Author: Jessica Dorsey

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East The UN said it had halted work on all but one of its 20 Gaza building projects as a result of an Israeli ban on importing building materials into the Palestinian enclave. The UN estimates that about 9.3 million people in Syria, or about 40 percent of the population,...

Events The Leitner Center for International Law at Fordham University is hosting Global Rights and Local Challenges: Disability, Inclusive Education and Rural Environments, a panel discussion that will highlight the backdrops of rural poverty and educational underdevelopment as barriers to inclusion and to education for persons with disabilities. A film screening of In the Shadow of the Sun will follow the event on Friday, November 15th...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has said he is open to peace talks but insisted that they would not go ahead unless foreign nations stopped supporting rebel fighters. Reuters has an Insight about starvation being used in Syria as a "war tactic" and Foreign Policy offers a glimpse inside...

Events On November 12, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague will launch the International Crimes Database (ICD). This platform offers a comprehensive database on international crimes adjudicated by national, international and internationalized courts and will provide access to a range of information not just for lawyers and judges but also for students, academics, families and communities of victims of crimes,...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East Yemen has taken control over hundreds of al-Qaeda inmates who tried to escape after they staged a mutiny in Sanaa prison. The Friends of Syria group of Western and Arab foreign ministers are meeting in London hoping to persuade opposition leaders to attend a peace conference in...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East The latest round of talks between Iran and world powers have concluded in Geneva, with Iran indicating a willingness to scale back uranium enrichment, as well as allowing for snap inspections of its nuclear sites as part of a new proposal to end a decade-long standoff...

Events The Cassese Initiative is pleased to inform you about its coming workshop on the topic "Enforced Disappearance: Challenges to Accountability under International Law", which will be held at the European University Institute in Florence, on Friday 25 October 2013. Register here. From the organization: "Enforced disappearance remains one of the most heinous human rights violations. From the ‘political cleansing’ campaigns of...

This week on Opinio Juris, we had two guest posts from Tomer Broude, the first giving an introduction to behavioral law and the second discussing a methodological framework to behavioral law. Carsten Stahn also delivered a guest post on cautioning against a new affirmative defense to Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, in response to argumentation put forth by Harold Koh's Just...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East A team of UN disarmament inspectors in Syria have begun the process of destroying the country's chemical weapons and production facilities. Turkey has lifted a decades-old ban on headscarves in the civil service as part of a package of reforms by the government meant to improve democracy. Asia Asia-Pacific...

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Middle East The Security Council has urged the Syrian government to allow cross-border aid deliveries, calling on all parties to Syria's conflict to agree on humanitarian pauses in fighting and key routes for aid convoys. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems optimistic about Syria, saying global powers were "on the right...

Events On October 2nd, the University of Richmond School of Law will host an ASIL Speed Mentoring Panel event, described as: "a unique forum that will expose law students and new legal professionals to experienced international practitioners. The event will begin with a brief introduction of the panelists and several questions presented by D. Wes Rist, ASIL’s Director of Education and Research,...

It's been another busy week in international law and international relations. Here's a recap of a selection of the headlines from around the world: Middle East Israel and Palestine have agreed to intensify their peace talks with greater participation by the United States. Iran's foreign minister expressed hope that a meeting with top diplomats from the US and five other powers will jump-start...