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Search: kony 2012

11 May

Responding to a letter to which we linked yesterday, US Trade Representative Kirk has rejected criticism that the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement have not been transparent. The Greek left leader has asked the EU to re-examine its commitment to austerity. In talks to normalize bilateral relations, Zimbabwe has asked the EU to lift all remaining sanctions on Mugabe and senior members of his party. The 22nd World Economic Forum on Africa is taking place in Addis Ababa. Putin will not be meeting Obama at Camp...
11.05.12 | |

24 May

The Taliban has reportedly circulated poison in girls’ classrooms in northern Afghanistan poisoning girls with toxic powder sent through the air shafts, leaving more than 120 students and teachers unconscious. Amnesty International launched a stinging accusation in its annual report (available here) at the UN Security Council, accusing the body of “failed leadership” and saying the Council is “tired, out of step, and increasingly unfit for purpose.” Nuclear talks between Iran and other nations entered their second day today. As we reported yesterday, the Obama administration is...
24.05.12 | |

30 Aug

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni has said that Iran will never pursue a nuclear weapon, but will not give up its right to peaceful energy at the summit for the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has asked the leaders of Iran at the summit to prove that the nuclear development in their country is for peaceful ends. At this same meeting, the president of Egypt is present for the first time since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and he praised the “brave”...
30.08.12 | |

30 Jul

Participants from around the world failed to agree on a UN arms-trade treaty last Friday, eliciting disappointment from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Foreign Policy has a post on Friday’s decision of the US to back away from supporting the Arms Trade Treaty. The landmark intellectual property case between global leaders in smartphone technology, Apple and Samsung, is slated to begin. Apple is demanding $2.5 billion in damages. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an investigation into the violence allegedly targeting Muslims...
30.07.12 | |

18 May

Reuters reports that the G8 leaders are meeting today amidst further fears about the Eurozone crisis and the possibility of a “Grexit”. According to the Independent, UK PM Cameron will pressure German Chancellor Merkel to do more to save the euro. The Washington Post compares the opposing points of view of Germany and most other nations on how to improve growth in Europe. Over on Foreign Policy, Clyde Prestowitz argues why Germany should leave the euro. Foreign Policy continues the discussion our own Peter Spiro has been...
18.05.12 | |

02 Nov

An Israeli censor has allowed the publication of an interview with the commando who killed the PLO’s Abu Jihad in 1988. International human rights groups have welcomed China’s decision to introduce a new organ donation system that will no longer rely on organs of executed prisoners. Sri Lanka has been pressed at the UN to prosecute war crimes. Jurist highlights the International Commission of Jurists’ report about the abuses. Foreign Policy offers a piece detailing the dire situation facing Syrian refugees as winter approaches. The World Bank...
02.11.12 | |

08 Oct

Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for yesterday’s Israeli strikes in the Gaza strip. Amnesty International has reported that Rwandan military intelligence services have engaged in torture, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances of civilians . Sudanese state media reports that the border between Sudan and South Sudan will reopen today, after a security agreement was reached last month. Turkish forces fired across the border into Syria on Sunday after a shell launched from Syria landed in Turkey’s border town of Akcakale,...
08.10.12 | |

05 Apr

As an advance group of UN peacekeepers arrived in Syria for talks on the monitoring of the ceasefire, violence erupted again. Russia is seeking more influence in the Syrian situation, and has invited the Syrian foreign minister and representatives of the Syrian opposition for separate talks in Moscow, on 10 April and 17-18 April respectively. Russia also urges other states not to arm the Syrian opposition. The Pentagon has referred Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 4 others to trial by military commission in Guantanamo Bay for their roles...
05.04.12 | |

29 Oct

The Israeli Air Force has struck back at rocket installations in Gaza. Ethnic violence in Myanmar has displaced over 22,000 people according to UN estimates. Nigeria also experienced violence between different religious groups after a car bomb on a church, followed by reprisal attacks, killed at least seven people. Authorities in Indonesia have arrested 11 suspects, allegedly planning terrorist attacks on the US embassy and consulate, as well as on a shopping mall near the Australian embassy. The Syrian ceasefire so far has not been honored. In...
29.10.12 | |

09 Aug

According to the UN, Afghanistan civilan deaths are down for the first time since it started counting in 2007, though officials say that this is due to an extremely harsh winter rather than improved security. The United Nations also reports that targeted killings in Afghanistan have risen 53%. Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed his deep concern that the UK will leave the European Union in a referendum. In other statements from former heads of state, France’s Nicholas Sarkozy has called for a humanitarian intervention in...
09.08.12 | |

05 Oct

Russia is considering offering Western companies oil licenses in its Arctic waters. Reuters has an exclusive that the European Union is ready to ban imports of Iranian gas as a part of new sanctions in order to increase the pressure over the nuclear program in the Islamic Republic. A UN representative has told the Security Council there is little time to deal with rebels in the north of Mali and international assistance is needed. The European Union and several banks will stage a DDoS cyber-attack exercise in...
05.10.12 | |

29 Jun

Differences of interpretation are plaguing Kofi Annan’s proposed transition plan for Syria on the eve of Saturday’s conference in Geneva. Following a political outcry, South Korea has delayed the signing of an intelligence sharing pact with Japan. The Washington Post has a Q&A with outgoing World Bank Chief Robert Zoellick. It’s impossible to escape news articles on the Affordable Care Act judgment today, but since we are an international blog, here is one listing some of the countries that offer near-universal healthcare. Cyprus has denied media reports...
29.06.12 | |