Opinio Juris » weekday news wrap w07/13

Weekday News Wrap: Friday, February 15, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

Legal philosopher and renowned scholar Ronald Dworkin passed away yesterday in London at the age of 81.
Kenyan presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta asked the ICC to postpone his trial.
A city court in Oslo, Norway convicted a Rwandan man for involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and sentenced him to 21 years in prison.
Amid peace talks, seven troops and an unidentified number of rebels were killed in fighting between FARC rebels and Colombian forces.
The trial of 11 al-Qaeda suspects has begun in Jordan; the men are accused of plotting to carry out suicide bombings in the capital.
Syrian rebels have claimed control over Hasaka, a strategic province in the Northeast that is home to domestic oil production.
The IMF has called talk about “currency wars“, back in the spotlight after a G7 statement earlier this week and on the eve of the G20 meeting in Moscow, to be overblown.
The US Supreme Court has denied an application by Sea Shepherd against restrictions imposed to it in its battle against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. The case raises interesting questions about the jurisdiction of US Courts over the activities of a vessel, flying the Australian flag but owned by a US incorporated society, in the Southern Ocean.
At the SHARES blog, a new post outlines shared responsibility in UN targeted sanctions.
Rosa Brooks shares some of her thoughts at Foreign Policy on sovereignty and imminence in Obama’s drone war.
ASIL has a new Insight on China’s Straight Baseline Claim: Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands (.pdf).

February 15th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/15/weekday-news-wrap-friday-february-15-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, February 14, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

Self-immolations in Tibet, in protest against Chinese rule, have reached the grim milestone of 100.
Japan’s defense chief claims that Japan could have pre-emptive strike abilities in the future, speaking with respect to the third nuclear test by North Korea.
In a phone call to PM Abe following North Korea’s nuclear test, President Obama has confirmed the US’ commitment to Japanese defense.
Iran and the IAEA have agreed on “some points” in talks in Tehran.
Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has called on Iran to show flexibility during nuclear talks later this month in Kazakhstan.
An Afghan official has alleged that a NATO airstrike late on Tuesday killed three Taliban commanders, but also claimed ten civilian lives.
The US and the EU have agreed to begin trade talks.
The former president of the Maldives has taken refuge in the Indian embassy in Male in order to avoid arrest.
Egypt has flooded tunnels leading to Gaza, effectively cutting off a lifeline to Palestinians there.
There has been debate about setting up a domestic special court to review targeted killings by the United States. Lieber Code has some commentary about the subject here.

February 14th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | 1 Comment » http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/14/weekday-news-wrap-thursday-february-14-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, February 13, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

The UN has urged Sudan to strengthen human rights efforts with respect to two recently detained political opposition figures.
Rebels have captured Syria’s biggest hydro-electric dam and battled army tank units near the center of Damascus.
Libya has claimed it is competent to try ex-spy chief under Gaddafi’s regime, Abdullah al-Senussi, though the ICC has called for his extradition to The Hague.
The lower house of the French parliament has approved a bill 320-299 to legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children.
The UN is hoping to reach an agreement on the deployment of peacekeepers to Mali in a matter of weeks.
Islamist insurgents have attacked a military base in the South of Thailand.
Since the beginning of the year, the Syrian conflict is estimated to have costed another 9000 lives, bringing the total death toll close to 70000.
An Australian documentary claims that Prisoner X who committed suicide in an Israeli jail in 2010 was a dual Australia-Israeli citizen who was a Mossad agent. The NYTimes has a summary of the case and of the gag orders that have stopped Israeli media from reporting on it. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has ordered a review into how much the Australian government knew.
Italy’s former intelligence chief and his deputy have been convicted to considerable prison terms over their involvement in a 2003 extraordinary rendition of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar.
A Human Rights Watch report details the illegality of airstrikes in Gaza by Israel in the November 2012 bombing campaign, finding 14 strikes to have no indication of a legitimate military target; at least 43 civilians were killed, 12 of whom were children.
Micah Zenko at Foreign Policy offers a piece about why the Pentagon hates Obama’s drone war.

February 13th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/13/weekday-news-wrap-wednesday-february-13-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, February 12, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

North Korea carried out its third-ever successful nuclear test, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, among others, condemned the act as a violation of several Security Council resolutions.
The Sudanese government signed a Qatar-sponsored ceasefire with a splinter Darfur rebel group, in an attempt to revive a stalled peace process to end a decade-long conflict.
Rebels have captured Syria’s biggest hydro-electric dam and battled army tank units near the center of Damascus.
Israeli police have detained 10 women at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men.
The UN has urged a greater push toward ending forced labor.
Human Rights Watch offers a Q&A about Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivory Coast president before the ICC for the alleged commission of crimes against humanity; the confirmation of the charges hearing is set to take place next Tuesday, February 19.
The LA Times has an op-ed asking the questions related to the use of drones: Are we creating more enemies than we are killing?
Esquire has a piece on one of the SEALs involved in the raid that killed Bin-Laden, discussing not only the raid itself, but also its aftermath for the SEALs involved.
The ECHR Blog points out that the instructional videos about the Court are now available in even more languages.

February 12th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/12/weekday-news-wrap-tuesday-february-12-2013/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Monday, February 11, 2013

by Jessica Dorsey

Syrian opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib has said he is willing to hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad’s representatives in rebel-held areas of northern Syria to try to end the conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people.
The UN reports that up to 5,000 people are fleeing Syria per day.
The British government intensified its campaign to stop Scotland from leaving the United Kingdom, publishing a legal opinion suggesting it would forfeit its membership of international bodies such as the European Union if it chose independence.
Colombia and FARC have said their peace talks are advancing.
Reuters has an exclusive on the UN report that arms flowing into Somalia are coming from Yemen and Iran.
The New York Times covers a growing debate about a FISA-like court for the use of drones by the United States.
China is growing uneasy with North Korea’s leadership, indicating that it may reduce aid if North Korea keeps pursuing nuclear weapons instead of economic growth.
The AMICC has published a new analysis on the acquittal and release of Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui from the ICC.

February 11th, 2013 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2013/02/11/weekday-news-wrap-monday-february-11-2013/ |