Democracy Now!

A caravan of Mexican anti-violence protesters arrived in the United States over the weekend. Mexican poet, Javier Sicilia, led the traveling protest, which began last week south of Mexico City and ended in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. Sicilia demanded the United States end the Merida Initiative, which provides training and support for the Mexican army in its “war on drugs.”

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has scored a third consecutive election victory. In a victory speech, Erdogan pledged to work with opposition parties to rewrite Turkey’s constitution.
Soon after the Turkish election results were announced, a bomb exploded in southeast Turkey, injuring eleven people.

Newly released government data shows the Obama administration approved $200 million in military sales to Bahrain last year just months before the Gulf nation launched a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Part of the military sales involved the sale of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons. There have been a number of developments in Bahrain.

A new study is warning highly touted efforts at nuclear disarmament are being canceled out by parallel investments in new nuclear weapons systems. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says more than 5,000 nuclear weapons are deployed and ready for use around the world, including 2,000 kept in a state of high alert.

In Wisconsin, more than a thousand Wisconsin workers marched today through Madison Monday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget repair” bill that slashes collective bargaining rights and funding for education, health care and seniors’ programs. Eight people were arrested.
Pilar Schiavo is participating with National Nurses United.

In his latest article for “The New Yorker” magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says that the United States might attack Iran based on distorted estimates of Iran’s nuclear and military threat — just like it did some years ago when it started the war against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq.

A group of prominent Israelis met Thursday in Tel Aviv to announce their support for the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

Forty-seven leading Israeli cultural figures and academics signed a “Declaration of Independence from the Occupation.” Yaron Ezrahi is a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

According to a report, forces loyal to embattled Ivory Coast leader, former president Laurent Gbagbo, have reportedly dwindled to less than 1,000 fighters.

Some 200 armed men are said to be protecting Gbagbo’s presidential palace, which is surrounded by forces loyal to internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara.

NATO has intensified its air campaign against Gaddafi regime amidst ongoing clashes on the ground. NATO warplanes flew around 200 missions in Libyan airspace after rebel leaders accused international forces of failing to protect the city of Misurata. The US has said that success has been slowed in part by the Gaddafi regime’s use of human shields near military positions.

Japan is facing shortages of bottled water after dangerous radiation levels were detected in water supplies in Tokyo and in other areas. Store shelves were empty across Tokyo after Japanese authorities warned that tap water was too dangerous for consumption by infants. Thousands of people remain without water in areas of northern Japan ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami.