federal Constitution of Brazil was passed in the first round by the House of Representatives with an overwhelming majority. This ammendment will be included among social rights already established in the Constitution: health, education, employment, and housing.

After having crossed more than 20 countries, the World March stopped over in Paris. On foot, by bus, by boat, to the cinema and finally to the Ministry of Defence, the international and Parisian Marchers, accompanied by the French spokesman Alain Ducq, made the 5 aims of this world campaign known, as well as their applicability to France.

The Spanish Humanist Party’s Federal Council has sent a letter to the President of the Government of Spain; José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in which it demands that he act towards Afghanistan in the same way he did with Iraq, whilst also inviting him to join the World March for Peach and Non-violence – which is to pass through Spain from 13th – 16th November.

The Manta and Montecristi Declaration, which emerged from the international event held in Ecuador in support of the passage of the Peace Boat, asks governments throughout the world for the abolition of nuclear arms, the dismantlement and recycling of foreign military bases, and the implementation of peace constitutions such as those that exist in Ecuador, Japan, and Costa Rica.

The Peruvian Government has sent four ministerial delegations to various South American countries to put into practice a proposal made by Alan Garcia, the President of Peru, at the last South American Union of Nations meeting. The Proposal is promoting a commitment to non-aggression, with the aim of ending the huge arms purchase in a continent seeking to eradicate poverty.

The city of Berlin commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall as guests, political leaders from throughout the European Union as well as the four allied powers that guarded the former divided city have already begun to arrive. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are also meeting at their 10th Summit which will take place at Berlin's City Hall.

Since his arrival at the White House, Obama signaled that poor healthcare coverage in the USA was a major problem and insisted on pushing through his proposals. The historic vote in the House of Representatives was an unprecedented victory for the President, who had staked much of his political capital in the fight for healthcare reform.

Twenty years ago a wall fell and the world watched in awe and in hope. The Berlin Wall had stood for decades as a physical reminder of how mistrust and hatred can dominate relations between nations and peoples. The men and women celebrating its fall were rejoicing not just the reunion of Germany and end of the Cold War but the promise of a new era of freedom and optimism.

This declaration, to be taken to the Nobel Peace Laureates Summit that will take place in Berlin on November 10th and 11th, requesting them to promote it from there, is signed by Patricia Arriagada and Roberto Kohanoff, in the name of the Middle East Team of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence, and Giorgio Shultze, Humanist European Spokesperson.

Concluding the Third Global Forum on Migration, Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, urges governments of the world to improve living conditions and treatment of immigrants. Moon emphasizes that 'immigrants be treated with more sensitivity in the face of these dramatic events. Protecting and promoting human rights of immigrants is fundamental, regardless of legal status'.

A report prepared by Marco Gandásegui, professor at the University of Panama and researcher associated with the CELA, demonstrates that the United States approved a military budget of 626 billion dollars in October 2009, the highest sum for a country in all of history. Alarming statistics and tendencies for a world that is on the brink of a possible nuclear tragedy.

An important press conference with participants such as Alena Gajdusova, First Vice-president of the Senate, Rafael de La Rubia, president of World Without Wars, and Otakar Mika, expert in nuclear arms issues. They all emphasized that it is important for countries to choose to reduce armaments and assign new roles for their armies.

Venerdì 30 ottobre Colombia e Stati Uniti hanno firmato il controverso trattato militare in base al quale truppe USA avranno l’uso di basi strategiche su territorio colombiano, fatto visto da molti paesi come una minaccia per la regione. A loro volta, settori dello spettro politico colombiano vedono nel trattato un pericolo per la stabilità della pace nella stessa regione.

The spokesman for the World March in France, Alain Ducq, went to Abidjan to adjudicate the March’s mission during a conference at an Ivorian university and television station where he invited the President of the Republic, Laurent Gbagbo, to support the Charter for a World Without Violence, drafted by Nobel Peace Laureates.

