Thousands have protested in Hong Kong to demand the resignation of the China-backed chief executive and democratic leadership elections. Seven charity workers have been killed by gunmen in Pakistan when they visited a community centre that serves as a school and a clinic. According to South Korea's Finance Ministry, unification of the two Koreas could cost the South up to 7 percent of annual GDP for...
The UN Security Council has placed sanctions on two rebel groups, Democratic Republic of the Congo's M23 and Rwanda's FDLR, for alleged war crimes in the DRC's eastern region. North Korea's Kim Jong-un, in a rare speech, has called for an end to the confrontation between his country and South Korea. Syria's PM has reportedly said that President Assad is willing to respond to any initiative to begin peace...
The most common reaction to my post on Newtown and the drone program has been to point out that there is a difference between killing in peacetime and killing during war -- that we are both legally and morally more willing to accept the loss of innocent life in the latter, even if the loss in both can be considered...
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a press release welcoming the National Congress of Argentina’s recent approval of legislation that creates the System for Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment. The Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda has offered a bounty for anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador to Yemen or an American soldier in the impoverished...
Upcoming Events The next session of the Joint International Humanitarian Law Forum takes place on January 7, 2013 at the IDC Radzyner School of Law. Adv. Sigall Horovitz will give a talk entitled "Think Different – Why Israel Should Join the ICC Rome Statute" – a discussion following the UN General Assembly resolution to recognize Palestine as a non-member State observer, and Adv. Ido Rosenzweig will talk on...
There's been an interesting debate in the blogosphere recently about why people find the murder of 20 young children at Newtown so much more horrible than the routine killing of children in Yemen and Pakistan by U.S. drones. Glenn Greenwald and Falguni Sheth, a philosophy professor at Hampshire College, find the selective outrage indefensible. Ben Wittes and the Telegraph's Brendan...
Kidding! Happy New Year to everyone! Chris's post below made me want to add that I have a goal in 2013, which is to post lots more. 2012 was family-intensive, but things are looking good for 2013, and my resolution is to post much more than I have in 2012. Thanks to others for carrying the ball, and to our...
The US and the UN have raised security alerts in the Central African Republic and the US has now decided to close its embassy in response to the security risks posed by the rebels advancing to the capital. A spokesperson for the new Japanese government has refused to confirm that the new PM would uphold the 1993 apology to women used as sex slaves...
'Tis the season for year-in-reviews, for taking stock or where we've been. 'Tis also the season for making resolutions about what we want to do in the coming year. (And a week from now will be the season for breaking those resolutions.) But in the midst of the backward glances and hopeful promises, it might be interesting not only to make...
The Commander of Syria's Military Policy has announced his defection from the regime over YouTube. Meanwhile, Special Envoy Brahimi will travel to Russia on Saturday for talks on the situation in Syria, after Syrian representatives had discussions at the Russian Foreign Ministry earlier today. Russia's Upper House has unanimously approved the ban on adoptions to the US, in retaliation for the US Magnitsky Act....
Israel has approved 1200 additional settlement units around Jerusalem, and with the election looming in less than a month, pressure is reportedly building on PM Netanyahu to drop the two state solution. Turkey is hopeful that progress will be made on its EU membership negotiations during the Ireland's turn at the helm of the Union in the first six months of 2013. The new Egyptian Constitution was...
Human Rights Watch has accused Palestinian military units in Gaza of violating laws of war by firing rockets into populated areas of Israel. At least five people were killed in two drone strikes in south Yemen in what security and local officials said were attacks on suspected al Qaeda-linked insurgents. An Internet virus attacked computers at industrial sites in southern Iran in an apparent...
