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The final pull-out of US troops from Iraq marks the end or perhaps just one stage of the end, of the biggest military disaster since Vietnam. Every US-UK goal behind the invasion has been lost, in some cases humiliatingly.

Nairobi – South Sudan -the world’s newest country– now faces the danger of a wide-spreading “inter-ethnic” war after increasing armed clashes between two major tribes that took around one thousand lives so far.

Cairo – A civilian court has ordered an end to the practice of forced virginity tests on female detainees in military prisons. Judge Ali Fekry, head of the Egyptian Administrative Court, read out the ruling at noon on December 27 in a courtroom packed with pro-democracy activists and journalists. The crowd immediately erupted in cheers of jubilation and anti-military chants.

Rome -“They expected that we were all dead, but we are still alive.” Silvano Sarti talks through a bullhorn to the people gathered in Dalmazia square, in Florence.

Montevideo – The World Trade Organization (WTO) has failed. In December, the Doha Round is turning ten years old, with nothing to celebrate[i]. Formal negotiations of the Round expired in 2005, without any agreement, and informal negotiations stalled in 2008. Indications in December too were that an agreement to liberalize trade among its 153 member countries was eluding.

The Republican caucuses in Iowa with their cliffhanger ending, confirmed two key political points and left a third ignored. First, Republicans are not enthusiastic about any of the candidates. Second, we have entered a new era in political campaigning after the US Supreme Court decision that unleashed a torrent of unreported corporate money into our electoral process.

On January 6th the birth of Silo, spiritual guide, paladin of non-violence, philosopher of the Universal Human Nation, was commemorated. He gave the world a path to comprehend human beings in their truly intentional dimension. He created the tools of a novel evolutionary psychology revealing the human consciousness living in and giving shape to multiple planes of existence.

From 9 to 13th of November 2011 took place in Greece the Forum for Peace and Nonviolence in five different cities: Iraklion, Athens, Thebes, Corfu and Preveza. It provided excellent possibilities both for local activities and national coordination on the field of
nonviolence. It is already evident from various initiatives that came as a result of it.

After four and a half days of representations from the City of London Corporation, Occupy London (represented by John Cooper QC and Michael Paget on behalf of named defendant Tammy Samede) and two litigants in person, George Barda and Daniel Ashman, the OccupyLSX hearing has concluded at the High Court with Christmas wishes being given to and by all concerned.

All eyes are on Iowa this week, as the hodgepodge field of Republican contenders gallivants across that farm state seeking a win, or at least “momentum,” in the campaign for the party’s presidential nomination. But behind the scenes, a battle is being waged by Republicans—not against each other, but against American voters.