Search: kony 2012

03 Apr Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, April 3, 2012

On the 30th anniversary of the Falklands Islands/Las Malvinas invasion, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner decried the existence of a “colonialist enclave” in the 21st century as an injustice. At a remembrance ceremony in the UK, UK Prime Minister David Cameron referred to the Islanders’ right of self-determination. According to Kofi Annan, Syria has agreed to a ceasefire starting on April 10. In a follow-up to threatening action against Mali, West African nations have placed trade, economic and diplomatic sanctions on the strife-ridden country. In Senegal,...

03 May Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, May 3, 2012

Chen Guangcheng says he felt pressure to take the deal to leave the US Embassy and now wants to leave China on Hillary Clinton’s plane. The US has promised to do what it can once his wishes are clear. The FAO Food Index has indicated that global food prices were down in April, though fears about inflation remain. Security is tight in Barcelona as the European Central Bank meets to discuss ways in which to fight the Eurozone crisis; protesters do not have high hopes of many...

22 Jun Weekday News Wrap: June 22, 2012

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions has held that the US drone strikes flout internationally recognized human rights standards and may even be war crimes. The Washington Post has an opinion piece on the impact of drone attacks on diplomacy. The Atlantic has a follow up piece. The US is using Facebook to drive a wedge between the Syrian military and Assad. One Syrian air force pilot has already defected to Jordan. Meanwhile, the US has denied that it is willing to...

23 Jul Opinio Juris’ Readers’ Survey – June/July 2012

Unless you have just started reading Opinio Juris or have been on a field trip in North Korea, you will have noticed that we recently held our first Readers’ Survey. We are very grateful to all 274 respondents who took the time to complete our questionnaire. Many also entered their name in the sweepstakes for the $100 Amazon voucher. We are pleased to announce that the winner is Antonino Cutrupi, who is a trainee lawyer in Italy. The responses have given us a lot of information to digest,...

23 Aug Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Egypt has requested a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. Despite the claims put forth by Julian Assange, the US says it has no case against him for which he could potentially be extradited. In Guantanamo Bay, tropical storm Isaac has delayed hearings for five detainees charged in the 9/11 attacks. The head of the IAEA has said he is “not too optimistic” for breakthroughs on talks with Iran, scheduled to resume tomorrow. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has decided to attend next week’s summit...

15 Oct Weekday News Wrap: Monday, October 15, 2012

A Human Rights Watch report outlines Syria’s recent use of cluster munitions in civilian areas, a potential war crime. Turkey has banned Syrian aircraft from its airspace as a show of its increasingly firm stance against President Al-Assad’s regime. The EU plans new major sanctions against the banking sector, industry and shipping in Iran. Iran said that the launch of a drone intro Israel by Iranian-backed Hezbollah was a sign of the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities. Colombia’s government and leaders of the FARC will sit down this...

25 Apr Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, April 25, 2012

US authorities have arrested the first suspect in the BP oil spill case for allegedly destroying evidence linked to the 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Pakistan has successfully tested a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile, approximately a week after India did the same. The International Criminal Court is closely monitoring the situation in Mali, following the surge in violence since January. While the stalemate about the NLD members’ parliamentary oath is on-going, the Myanmar military strengthens its position, replacing military affiliated members with higher ranking...

01 Dec Weekend Roundup: November 25-30, 2012

This week on Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller wrote about Niger’s offer to extradite Saadi Gaddafi to the ICC, should this be requested. Kevin also discussed the conditions attached by the UK for a vote in favour of Palestine’s “non-member state” bid in the UN General Assembly. The requirement that the Palestinian authority does not apply for ICC or ICJ membership most likely proved to be a dealbreaker, as the UK ultimately abstained. Following the vote, Kevin argued that Palestine can accept the ICC’s jurisdiction retroactively by making...

19 May Weekend Roundup: May 12-18, 2012

This week on Opinio Juris, Chris Borgen posted about Peter Watts’ short story on the legal and ethical questions relating to the use of autonomous aerial combat drones; Julian Ku shared Cato Institute’s Walter Olson’s observations on the revolving door between the UN and the US legal academy; Kevin Heller gave an account of his PhD viva at Leiden; and Roger Alford made us guess which six countries were the focus of the AP Comparative Government this week. Peter Spiro continued last week’s discussion on US taxation of...

21 Aug Weekday News Wrap, Tuesday, August 21, 2012

As UN monitors left Syria, fighting progressed to suburbs of Damascus. US president Barack Obama has said that if Syria’s government were to use chemical weapons, the US would be forced to act. German politicians have said that they will give no leeway to Greece regarding financial reform. Israel has positioned an Iron Dome, a rocket interceptor and destroyer, on the Egyptian border following two rocket attacks on the city of Eilat. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism says that the US government must...

10 Oct Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Abu Hamza al-Masri has pleaded not guilty in a US federal court, after recently being extradited by Britain. A US drone attack has killed five in Northwest Pakistan, close to the border with Afghanistan. Xinhua reports that Japan has shown signs of a willingness to compromise and is planning to acknowledge China’s claims on the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands without however giving up on its own position. Nevertheless, the Chinese Central Bank Governor will not be leading the Chinese delegation to the IMF Meeting in Tokyo in a move...