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Berlin – In a situation reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’, none of the nuclear weapon states is actively contemplating a future without nukes. On the contrary, the potential for using dreadful atomic arsenal is growing, says a [new report.](http://www.basicint.org/sites/default/files/commission-briefing1.pdf)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader
Khalid Mashaal said Thursday that they began a new phase in relations and
agreed to activate the process of reconciliation, after a meeting in Cairo for the first time since 2007.

The two stated that this meeting will be the beginning of a new Palestinian partnership.

New York – “There is a long way to go before the rights of Afghan women are fully protected,” says a UN report, noting that the government has not yet succeeded in applying a two-year-old landmark law to the vast majority of cases of violence against women.

New York – Six in 10 women have suffered physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, a majority from their husbands or partners.

Occupy Wall Street initiative called ‘Occupy the Highway’ arrives in Washington DC, having marched from NYC. Two weeks ago, OWS participants in Manhattan embarked on the epic journey. Their goals were to make the new movement visible in more communities, to connect with other occupations along the way, and to further a national dialogue about how to reclaim our democracy.

“While the City focuses on little piece of land, Occupy is concerned with creating a more just society”. We publish here a Press Release from Occupy London. Ronan McNern, supporter of Occupy London commented: “This is a positive result for Occupy London. Today the Corporation was trying to push for an unreasonable timeframe for court proceedings.”

Statement from the occupy Toronto, the Ontario Court of Justice has respectfully ask the movment to disassemble the camp and Police have made their first arrest after moving in early Wednesday morning to enforce the eviction order.

Occupy: Evolution!
Statement to the City of Toronto: Please acknowledge that this release is a partial reiteration of a previous statement

Reporters Without Borders expresses its grave concern over parliament’s approval yesterday of the first reading of a bill toughening Israel’s libel laws, despite strong objections from Israeli journalists. The bill, provides for a steep rise in the amount of damages payable for articles judged to be defamatory.

Maimouna Alammar clutched her baby girl to her chest last Friday in her home in Daraya, a suburb of Syria’s capital, Damascus. Security agents appeared at her door at 8 p.m., with Maimouna’s younger brother Suhaib in shackles. They stormed the home searching for her husband, then demanded she hand little Emar Nassar over.

A town of about 200,000 Daraya is notable mainly for its grapes — and, truth be told, for its lack of social diversity. If Damascus is too full of people of different faiths, military sorts, and Baathist Party members, you beat a retreat to Daraya, where a calm coexistence has traditionally existed among only Christian Arabs, and the town’s majority: Sunni Arab Muslims.