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Right in Nagoya international airport, in line to check in for my flight back to Sao Paulo, I hear a strange noise. Meow, meow.… There was a cat, somewhere close by. I tried to find it but could not. It was coming from a couple who spoke Portuguese. They had lots of luggage. The passengers behind them also had lots of luggage.

The self-appointed Inter Action Council, IAC, chaired by German ex-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt had its 27th Annual Meeting in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia 10-13 May, with 20 other former prime ministers and presidents, many right wing social democrats, attending. They issued a Final Communiqué with a Present State of the World. My comments follow.

Altogether 18 participants of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence met in Vieste, Southern Italy, to receive all of the information necessary for the challenge which awaits them for three months around the world.
The members of the team committed themselves to exhibit flexibility, tolerance, humility, and an open heart in order to incarnate the spirit of this initiative.

The new magazine ‘Israel-Kurd’ has caused a stir in northern Iraq. To the surprise of many in the Arab world, the second edition also recently made it into the kiosks. A third edition expected for september. Kurdish Iraq is increasingly positioning itself between Israel and the Arab world. It is known that the late Kurdish leader Moustafa Barzani made two visits to Israel.

Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its foundation with a concert tour of Europe, during which it will visit some of Europe’s leading festivals and concert halls. This orchestra “represents an alternative model, based on the idea of equality, cooperation and justice for all, to the current situation in the Middle East”.

In the episode of the two journalists freed by North Korea, a dangerous game was played when Bill Clinton genuflected at North Korea´s Kim Jong-il. Myanmar has no foreign enemies that it needs to deter. Instead of being an international pariah the Myanmar´s generals would win a lot of respect if they would become nuclear. There are signs that this could happen.

Thirteen years after the opening for signature, the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty has finally come into force with the twenty-eighth ratification by Burundi on 15 July 2009.
This milestone follows efforts by the Institute for Security Studies and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, with the support of several other organizations.

(IPS) – When U.S. President Obama presides over a meeting of world leaders in the Security Council on Sep. 24, he will provide a high profile political platform for two of the most sensitive
issues at the UN: nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. Obama is expected to make his maiden appearance at the U.N. when he addresses the global summit on climate change.

Since August 12th, 1949, 194 countries have signed the 4th Geneva Convention which regulates civilian protection, prisoners of war, wounded and humanitarian workers during war conflicts. The Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols are the backbone of the Humanitarian International Right, that determines the limits to war methods and procedures.

In Argentina, more former army officers have been found guilty of crimes committed under the military dictatorship. Former general Santiago Omar Riveros, who commanded the infamous Campo de Mayo barracks, received the heaviest sentence.

The junta led by General Leopolde Galtieri ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, during which time at least 30,000 people disappeared.