The new conservative-liberal coalition government wants the United States to withdraw all nuclear weapons still deployed in Germany despite the fall of the Berlin Wall, end of the cold war and re-unification twenty years ago. Observers said that Merkel would take up the issue when she travels to Washington to address the U.S. Congress on November 3.

In Stockholm, for the third time on its journey, the delegates of the World March have been welcomed by members of a National Parliament. Per Bolund, member of the Green Party, declared “by passing through Sweden the World March has given us the real push to work on the theme of peace and nonviolence in our Parliament”.

Finnish President Tarja Halonen received a delegation of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence that had recently arrived from Estonia in the official presidential residence in Helsinki. Halonen expressed her public support for the March, saying, “The government of Finland supports the total elimination of nuclear arms”.

A first but not last historical event of Esmirna where over 2000 strong, marched 2 kilometers with participants from over 30 organizations; including Human Rights, Greens, Communists, and Kurdish groups. The march concluded in speeches by members of the World March team and human rights representatives in Turkey.

As part of its 67th voyage around the world, the Peace Boat will arrive in the port of Manta in Ecuador carrying over 400 passengers and 10 Hibakusha (survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs) who are participants in the “Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World – Peace Boat Hibakusha Project.” The program includes a conference on peace constitutions.

From 25 to 31 October, Jamaica will be the seat of the V Ministerial Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas. This Summit's priority will be to encourage a reassessment of agriculture and the rural environment, in the face of development challenges and to favour urban-rural integration for improved development in those countries.

A group made up of Estonian Liberal and Green Party MPs, led by Toomas Trapido, welcomed the World March base team to Tallinn. Rafael de la Rubia, spokesperson for the march, presented the Parliament with the March Manifesto, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and the Charter for a World without Violence drafted by Nobel Peace Laureates.

On October 25th, “The March for Equality” concluded in Madrid, having begun on September 23 in Barcelona. It finished with a protest against reform of the Immigration Law. The protest came to a close with the reading of a declaration that lists reasons for opposing this law, which is presently going through the parliamentary process.

As the centerpiece for Fall of Berlin Wall Celebration, convening in Berlin, Germany, 9-11 November 2009, the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will join heads of state and government invited by the German government for the national celebration. Chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev and Walter Veltroni, co-chairman of the summit, the event is hosted by the City of Berlin.

The five anti-nuclear activists who used their bodies to peacefully block access to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston last autumn, told Reading Magistrates’ Court during their trial that they were acting in a non-violent way in order to prevent future war crimes involving nuclear weapons. More details can be found at: www.tridentploughshares.org

Including the Mayor of Moreno, now more than a dozen cities in Argentina have endorsed the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. Mayor Arregui, in his message announcing participation in the initiative, which he made in the La Reja Park of Study and Reflection in Moreno, Buenos Aires, called on others to work “hard in the fight against violence and for world peace”.

Every year the United Nations organises this week to coincide with the anniversary of its founding. The aim is to raise awareness among all of the UN’s member states of the danger posed by the arms race, to propagate the need to put an end to it and to foster a better public understanding of the urgent task of disarmament.

CND welcomes the decision by politicians in Plymouth to oppose plans for a nuclear waste factory in the center of their city. In preparation for a major protest demonstration march on Saturday 31st October, Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, welcomed the decision of Plymouth Council leader to challenge nuclear dump at Plymouth's Devonport Dockyard.

The Nobel Peace Prize that U.S. President Barack Obama recently received continues to provoke strong debate. Writers, ambassadors and institutions have opined on the controversial choice. What is certain is that, with this award, it is hoped that Obama makes a contribution to the strengthening of Peace in his country and in the world.

Rural and indigenous movements, along with teacher, student and worker organizations declared their rejection of the agreement, which could be signed on 30th October, between the Governments of Panama and the United States to reinstall military bases. The project falls under Plan Colombia, now the Mérida Initiative, designed by the North American Government.

