Today the world celebrated the first Nelson Mandela Day. It is a day to honor the man who endured much suffering to liberate his people. Much of the world celebrated the occasion by performing 67 minutes of community service to mark Mandela’s 67 years of dedication to South Africa. He was truly one of the greatest figures of the 20th century.
France has banned pro-Palestinian protests. The move was made because of fights last week between supporters of Israel and supporters of the Palestinians, and the state decided that it could not guarantee security. Large demonstrations had been planned by the pro-Palestinian groups, and we will have to see if the law is observed. Needless to say, the ban on free speech in France is a serious matter. Concerns about free speech on the Israel-Palestinian conflict have also been raised by the removal of two reporters, one by NBC and one by CNN, after comments were made that criticized the actions of Israel in Gaza.
In one bit of good news, the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, scheduled to end on 20 July, have been extended for another 4 months. The parties have not been able to agree how about how many centrifuges, necessary to enrich uranium, Iran will be allowed to keep out of its current 19,000. No new sanctions will be imposed on Iran during the 4 months, and previous sanctions that had been lifted for the last six months will not be reinstated. Overall, the terms suggest that the negotiations are very difficult, but not impossible to bring to fruition.
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