Author: Jessica Dorsey

NATO and the Afghan government have reached an agreement on the phased withdrawal of US special forces from Wardak province, near Kabul. A Zimbabwean court has denied bail to a high profile human rights lawyer arrested over the weekend on charges of obstruction of justice during police searches. After reaffirming ties with Israel, US President Barack Obama faced Palestinian discontent while visiting the occupied West Bank,...

For more on M23 leader Bosco Ntaganda's surrender to the US Embassy in Rwanda Monday, the Armed Groups and International Law blog has a background piece here, Justice in Conflict talks about it at length here, the BBC coverage of the ICC's welcoming his surrender is here and Reuters talks about the US' efforts in transferring him to the ICC here.  In...

Bosco Ntaganda, the leader of the M23 rebel group in the DRC, turned himself into the US Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda yesterday. Ntaganda is wanted by the ICC for charges including recruiting and using child soldiers, murder, rape and sexual slavery, and persecution. Counsel for Kenyan Uhuru Kenyatta asked the ICC yesterday to drop charges against his client for a lack of...

Burma's President is visiting Australia where the government has pledged aid as well as increased defense co-operation. Lawyers for Kenya's President-Elect Uhuru Kenyatta will argue later today at the ICC that charges against their client should be dropped. Also later today, the UN Human Rights Council is slated to discuss the report of its fact-finding commission on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. India's Supreme Court has extended its...

Calls for Papers The Jersey Legal Information Board presents Law Via the Internet: Free Access to Law in a Changing World on September 26-27, 2013. The conference will address the impact of online publishing on e-democracy, access to law and the rule of law, e-learning, privacy and open government in legal publishing, and emerging patterns of information access and usage.Deadline for Proposals: March 31, 2013. Abstracts...

French President Hollande has joined the UK's David Cameron in calling on the EU to lift the arms embargo on Syria, to enable them to arm the rebels. Israel's military intelligence chief has warned against arming the rebels and has claimed that Iran is sponsoring a Hezbollah-run "people's army" of 50,000 to fight in Syria on the side of the government forces. The UK's Justice...

In testimony to Congress, US groups have complained about protectionist policies in India. The US has asked Ukraine not to renegotiate its WTO commitments, worrying that it might inspire other WTO members to do the same. President Obama has appointed Deborah Jones as the next US ambassador to Libya. India's Supreme Court has issued a notice to Italy's ambassador barring him from leaving India without its permission,...

The US Air Force has stopped releasing statistical data on drone strikes in Afghanistan and has erased previoiusly published statistics from its website. The UK warned Argentina that it would always be ready to defend its citizens on the Falkland Islands after they voted nearly unanimously to remain British. Iran plans to "sue Hollywood" about the Oscar-winning film Argo, which Iran claims...

The ICC has dropped the charges against Francis Muthaura, Uhuru Kenyatta's co-accused, because of issues with procuring evidence and witness testimony. Twelve more bodies have been fished out of the river near Aleppo in Syria, bringing the total body count to well over 80, many with bullet wounds to the head. An African Union-brokered deal has re-opened the oil trade between Sudan and South...

North Korea reacted with another threat of a nuclear attack after the US and South Korea performed joint military exercises. Residents of the Falklands Islands started voting on Sunday on a sovereignty referendum that has already been rejected by Argentina. Reuters has a piece on the Khmer Rouge trials at the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia alleging justice delayed may be...

In honor of International Women's Day today, the Guardian has posted a graphic map of political rights for women around the world. North Korea threatened to launch a preemptive nuclear strike on the United States yesterday; even though they lack the range to hit the US, South Korea and Japan could be realistic targets. The UN slapped new sanctions on North...

The rebel leader whose followers invaded Sabeh has called for a ceasefire with Malaysia. According to US Attorney General Eric Holder, President Obama will release more information about the US drone program; further commenting on the program, Holder did not rule out drone strike attacks on US soil in extraordinary circumstances akin to 9/11. US and European officials are worried about the rise in English-language videos coming...