The flags of Peace and Nonviolence have entered Turkey from Syria. The teams met on the sixteenth at a border pass in the region of Hatay, in the middle of the night and on a road with little traffic at that time. The group had come from Syria on foot. After passport control, the two teams greeted each other with hugs and laughter.

On October 19, after having met with some of the well known figures of this southwestern Anatolian city, the Middle East team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence took part in a festival amongst a gathering of 4000 strong, sharing their message of nonviolence at a time where the possibility seems to be opening up for peace between Turks and Kurds in this part of Turkey.

Here we publish Mikhail Gorbachev's open letter to the President of the United States, congratulating him for his efforts to bring about a significant change in the international climate and on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2009, asking the support from Americans and from men and women of good will throughout the world.

Rajagopal, founder of Ekta Parishad, a movement that promotes non-violent struggle in favor of the landless in India, is currently touring Europe. In Madrid, he held a meeting with various organizations to share information and create a network of support for his initiatives, aimed at making legal changes to assist the poorest segments in Indian society.

One day on from World Food Day, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty aims to raise awareness within the public opinion, about the importance of eradicating poverty and homelessness in all countries, and especially in the developing countries. But the shortfall between the aims of this proposal and the real data grows every day.

The Alianza Española contra la Pobreza has called for, during the week of October 16-18 in more than 50 cities throughout Spain, demonstrations against the causes of poverty and for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals under the rubric “Rebel against Poverty”. The demonstrators demand that the Government fulfill its promises.

Dozens of organizations demonstrated this past Saturday, October 17, in Madrid, to demand the discontinuation of the project to reform immigration law. “We are protesting because this law sanctions discrimination against immigrants and signifies a violation of human rights,” proclaimed Sara Tajuelo, spokesperson for the Convergence of Cultures.

Participants of the World March make a silent vigil outside Northwood Headquarters, military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces near London. It is home to three command and control functions of the British armed forces and NATO; Permanent Joint Headquarters, Commander in Chief Fleet and the NATO Regional Command, Allied Maritime Component Command Northwood.

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), one of the most violent groups that took part in the Northern Ireland conflict, announced in a statement that “the armed struggle is over” and that from now on they will pursue their objectives through “exclusively peaceful political struggle”. The armed group murdered 113 people between 1975 and 2001.

The organization “Circulo Latinoamericano de Estudios Internacionales”, part of Abolition 2000, is pushing for the signing of a letter requesting the withdrawal of all US bases from Latin America. Until now, the signatories are artists, politicians, and professionals from Mexican civil society, but they are looking to extend the initiative to signatories from the entire region.

This Friday, October 16th, marks the celebration World Food Day 2009, started and sponsored by the United Nations. This year’s theme “Achieving food security in times of crises” seeks to highlight the seriousness of the problems facing food supplies in the world, as well as the effects of biofuel production and climate change.

As Nobel Peace Laureates and Nobel Peace Laureate Organizations will meet on November 10th and 11th in Berlin, Germany, they are preparing the open letter we publish here in order that it can be signed by all individuals and organizations who agree on its content and on the concept that "Violence is a preventable disease".

Both parties to the Honduras dispute say progress was made during crisis talks. The delegations reportedly reached partial agreement on a proposal submitted by Costa Rican President Óscar Arias. His proposal involves the formation of a government of national unity and elections to be held at the end of next month, as they were planned.

The first ever Legislative Bill for a Department of Peace in the Canadian Parliament was tabled on Sept. 30. The Bill calls for a Federal Department of Peace, headed by a Cabinet level Minister. This Department should coordinate and promote issues such as Nuclear Disarmament, Human and Economic Rights, Peace Education and Prevention of Violence in Canada.

The peace accord signed on October 10th intends to normalize the relations between the two nations, which crisis stems from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish Empire during the First World War. The accord was signed in Zürich, Switzerland, at a ceremony attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday less than a year after he took office with the jury hailing his "extraordinary" diplomatic efforts on the international stage. The President said he was "both surprised and humbled" by the Nobel Committee's decision. The decision is seen as an encouregement towards peace efforts in his nine months office.

