In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Jessica Dorsey

04 Dec

The US has criticized Israel's decision to expand settlements in the E1 area, following the UNGA's decision to grant Palestine non-member state status. Five European countries (France, Denmark, Sweden, the UK and Spain) and the Australian government has also summoned the Israeli ambassador in protest. Despite the criticism, Israel plans to move ahead with the settlement construction. More analysis about the effect of...

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03 Dec

Syrian forces have pounded rebel-held areas of Damascus, trying to keep them away from the airport so flights can resume. After last Thursday's decision from the ICTY Appeals Chamber, acquitting former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and two others, Kosovo’s government has demanded an investigation into the actions of the lead prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, accusing her of abuse of power and filing unfounded...

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15 Nov

Israel has hammered the Gaza Strip in a series of airstrikes, one of which has killed Hamas' military commander Ahmad Jabari. The United Nations Population Fund has declared contraception and family planning to be a human right having a positive effect on economic development. Unlike France, the United States has stopped short of recognizing Syria's opposition coalition. Nigerian lawmakers have passed a bill criminalizing same-sex marriage. The International Monetary Fund...

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14 Nov

UN Development Program Chair, Helen Clark, has argued for a greater UN economic role. Preparations are underway to exhume Yasser Arafat's body for forensic analysis. France has become the first European country to recognize the Syrian opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people. Despite the EU's decision to suspend its ETS with respect to international aviation, the US House of Representatives has accepted a modified...

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13 Nov

The EU has stopped the clock on the inclusion of international aviation in its Emissions Trading System to allow recent developments in the ICAO negotiations on global aviation greenhouse gas emissions, mentioned in yesterday's news wrap, to run their course. Argentina is preparing to file a claim at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in Hamburg to obtain the release of its vessel...

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12 Nov

The EU has welcomed progress made late last week by the International Civil Aviation Organization on a the regulation of global aviation greenhouse gas emissions. Syrian opposition groups have agreed to unite and have chosen Moaz al-Khatib as their leader. Spillovers of the conflict have meanwhile affected Israeli presence in the Golan Heights. At an emergency ECOWAS summit, West African leaders have agreed to send a...

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11 Nov

Upcoming Events The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will hold an event in Chicago on Wednesday, November 14, 2012. Michael Dobbs, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Goldfarb Fellow, will discuss the Hague trial of Ratko Mladic. The Working Group on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the Netherlands School for Human Rights Research is hosting a research seminar entitled Economic, Social and Cultural...

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09 Nov

The International Court of Justice will deliver its judgment in Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. (Hague time). The European Court of Human Rights upheld the German judgment that placed a ban on the use of holocaust images in a PETA animal-rights campaign poster. Human Rights Watch published a report on migrant women...

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08 Nov

The Atlantic has a piece on the foreign policy priorities of Obama's second term. Shortly after Obama's re-election, the US has supported a call in the UNGA's Disarmament Committee to revive talks on an Arms Trade Treaty. Other reactions to Obama’s re-election: it may be the right time to reopen negotiations with Iran and it may spell trouble for Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu. Puerto Rico...

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07 Nov

In a roundup of some of the big news coming out of the US elections, President Barack Obama was elected to serve a second term, the Republicans have kept control of the House of Representatives and the Democrats still control the Senate, Maine and Maryland have legalized same-sex marriage and Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize marijuana for all...

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06 Nov

The United States heads to the polls today to choose a second term for President Obama or to put Mitt Romney in the Oval Office. It may be election day in the US, but Bloomberg has a profile of Xi Jinping, who will most likely be chosen to replace Chinese President Hu Jintao later this month. Amnesty has reported that Malawi's Justice minister has suspended...

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05 Nov

European and Asian leaders are meeting in Laos for the biennial Asia-Europe meeting.  Violence between rival militias in Libya underscores the security challenges facing the new government. A grenade attack on a church in Kenya on Sunday is believed to have been the work of a Somali group protesting against Kenya's involvement in the UN-backed force in Somalia. A new cabinet has been formed in Somalia, includes the...

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