Region

While at least fifteen people fasted against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and thousands protested, the work at the plant returned to normal Tuesday, 20 March. This was a day after the Tamil Nadu government gave the go-ahead to restart work on the stalled Indo-Russian project, with officials saying the first unit would be commissioned, ‘as soon as possible.’

In recent weeks, there has been a notable shuffle in the positions of key external players in the Syrian crisis. Momentum has quite suddenly shifted from an all-out onslaught against the Assad government to a quiet investigation of exit strategies. The clashes between government forces and opposition militias in Baba Amr were a clear tipping point for these players…

Should academia deal with Spirituality? What is spirituality anyway? Is it different from religion? Is secularism the same as atheism? Is secularism growing? Is atheist humanism in need of spirituality? These and other questions were discussed at Haifa University. Members of Silo’s Message participated with its point of view about a new spirituality arising in the world.

Following several days of mounting tensions after Israel discusses openly the possibility of bombing Iran’s nuclear installations, an Israeli couple starts a Facebook page called “Israelis love Iranians” stating in posters: we will never bomb your country. Soon responses from Iranians began to arrive saying “We love you too”.

During a visit to Israel by friends from Europe and Latin America to disseminat Silo’ Message and Universalist Humanism, we had the opportunity to attend the Fourth International Conference for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality (ICSCS) at the University of Haifa. We were invited by the director of the Education Department Prof. Ofra Mayseless.

An album by international artists to benefit the
Global March to Jerusalem – North America.

The recent Arab uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa have inspired popular
movements worldwide to take to the streets to peacefully protest against contemporary injustices. Many artists in these movements are also using music as a way to non-violently resist.

Will 2012 be as bad as last year for Chileans working in the media,
particularly news photographers and cameramen, as well as journalists and
bloggers close to protest movements? The fear is well-founded and has been
highlighted once again as support for the protest movement in the poor
southern region of Aysén has spread, and students have once again gone on
the march.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is warning that more than a million children below the age of five in the Sahel are facing a disaster amid the ongoing food crisis in the drought-prone region of Africa.

Washington DC – Compelling advice against a hasty, unilateral decision by Israel to “bomb, bomb, bomb” Iran has come – from Israel. The advice is significant not only for what was said, but for who said it.

Al-Akhbar blog published a report Friday, March 16, 2012 informing that Afghanistan’s president had suggested that more than one US soldier was involved in the massacring of the 16 Afghan civilians killed in two villages last week. Update to Terror, Trauma, and the Endless Afghan War, by Amy Goodman, featured on Pressenza.