On Wednesday, October 7th, activists from the Humanist Movement entered the Obelisk, a national historic site located in downtown Buenos Aires, where they hung an orange banner almost 50 meters long with the logo of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, accompanied by orange pennants. The non-violent direct action was widely reported in local newspapers.

A report produced by the humanitarian organizations Amnesty International, Oxfam, Greenpeace and Fundació per la Pau (Foundation for Peace) reveals that Spain is currently the sixth largest arms exporter, after the United States, Russia, Germany, France and England. According to the report, in 2008 Spain made 934 million Euros worth of defense material transactions.

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.

Among the official ceremonies for Peace Day, and by invitation of the Government of Zambia, the World March for Peace and Nonviolence has been officially announced. During the opening ceremony for the March, the Minister of Information and Communications and the African country's Representative to the United Nations have publicly joined this inaugural global march.

The State Council for the Awareness and Prevention of Domestic Violence (CEPAVI) will add events to raise awareness about peace and non-violence to those planned for the Bicentennial of Mexican Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution, to occur in October and November, among other activities for these purposes that the organization will carry out.

Mahatma Gandhi, whose legacy this annual observance celebrates, once observed that “non-violence, to be worth anything, has to work in the face of hostile forces.” In today’s world, we face many hostile forces -- multiple and persistent crises that demand a response from leaders and grassroots alike. Inspired by Gandhi’s life, the UN today works to end violence.

Panama announced it will sign an agreement with the United States before October 30th to establish military naval stations in Bahia Piña and Punta Coca, on the Pacific Coast. Panama is a member of the Mérida initiative, promoted by the US government to combat drug trafficking. The two governments also discussed how to approach the political crisis in Honduras.

The Lebanese Ambassador to Argentina, Hicham Hamdan, highlighted the essential role that the press plays in achieving world peace. He also emphasized the importance of expanding nuclear nonproliferation agreements to all countries. Although the Middle East is deemed a "hot zone", Hamdan believes that his country has made advances in overcoming violence.

The Obama administration has effectively abandoned a demand that Israel freeze settlement expansion before the resumption of peace talks. President Obama signaled the shift on Tuesday as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Obama urged both sides to “move forward” and enter final-status talks.

In this article, the author analyses some of the factors that establish the “Bolivian Process”, led by President Evo Morales, as a peaceful, non-violent humanist process. A new revolutionary constitution that extends rights to more Bolivian citizens at home and abroad and Morales’ response to conflictive situation corroborate this assessment.

Leading the fight for human rights, Councillor Ítalo Cardoso (PT-SP) declares allegiance to the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. “In my capacity as vice-president of the Human Rights Commission, Chamber of São Paulo, I was among the first to support the March, which I hope, wherever it passes through, finds people from all nations striving for peace and freedom”.

At the Faculty of Political Science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Complutense University of Madrid), Evo Morales spoke about his political project and explained before professors and students: “I learn from contact with the people, to better serve the people… Governing is simple: it’s a matter of taking initiatives, of listening to proposals.”

“Hoping that it contributes to what we proposed within UNASUR, so that our South American continent is a region of peace”. Fernando Lugo expresses as such his official support for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. The initiative of the organization World Without Wars already had the support of the Presidents of Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina.

Seeing the manner in which South American governments have embarked upon a new unbridled arms race with unforeseeable consequences is regrettable. If, for the present, this hasn't meant open warfare, tomorrow there will be others governing in the region who may use the purchases made now. Only the people can end this collective madness that has started to appear.

Iran has agreed to negotiate with six world powers about nuclear issues, but according to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tehran will not negotiate over its right to possessing "peaceful nuclear technology". Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi also said that Tehran will not negotiate about its "undeniable nuclear rights".

In a meeting at the Forum Nueva Economía that President Evo Morales held this morning with Spanish businessmen, they listened to the same speech that thousands of people were able to hear the day before in Leganés. During the breakfast meeting, Morales welcomed foreign investments as long as they met Bolivian regulations.

