I participated, May 1-11, 2013 in the Mussalaha International Peace Delegation to Lebanon-Syria alongside fellow TRANSCEND member Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, from Ireland, and 15 others from eight countries. Keenly aware of my responsibility, especially to my newly made Syrian and Lebanese friends left behind, I shall try to report, describe, make sense of what I saw, heard and experienced; also o ...

A number of British overseas territories that function as Tax Havens have agreed to a higher level of transparency opening their books to the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. “In a statement, the [UK] Treasury said that Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands have agreed to much greater levels of transparency of bank accounts held in those jurisdiction ...

By Marta Molina April 29, 2013 To commit an act of civil disobedience requires one to let go of their fear, understand their enemy and their enemy’s power. It must be rooted in good strategy and be supported by an organized group. But most importantly, the action must help to build alternatives to the power structures it confronts. This type of action is exactly what 38-year-old Enric Durán, a Catalán from ...

The KLICK! Award 2013 has started – Send us your pictures! From 17-19 June, this year's Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn will spotlight "The Future of Growth – Economic Values and the Media”. A worldwide photo competition will honor outstanding images that capture related themes. This year's photo competition KLICK! is called “Your view of a Sustainable Economy”. The deadline for submissions is 10 ...

After a full week of intensive activities in Oslo during the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, major anti-nuclear campaigners moved Monday to the Bahraini capital, Manama, in yet another step towards the abolition of atomic weapons. “Nuclear weapons – the most inhuman and destructive of all tools of war – are at the peak of a pyramid of violence in this increasingly interdependent wo ...

Since the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site 20 years ago, Kazakhstan has been committed to put an end to nuclear weapons. Last year, the Nazarbayev Center was created in Astana to pursue this fight. Roman Vassilenko, Deputy Director of the Center, is very much involved in this issue. He was a few weeks ago in Oslo for the two conferences on nuclear weapons and has written an opinion article we ...

Press release from the International Campaign Against Nuclear weapons (ICAN) The historic Oslo Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons has concluded with the announcement of a follow-up meeting to be hosted by Mexico. A wide range of states and organisations agreed that an understanding of the global humanitarian consequences of nuclear detonations should be the starting point for urgent ac ...

Pressenza republishes this press release from Article36 website. 127 states have taken part in the first-ever conference on the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons, and will meet again in Mexico to take the next step in this initiative to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. This marks a pivotal move towards establishing a treaty than bans nuclear weapons. “States, inte ...

In Oslo today 127 nations, together with international organisations and civil society representatives wrapped up their 2 day conference on the humanitarian consequences of a nuclear war. Presentation after presentation by organisations, experts and survivors left those delegates present in no doubt that nuclear weapons have no place in global politics or military strategy.  Peter Maurer, President of The R ...

By Jean-Marie Collin, “Blog Défense et Géopolitique, Alternatives-Internationales” Here’s a book worth reading!  Its author, Ward Wilson, deconstructs in simple terms the myths that “protect nuclear arsenals”.  His book is a success, because after publication in January last year, he hasn’t stopped travelling the world and large international bodies to present his reflections.  On the 20th of February he wa ...