Opinio Juris » Weekday News Wrap w31/12

Weekday News Wrap: Friday, August 3, 2012

by Jessica Dorsey

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has quit as Syria’s peace envoy after becoming frustrated with “finger-pointing” at the UN while the battle in Syria rages on. IPS offers more context here. China has expressed its regret.
Meanwhile, a UN resolution on Syria goes to the General Assembly today, criticizing the Security Council for failing to take action and denouncing the use of force on civilians by the Syrian government.
The UN Security Council did, however, demand and end to foreign support of rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The small territory of Tokelau is slated to become fully solar powered by September.
North Korea has asked for UN assistance to deal with the humanitarian impact of severe flooding.
North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong Un has received Chinese visitors and has claimed that its government’s focus is to boost the economy.
Spanish police have arrested three suspected al-Qaeda members.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting South Sudan, where she will be urging its President to resolve its ongoing conflict with Sudan.
Irani and EU negotiators have agreed to continue nuclear talks.
Egypt has asked the United States to release the last Egyptian being held at Guantanamo Bay.
The province of Buenos Aires has passed legislation to ban ships involved in business activities in the Falkland Islands from docking at its ports.

August 3rd, 2012 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2012/08/03/weekday-news-wrap-friday-august-3-2012/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, August 2, 2012

by Jessica Dorsey

Syria’s president Al-Assad has praised the government forces, but is keeping a low profile.
US president Obama has signed a secret order to provide support to rebel forces in Syria.
A video has emerged of men, allegedly loyal to the Syrian regime, being lined up in Aleppo being shot point-blank by rebel forces.
In a recent report, Amnesty International has accused members of Syria’s government of committing crimes against humanity in the current conflict.
Reuters offers an analysis proffering that there is no good outcome to the conflict in Syria as it has now turned into a proxy war.
Israel has warned the United States that time is running out on peace talks over a nuclear deal with Iran. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta responded that force is an option and that nothing is off the table in order to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Foreign Policy in Focus opines that sanctions on Iran undermine diplomacy and that on their own, they will not drive Iran to compromise.
Ecuador wants to prevent Julian Assange’s extradition to Sweden, given that the Scandinavian country turned down Ecuador’s offer to allow officials to question Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
China has jailed 20 people on charges of terrorism and separatism in the Uighur dominated Western region.
After a diplomatic and military show of power, China has now turned to offering oil and gas tenders in the disputed South China Sea.
A court in Brazil has ordered Chevron and Transocean to stop drilling for oil pending the investigation of two oil spills near Rio de Janiero.
The US took steps yesterday to freeze assets of five members of the Naples Mafia, a European group allegedly involved in kidnapping, money laundering and extortion.
For interested law students and other participants, the official rules and schedule for this year’s Jessup Competition are now up.

August 2nd, 2012 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2012/08/02/weekday-news-wrap-thursday-august-2-2012/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, August 1, 2012

by Jessica Dorsey

Fighting rages on in Syria’s Aleppo, trapping many citizens inside the embattled city. The tens of thousands who have managed to escape have become refugees, many struggling to find shelter and food.
Libya’s Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is seeking a trial in The Hague at the ICC, rather than in Lybia. His lawyers say a fair trial in his home country is impossible.
Foreign Policy outlines how the Taliban financially benefits from the reopening of NATO supply routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan; estimates from 2010 show $360 million falling into the hands of Taliban due to mismanagement, theft and bribery.
Reuters offers an analysis about how the riff in the South China Sea has caused problems with ASEAN countries in trying to create a European Union-like economic community by 2015.
The ongoing South China Seas disputes have brought the Philippines to conclude defense pacts with Australia and Japan.
Human Rights Watch released a scathing report entitled: “The Government Could Have Stopped This” about institutional abuse by the government outlining instances of killings, rapes and mass arrests Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has urged its 57 member states and the Muslim community around the world to give assistance in the form of political, financial and humanitarian aid.
US president, Barack Obama, has announced new sanctions against foreign banks helping Iran to sell its oil.
An Algerian general, alleged to have taken part in the “Dirty War” of the early 1990s, will likely face war crimes charges in a trial in Switzerland.
Twenty-two Kurdish militants (PKK) were killed in eastern Turkey over the last three days.
US Secretary of State Clinton is starting a 10-day, 7-nations tour of Africa today in a move which is seen by many as an attempt to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.