According to the Brazilian Chancellor Celso Amorím, the recent agreement with France on the purchase of military aircraft also includes transfer of technology for the manufacture of such aircraft in Brazil. As a result of the agreement between Lula and Sarkozy, Brazil will buy 36 fighter-bombers, a sign that it is strengthening its military industrial capacity.

South American countries spent more than US$51billion dollars in defense in 2008, almost 30% more than last year, according to a study carried out by the Centro de Estudios Unión para la Nueva Mayoría. Military investment is to increase further following a recent military purchase and technology sharing agreement between France and Brazil.

Because “no part of life is repeatable, every person is irreplaceable, and every death is irreversible”, Peace Week 2009 will be celebrated this September 5th through 13th all over Colombia as an invitation to protect life. This year’s Peace Week is an initiative of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence whose global trek will bring it through Colombia on December 15th.

Three of the member countries of NATO want to urgently detail a plan of retreat from Afghanistan; this comes after the latest strike against two tankers at the start of September - implicating the West in the death of civilians. A conference will be held between representatives of the three countries to arrange plans.

The Humanists have expressed their lament for the loss of human life and demand the total retreat of foreign troops in Afghanistan. “All foreign troops including those from Spain, constitute an occupying force and should retreat immediately. We demand that the Government give these orders without delay.”, declared Pau Segado, General Secretary of the Humanist Party.

James Elder, an Australian national, was appointed spokesperson for the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) in July last year. He appeared regularly on television and radio news, as well as in print media, discussing the plight of children caught up in Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war. He has now been accused by the government of doing propaganda in support of the LTTE.

A spokesperson for Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission says votes from 447 polling stations have been annulled due to fraud. The cancelled ballot papers could amount to as many as 200,000 votes. Partial results released today give sitting President Hamid Karzai 48.6 percent of the vote while his closest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, 31.7 percent.

Peruvian President Alan García has been accused by the Executive Director of Peru’s Association for Human Rights (APRODEH), Miguel Jugo Viera, of trying to force the Police to use their weapons to repress popular protests. During 2009 Peru has been witness already to 52 cases of people assassinated in protests in the country.

The Governor of the province of Mendoza, Celso Jaque, in a document of adhesion to the World March for Peace under the auspices of the World Without Wars Foundation, appealed to people to "unite in a commitment to work for freedom, dialogue, equality, respect and justice, and to achieve peace. May this be an opportunity for light to dispel the shadows that cloud our future".

A study published by the University of Heidelberg reveals the gap between the media-generated image of war and the nature of the actual conflicts. Although the Second World War ended with great aspirations for world peace, since that time the total number of world conflicts has risen in a moderate, but constantly upward, curve.

The 53-member Commonwealth voted to fully suspend Fiji because it has failed to schedule elections by October of 2010. The Commonwealth objects to the decision by the government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who seized power in a 2006 coup, to delay elections until 2014. Mr Bainimarama wants to reform the voting system which he says works in favor of ethnic Fijians.

Northrop Grumman personnel ready a visiting unmanned Global Hawk aircraft for takeoff at Brunswick Naval Air Station. A pilot from Patrol navigates the craft remotely from Patuxent River (Md.) Naval Air Station. The Global Hawk’s approximately stay represented the first time one of the military’s vaunted drones had ever landed from a New England location.

Celso Jaque, the governor of the Argentine province of Mendoza, has signed the Provincial Declaration of Interest in the World March for Peace and Non-Violence. The government’s backing was announced in the Official Gazette on Monday, June 8th. The global journey’s completion will be commemorated with a ceremony in Punta de Vacas Park, Mendoza, on January 2nd of 2010.

31 August 2009. The Trial Court of Chimaltenango ordered the immediate arrest of Felipe Cusanero Coj, the ex military commissioner responsible for the disappearance of six people from the village of Choatalum during the “internal armed conflict”, and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for each person disappeared. This legal ruling is a landmark in the history of Guatemala.

