Saudi Arabia denied permission for a plane carrying Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to cross its airspace for the swearing-in of the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, but it is unclear as to why. After the swearing in of the new Iranian president, Iran and the United States signaled a fresh will on Sunday to seek to end the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program...
Events A conference to mark the 70th anniversary of the War Crimes Commission is being held September 10-11, 2013 at SOAS in London entitled: Reinforcing Human Rights Standards: Lessons from the United Nations War Crimes Commission. You can register here. The Moot Court Association of Government Law College in association with the D.M. Harish foundation is pleased to announce the 15th D.M....
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found fresh evidence of "double-tap" strikes by the US in Pakistan; a double-tap is a second drone strike that deliberately targets rescuers at the scene of a previous drone strike. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai has labeled results of the recent presidential election which he lost a "sham" and has accused his opponent, President Robert...
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to meet again within the next two weeks, aiming to seal a final deal in nine months. A military judge has acquitted former US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning of the most serious charge against him, aiding the enemy, but convicted him of espionage, theft and computer fraud charges for giving thousands of classified secrets to...
The verdict in the court-martial of Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, accused of the biggest leak of classified information in US history, will be read today. Taliban fighters armed with mortars and grenades attacked a prison in northwest Pakistan, escaping with about 250 prisoners after a gunfight with security forces. Israelis and Palestinians have resumed direct talks for the first time in three years, with...
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki will visit China this week for talks with senior officials, the latest in an attempt to patch up relations soured by a territorial dispute. Suspected members of Nigeria's armed group Boko Haram shot dead more than 20 civilians when a vigilante group attacked them in the northern Borno state. Israeli and Palestinian teams are heading to Washington for preliminary...
Almost a quarter of a million Colombians have been killed in the country's internal conflict since 1958, most of them civilians, according to a government-funded report. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 15 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in a rocket attack on a rebel-held refugee camp on the southern edge of Damascus. The United States' National Security Agency's warrantless...
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has fired Vice President Riek Machar Teny and all his cabinet ministers. Australia is to investigate reports that asylum seekers at one of its detention camps in Papua New Guinea are being raped and tortured. Syrian rebels claim they have captured the entire western area of Aleppo. Russian and Iranian media are reporting that Vladimir Putin will meet Iran's...
A top UN envoy, Leila Zerrougui, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, has warned officials and anti-government fighters in Syria risk prosecution as war criminals for atrocities against children. The US House Intelligence Committee says it is now willing to supply weapons to Syrian rebels despite the risk of their ending up with al-Qaeda allies. Additionally, top US military...
The ICC's Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said that attacks on UN peacekeepers in the Darfur region of Sudan may constitute war crimes. European Union governments agreed today to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the EU terrorism blacklist in a reversal of past policy fuelled by concerns over the Lebanese militant movement's activities in Europe. French Interior Minister Manuel Valls...
The ABA Journal is seeking nominations for its annual list of the 100 best legal blogs. We can’t nominate Opinio Juris because you can't nominate your own blog, but if you like our blog, find it useful or otherwise would like to spread the word, we'd be happy if you nominate us! Readers interested in nominating a particular blog for the 7th annual...
The UN is reviewing support to Democratic Republic of the Congo's army units accused of desecrating the corpses of rebels and mistreating detainees. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will confer with key Palestinian leaders today about a possible resumption of peace negotiations with Israel after an almost three-year freeze. Steam or vapors appear to be coming from a damaged reactor building at Japan's tsunami-crippled...
