Today, Protocol V to the Convention on Conventional Weapons enters into force. The Protocol on the Explosive Remnants of War requires members states to "mark and clear, remove or destroy explosive remnants of war in affected territories under its control." Its obligations are phrased somewhat too broadly for some advocates' taste (see the Human Rights Watch take on...
Phenomenal video by Aaron Koblin of flight patterns. Animates the popular poem on flight, "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings." ...
The U.S. Trade Representative announced yesterday that the U.S. and Russia will sign a bilateral agreement clearing the way for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization next year. According to the NYT, the agreement should be signed by President Bush and President Putin during the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi next week (where, incidentally, President Bush...
Here we go again. According to Time.com, Germany's chief prosecutor will be petitioned next week to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld and various U.S. officials for "abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." (UPDATE: The petition was filed by the NY-based Center for Constitutional Rights and their background brief can be...
Not surprisingly, the international trade press is reporting this week that passage of free trade agreements is going to be much more difficult to secure now that the Democrats are in charge of Congress. According to Inside Trade, (subscription) "AFL-CIO Vice President Richard Trumka said the AFL-CIO would ask the new leaders in Congress to take a 'strategic pause' in considering...
The Eleventh Circuit last week rendered a fascinating decision regarding Peru's failure to honor a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of a fugitive. In Guevara v. Peru, Jose Guevara provided the necessary information that led to the capture of Vladimiro Montesinos, but Peru failed to pay the reward to Guevara. Guevara brought a breach...
According to Steve Clemons at the Washington Note, Bolton's nomination is dead despite Bush re-nominating him:At 1:22 pm, the White House sent John Bolton's controversial nomination to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations back up to the Senate. Luckily, Lincoln Chafee would have none of it — suggesting that such a nomination is clearly not in the spirit of...
I'm definitely overdue here, but better late than never. I lost my bet with Kevin that John Bolton would win confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. I lost it quite a while ago, but this statement from putative new Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden seals the deal. When I get back to NY (and...
The midterms have already had a dramatic effect on foreign policy through the Rumsfeld resignation. I wanted to add, however, to the dialogue Roger Alford began yesterday on foreign policy impacts by focusing on another hot button issue: climate change. When withdrawing from Kyoto, President Bush acknowledged that the U.S. at the time produced almost 20% of the...
Rep. Charles Rangel of NY, slated to become the new Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has called congressional legislation granting permanent normal trading status to Vietnam "uncontroversial" and probably pass in the lame duck Congress next week. Rangel is not exactly a free trader, but he is not reflexively against all free trade deals. ...
News involving Saddam to report: Saddam's principal defense attorney, Khalil Duleimi, has accused the U.S. military of confining the defense team in the Green Zone since the verdict was announced, preventing them from returning to Amman. Dulemi believes that their confinement represents a deliberate attempt on the part of the military to deprive them of access to the media and...
File this one under "not such a good idea":Part of a Nazi leader's speech was played over the public address system before a high school soccer game, prompting an apology by the home team's principal. Forestview High School principal Robert Carpenter said neither he nor his team's coach knew about the speech before the 90-second excerpt was played during warmups Saturday,...