On Sunday, LDP party, in power since 1955, suffered a historic defeat in parliamentary elections. Japanese voters shifted to the left. According to the official results, the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan has won 308 out of a total of 480 seats in parliament. A record 54 women have won seats in the new Japanese parliament, where women generally are under-represented.

Miramar is a coastal resort where thousands of Argentinians choose to spend their summer vacations. It is located 50 km from the world-renowned city of Mar del Plata. Its Mayor, Patricio Hogan, recently joined in supporting the proposals of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence and committed to promote the global initiative against violence throughout his municipality.

Crisis talks to end months of political instability in Madagascar have collapsed as the parties failed to agree who should hold key posts in a transitional government. Ousted president Marc Ravalomanana and his successor Andry Rajoelina remained deadlocked over who should occupy the presidency in the interim government, the African Union - which is brokering the talks - said.

Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan arrived in Martha’s Vineyard to lead a protest near the home where President Obama is vacationing. Sheehan made international headlines four years ago when she led large protests outside President Bush’s home in Crawford, Texas. On Thursday, Sheehan criticized Obama for expanding the war in Afghanistan.

The main subject at the summit was the installation of US bases in Colombia. Alvaro Uribe defended the decision to allow them in order to combat drug-trafficking, while President Correa pointed out that “Never before have we discussed foreign bases in South America, and we used to have them in Ecuador for example,” and he stressed the creation of “criteria and rules”.

At the summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to be held in the city of Bariloche, Argentina, Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, will propose a continental referendum on the establishment of US military bases in Colombia. In recent declarations he has called for a defence of the interests of Latin American peoples.

An attempt to mediate in Honduras by the Organization of American States (OAS) is being resisted by the interim government of Honduras. The OAS sent a delegation of top officials to negotiate the return of the ousted president Manuel Zelaya. The OAS proposed Tegucigalpa to install a government of national unity with Manuel Zelaya at its head until the November elections.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Saeb Erakat, said today, 25th August, that a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis was possible. “International law and United Nations resolutions clearly outline how to resolve this conflict. The Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative provide a clear way forward”, said Erakat.

The official list published Saturday of winners in elections to the Revolutionary Council of the Palestinian Fatah movement included 67-year-old Dr. Uri Davis, a Jerusalem-born Jew. He was elected number 31 of 80 members. When his name was announced, members in the auditorium of the Bethlehem school where the conference was being held, applauded long and loud.

A legislative amendment already passed into Law by Congress would permit the Justice ministry to be renamed the Ministry of Justice and Peace, instead of Justice and Grace, its current denomination. In addition, the legislative amendment will create the National System for Promotion of Peace and Citizen Coexistence, an essential point of this model initiative for Latin America.

The new Honduran regime has severed diplomatic ties with Argentina in response to the expulsion last week of Honduran ambassador to Buenos Aires, Carmen Eleonora Ortez Williams, because of her support for the military coup. A delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is currently in Honduras to investigate mistreatment of Zelaya’s supporters.

In other Mideast news, the Israeli military has declared the shooting of an unarmed American peace activist “an act of war.” The activist, Tristan Anderson, was critically injured when Israeli soldiers fired a tear gas canister directly at his head in March. According to Anderson’s family this would mean that Israel’s government admits that it is at war with civilians.

Iraqi’s government is backing a vote that could force an early US withdrawal. On Monday, the Iraqi cabinet said it would support holding a national referendum over the US-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement. The agreement calls for a US withdrawal by the end of 2011. But if Iraqis reject the timetable, US troops would be forced to begin pulling out nearly one year earlier.

The election campaigns in Afghanistan have ended with mass rallies by a number of presidential candidates. Actual President Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah lead the polls. To gain support of the Ayatollahs and Uzbek voters, Karzai approved a law against women’s right to refuse sexual demand of husbands and allowed the return of Abdul Rashid Dostum.

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".

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.

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.