August 1st, 2012 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2012/08/01/weekday-news-wrap-wednesday-august-1-2012/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, July 31, 2012

by Jessica Dorsey

Syrian forces have intensified their attacks on the crucial Aleppo, while rebel fighters say that they are holding firm in the city they expect will become the “regime’s grave.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ratified a stricter adoption agreement with the US, wherein foreign adoptions will be subject to tighter restrictions and families wanting to adopt will be vetted more thoroughly.
An unwed couple in northern Mali was publicly stoned to death, the first reported Sharia killing since the occupation.
Indonesia has challenged the European Union over anti-dumping duties at the WTO.
Tanzania has asked Malawi to halt oil and gas exploration in the disputed Lake Malawi until a border dispute between the two countries is resolved.
The South African Constitutional Court has denied extradition of two individuals to Botswana as they might face the death penalty.
And speaking of extradition, Julian Assange’s mother claims that the US is bent on extraditing him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he awaits a decision on asylum.
In more extradition news, Slovakia is seeking extradition of the 97-year-old Hungarian man arrested in Budapest for alleged ties to helping deport thousands of Jews during the Second World War.
Yesterday, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon confirmed its own jurisdiction over the case involving the death of former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, leading to a trial in absentia of four accused.
Japan has flagged China’s military influence on its foreign policy as potentially dangerous in its annual defense white paper.
Mark Harmon, of the United States, has been named the newest International Co-Investigative Judge at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia after spending 17 years prosecuting at the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia.
Starting today, the US is hosting a two day meeting of 17 states opposed to the inclusion of aviation in the EU ETS in an effort to find a global solution. The US Chamber of Commerce and Airlines for America want the US administration to take a stronger stance. Aviation Law Prof Blog has more.
China is irked by the US State Department’s annual report on religious freedom around the world.
Australia, New Zealand and Fiji have decided to restore diplomatic relations which were suspended since 2009.
A UN Human Rights Envoy is visiting Western Myanmar to investigate recent ethnic clashes.

July 31st, 2012 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2012/07/31/weekday-news-wrap-tuesday-july-31-2012/ |

Weekday News Wrap: Monday, July 30, 2012

by Jessica Dorsey

Participants from around the world failed to agree on a UN arms-trade treaty last Friday, eliciting disappointment from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
Foreign Policy has a post on Friday’s decision of the US to back away from supporting the Arms Trade Treaty.
The landmark intellectual property case between global leaders in smartphone technology, Apple and Samsung, is slated to begin. Apple is demanding $2.5 billion in damages.
Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an investigation into the violence allegedly targeting Muslims in a region in Burma last month.
Germany has become the latest country to suspend aid to Rwanda, over allegations that it is supporting M23 rebels fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
When faced with the aid cuts, rather than dispute the allegations about rebel support, Rwanda’s foreign minister demanded respect from Western countries, stating: “this child-to-parent relationship has to end.”
The president of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, has added that the support offered by Rwanda to M23 rebels is an open secret.
Just one day after Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States called again for the end of drone strikes, seven people were killed in a drone strike in Northern Waziristan.
The Los Angeles Times offers an editorial about targeted killing.
Israeli troops have killed a Palestinian and wounded two others after opening fire on a car at a checkpoint near Occupied Jerusalem.
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict called again for the transfer of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay to his home country of Canada.
A rights group has filed a lawsuit for more information about Osama bin Laden’s funeral arrangements last year after he was gunned down in his home by US special forces.
At the start of his tour of the Middle East, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has argued that Assad’s offence on Aleppo is the “nail in the coffin” for his regime.
The ECB, and the euro rescue zone are said to act soon to save the euro.
To stay in the spirit of the Olympics, Foreign Policy has a post on ‘geolympics,’ the most politically charged moments in Olympic history.

July 30th, 2012 - 8:00 AM EDT | Comments Off http://opiniojuris.org/2012/07/30/weekday-news-wrap-monday-july-30-2012/ |