Activist Edward Snowden’s choice of Hong Kong as a hideaway came as a surprise to many of the territories’ citizens. It brought a sense of renewed relevance to the place for some here, who, while happy that Hong Kong is far away from the world’s chaotic tumult so evident today, have some excitement in the fact we are now highlighted on the world’s media. While the issue itself of bringing information to the ...

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 collaborative effort between people of the 15M, OWS, Occupy, Indignados, and YoSoy 132 movements. These notes are an attempt to summarise some of the common points between what are known as emerging movements, that is, the various social movements that have appeared in different parts of the world since 2011. They have been compiled with the input from members of these movements. (15M, OWS, Occupy, Indign ...

THE Savar tragedy is a symbol of our failure as a nation. The crack in Rana Plaza that caused the collapse of the building has only shown us that if we don’t face up to the cracks in our state systems, we as a nation will get lost in the debris of the collapse. Today, the souls of those who lost their lives in Rana Plaza are watching our actions and listening to what we say. The last breath of those souls s ...

The Swedish Foreign Minister (and former Prime Minister) Carl Bildt has found himself in hot water after his curious comments on a radio show in response to questions over Sweden’s refusal to recognize the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons at the committee of state parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty this past April (NPT PrepCom). The Swedish government has been criticized for neglect ...

Responding to articles in the media on Bangladesh and the terrible building collapse and worker deaths, our organisation wants to point out that trade action against Bangladesh will only add to the problems in the country. When the quota system was abandoned years ago because of reports of child labour abuses, which were indeed taking place, factories closed across the country, the young workers and their m ...

In dramatic scenes in Geneva today, reminiscent of the 2010 NPT conference when several countries walked out as the Iranian President addressed delegates, Egypt advised the room that they were withdrawing from the rest of the 2013 NPT preparatory committee as a result of the "flagrant non-fulfilment of agreed commitments" in the 2010 NPT outcome document, namely the convening of a conference on the subject ...

Three Britons are jailed in Dubai for drugs offences using confessions that those found guilty claim were extracted by torture, the day before the UK hosts a state visit by Sheikh Khalifa, the UAE ruler, during which UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, hopes to land a £3 billion (US£ 4.65 billion) deal for 60 Eurofighter Typhoon jets.  Pressenza publishes here the latest statement by the Campaign Against the ...

Let us be clear. The United States can verify absolutely nothing about the use of chemical weapons (CWs) in Syria. Any suggestion to the contrary is entirely false. Don’t take it from me – here is what US officials have to say about the subject: A mere 24 hours after Washington heavyweights from the White House, Pentagon, and State Department brushed aside Israeli allegations of chemical weapons use in Syri ...

At the NPT prepcom in Geneva today, South Africa presented a statement on behalf of 74 states highlighting the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.  Pressenza publishes the statement in full here. Delivered by Ambassador Abdul Samad Minty, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations at Geneva, 24 April 2013 Chairperson, I am taking the floor on behalf of the following States Parties to ...