(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 Argentina, more former army officers have been found guilty of crimes committed under the military dictatorship. Former general Santiago Omar Riveros, who commanded the infamous Campo de Mayo barracks, received the heaviest sentence.

The junta led by General Leopolde Galtieri ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, during which time at least 30,000 people disappeared.

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.

After 14 years of political confinement the non-violent activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced to another 18 months for an alleged violation of her house arrest, has chosen the freedom of coherence. She stated that she does not feel deprived of liberty since "in an authoritarian state, only the prisoner of conscience is truly free".

Madagascar's feuding leaders said on Sunday they had agreed a power-sharing deal and would hold elections on the giant Indian Ocean island within 15 months. A communique issued after talks in Mozambique's capital said a national unity government would be set up comprised of a prime minister, three deputy first ministers and 28 members.

(OneWorld.net) - Marking the 64th anniversary of the U.S. nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed over 100,000 civilians, a disarmament group celebrated a day of peace last week. The annual Sadako Peace Day ceremony was inspired by a young girl who died from leukemia as a result of the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima in 1945.

The opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to further 18 months home imprisonment which would prevent her from participating in Myanmar's elections in May 2010. Ms Suu Ky won the Peace Nobel Price in 1991. In 1990 she had won the right to be Prime Minister when her coalition won 59% of the votes but a military junta prevented her from assuming office.

In the first poll in 20 years, though Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's continues in office, an important overhaul of Fatah’s Central Committee changed 14 of the 18 members with younger representatives. Fatah’s position has rejected violence and proclaims “two states for two people”. Their main condition is the removal of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Copenhaguen conference calls for Arctic nuclear-weapon-free zone to be demilitarized as Antarctica. It was attended by parliamentarians, academics, scientists, indigenous representatives and activists from Arctic countries and from established nuclear-weapon-free zones. Participants are flying to Thule military base, Greenland – site of B52 nuclear bomber crash in 1968.

Honduras’s de facto rulers said Sunday they had resolved a disagreement with the Organization of American States over a visit to the Central American country to discuss its political crisis. The government running Honduras since a coup in June had told OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza to stay away but now has changed its mind, and allows him to come with a delegation.

United States President Barack Obama will hold a press conference with the leaders of Mexico and Canada at 1730 UTC. President Obama arrived in Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, on Sunday evening for a day and a half of talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. In the agenda: Flu, drugs, NAFTA and the Honduras’s crisis.

In Budapest, a joint delegation from the Humanist Movement, Greenpeace Hungary, and ATTAC Hungary visited the embassies of countries with nuclear weapons. Later that day, 150 people staged a die-in demonstration in front of the Hungarian parliament building, to commemorate the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks.

While post-ouster Toll hits Five people dead, Honduran General General Romeo Vasquez, denies Coup, and pressure from the United Nations, the OAS, Central American presidents, increases. In an interview with CNN, President Zelaya said that with a tighter pressure from the United States, the coup could no be maintained any longer.

After two Zelaya supporters died in Honduras, ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya vowed on Saturday to return to power through peaceful means and said he would take his case to the International Criminal Court. He declared that it was in the convenience of the United States to withhold a common vision of democracy, and not support the coup d’état.

Avaaz.org, a community made up of three million citizens, is calling on all residents of Latin America to sign a declaration which is to be sent to the negotiating table for the political conflict in Honduras. A formal request will be submitted to Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica, “[in order for] the parties involved to be aware that the people of Latin America will only accept a political resolution based on democratic principles”.

On Thursday morning the process will start to build a platform for dialogue between Zelaya and Micheletti at the home of Costa Rica President, Oscar Arias Sanchez.

Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is in Washington today for meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It’s Zelaya’s highest-level meeting with a U.S. official since his overthrow last month.

US President, Barack Obama and Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, yesterday signed terms of an agreement to reduce strategic nuclear weapons by a third, despite differences over US plans to install an anti-missile shield in Europe. The Russian president proposed the creation of an anti-missile shield capable of protecting all countries worldwide.

Barack Obama is getting ready for his first trip to Moscow that will last from Monday 6th of July to Wednesday 9th. This is a re-start of a new area in the relations between Russia and the USA. Depending on those meetings is the future of the bilateral nuclear programme of disarmament and the anti missile shield affair (NMD) that the USA plans to build in Central Europe.

In this Summit a new treaty will be prepared in order to reduce the nuclear strategic arsenal of both countries, to replace the START-1 treaty that will expire on December 5th 2009.

Honduras is facing growing regional and international pressure to restore the overthrown President Manuel Zelaya. Earlier today, the thirty-five-member Organization of American States said it would suspend Honduras unless Zelaya is returned to office within three days. The ultimatum follows Tuesday’s unanimous decision by the UN General Assembly to condemn the coup. Addressing the UN, Zelaya stuck by his vow to return to Honduras on Thursday despite threats of arrest.

President Obama: “President Zelaya was democratically elected. He had not yet completed his term. We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there. In that, we have joined all the countries in the region, including Colombia and the Organization of American States. I think it would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections.”

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.

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.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday called on Palestinians to unite for the creation of their own state in two years, without waiting for an end to the Israeli occupation.

Russia is ready for deep cuts of strategic nuclear weapons in a new deal with the United States if the U.S. eases Moscow's concerns about plans for a missile defense system, President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.

On Capitol Hill, the Democratic House leadership is pressuring antiwar Democrats to support a $106 billion supplemental war funding bill. In May, fifty-one antiwar Democrats opposed an earlier version of the bill.

Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik was outsourced to Sudan for torture by Canada. Cleared of all allegations, Canada refuses to let him back home.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last communist general secretary, called for a new American “revolution” — also calling it a “perestroika,” or government restructuring — in an editorial published Wednesday in The Sydney Morning Herald .

Spokespersons from the Humanist Movement have planned protests in front of Peruvian embassies to condemn violent tactics used against the Amazon people after the massacre of indigenous people in Bagua brought on by the actions of the Peruvian government.

Last Wednesday, the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, assured that his country would be willing to renounce nuclear weapons if the United States does so.

The White House said Monday that Obama and Netanyahu had "constructive" talks by phone ahead of the prime minister's speech on the Middle East peace process next week.

With over 75 000 votes (2,6%) the Green-Humanist political alliance proved that a new alternative is gaining strength in Hungarian politics.

Hungarian Humanist Party and Politics

In the European Parliamentary Election campaign, the Humanist Party denounced the “Directive of Shame” and demands that the Spanish Government closes Internment Centres for Foreigners.

A few days after endorsing the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, informs the whole country of his decision to support the initiative for nuclear disarmament.

What’s happened to the concepts of humanitarian military intervention and the responsibility to protect? How come no-one stepped in to prevent thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils being killed?

Cairo, May 24 (Prensa Latina) Egypt''s Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will travel to Washington to address the Middle East peace process with US authorities, local sources reported on Sunday.

The healing of the nation stands as a priority and this means integrating the Maoist Army with the National Army.

IPS - Over the last few days, the Chilean capital has hosted two very different activities that, however, had a common objective: promoting global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

“Governments only mobilize today if there is popular pressure,” said Rafael de la Rubia, coordinator of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, thankful for the support declared by the mayor of Bogotá in the launching of the initiative in Colombia.

Bolivian legislators approved an historic electoral law increasing the representation for the Bolivian people from low income rural areas.

Hicham Hamdan, the Lebanese Ambassador to Argentina, ensured that Arab countries will give a positive response to the proposals of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

Yesterday the government of conservative Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek, was dismissed by Parliament with a motion presented by the Social-Democratic opposition. This is a great victory for the Non-violent Movement against the bases in the Czech Republic that saw the real possibility to oppose the installation of US military radar bases.

World Without Wars Association promotes manifestations in various cities of the world during the week that marks the 6th anniversary of the invasion of Irak

Obama´s administration will present a plan to Russia calling for an 80% reduction in each country's stockpile of nuclear weapons