Pressenza IPA

As many as 10,000 people gathered in New York City’s Union Square on April 9 to make the connection between militarism abroad and austerity at home–and renew the antiwar movement’s demand to bring U.S. troops home now. Across the country, some 1,500 people rallied the next day in San Francisco in a sister demonstration.

On April 9th in NYC and 10th in San Francisco, human rights, civil rights, and workers rights leaders and advocates – religious and secular – Jewish, Muslim, Christian, humanist – are linking arms in solidarity and common commitment with antiwar activists to take to the streets in the face of what Dr. King once called an “unfolding conundrum”.

Ai Weiwei was being monitored around the clock by the secret police when **Time Out Hong Kong** gained access to his Beijing studio to discuss the ‘Jasmine Revolution’. This must be the last interview before his disappearance. Although Mr Ai has had numerous run-ins with China’s state security apparatus he has never been formally detained or disappeared in this way before.

The former Landsbankinn in Iceland that went bankrupt in the big financial crash in Iceland in October 2008 offered its British customers sky high interests, way above any that of any other bank. The question at stake in the referendum is whether or not Icelandic taxpayers should compensate those who put their money in the Icesave account now that Landsbankinn is bankrupt.

UN Secretary General leads a host of world and civic leaders supporting Earth Hour 2011 as a powerful symbol of a shared wish for a sustainable and secure future.
“All over the world individuals, communities, businesses and governments are creating new examples for our common future – new visions for sustainable living and new technologies to realize it,” Ban Ki-moon said.

Steven Starr from Physicians for Nuclear Responsibility wrote for Pressenza about the events in Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. “If enough brave people sacrifice their health and lives, against all odds they will manage to get the situation under control at Fukushima Daiichi. If not, then large areas of northern Japan could be left uninhabitable for centuries.”

In contrast with what is happening in Egypt and Tunisia, Libya occupies the first spot on the Human Development Index for Africa and it has the highest life expectancy on the continent. Education and health receive special attention from the State. The cultural level of its population is without a doubt the highest. Its problems are of a different sort.

In several meetings with groups of young people in Cairo, Tomas Hirsch, a spokesperson for Universalist Humanism in Latin America, gained insight into the vision of young women and men who continue going to Tahrir Square every night to ensure that the process of change continues in a real way. The following is a summary of our conversation with Hirsch.

*Mass Protest Rally held 28 February 2011 by the Peoples’ Campaign for Right to Water (PCRW), against anti-people Water Laws and Policies of Karnataka and the US Water Trade Mission. Urban development Minister subsequently reiterates opposition to Water Privatisation and distances Government from US Mission. Another people-power success story, so far…*

The Security Council today voted unanimously to impose sanctions against the Libyan authorities, slapping the country with an arms embargo and freezing the assets of its leaders, while referring the ongoing violent repression of civilian demonstrators to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
See its Resolution 1970 published here.