Search: kony 2012

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has begun his first European tour as president and will visit Brussels to discuss economic support, agriculture, job creation and investment in the Egyptian private sector, among other topics. Despite President Mursi’s call for calm, dozens are still protesting the film “Innocence of Muslims” outside the US Embassy in Cairo. Turmoil has reportedly spread to the US Embassy in Yemen and the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran. President Obama has vowed to “bring to justice” those responsible for...

Those of you who, like me, missed this year’s Federalist Society Symposium on National Security can now watch all of the events on-line here. The event was held April 5 in DC and included a morning panel on terrorist-related detentions, interrogations and trials, a lunchtime address by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and an afternoon panel on potential cybersecurity legislation. Participants included Vincent J. Vitkowsky, Nathan A. Sales, Charles D. Stimson, Stephen I. Vladeck, Benjamin Wittes, Glenn M. Sulmasy, Jamil N. Jaffer, Sharon Bradford Franklin, Matthew J....

BBC has a video report of another poison attack in Afghanistan girls’ school rooms, allegedly carried out by the Taliban. A Yemeni Nobel laureate claims the US drone strikes in her country are ineffective as they are hitting mainly civilians rather than militants. The Washington Post also reported that the drone strikes were sparking anger and creating more sympathy for al-Qaeda in the region. The European Parliament is set to carry out a series of votes on the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement today. Syria News: Shelling in...

Ghana’s President John Atta Mills has died, though details are unclear as to the cause of death. Foreign Policy has more here. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has succeeded him, taking the oath of offices a few hours after the announcement of Mills’ death. Fighting has intensified in Syria’s Aleppo. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has joined the chorus of warning Syria against the use of chemical weapons. Israel’s foreign minister has stated that it will get involved in the Syrian conflict if the Syrian army loses control...

North Korea has reportedly started fuelling a rocket for launch next month In a surprise move, Myanmar has invited foreign observers to monitor Sunday’s elections For the first time since 2010, Japan has executed three multiple murderers. The Guardian has live updates of the Arab-League Summit in Baghdad. Syrian President Assad has rejected any Arab-League initiatives to come out of the summit and the violence continued on Wednesday despite Assad’s acceptance of the six points plan. Israel has reportedly bought an airfield in Azerbaijan just north of...

Amnesty International says that NATO failed in its obligation to investigate or provide compensation for deaths in Lybia during its seven-month operation last year. A court in Zimbabwe convicted six activists of trying to unseat Robert Mugabe through Arab Spring-like protests. The convicted men face up to 10 years in prison. India may follow China’s example and ask its airlines not to participate in the EU carbon scheme. New calls for the end of US drone strikes came from a Pakistani parliamentary committee, the latest in a...

As turmoil continues to spread in the Middle East, Google has temporarily blocked access in Libya and Egypt to the inflammatory anti-Muslim video, invoking exceptional circumstances but not relying on its guidelines prohibiting hate speech. It will not come as a surprise to frequent readers of our blog that our own Peter Spiro is quoted as approving of Google’s decision, even though it raises questions about its role as gatekeeper to information. The ECCC has ruled that Ieng Thirith, the Khmer Rouge’s “First Lady” is unfit to...

This week, there was no escaping the second oral argument in the Kiobel case that kicked off the US Supreme Court’s term on Monday. If you are not familiar with this case, it concerns the enigmatic Alien Tort Statute which, as part of the Judiciary Act 1789, holds that “the district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” SCOTUSblog provides more background on the...

Russia has heavily criticized the ICTY for its verdict last week acquitting three, calling the work of the Court careless and ineffective. Iran’s media reports its military has claimed to have extracted data from the US drone it captured earlier in the week, proving the US was spying on Iran. A US drone strike killed three suspected al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan. Despite international criticism, Israel will push ahead with the E1 settlement plan in the West Bank as EU summons the Israel envoy adding its own voice...

Kevin Jon Heller kicked us off this week with posts about the ICC’s report regarding Gaddafi’s situation in Libya and the infighting at the ICC between the Prosecutor and Libyan authorities. He also added a post about the OPCD report outlining Saif Gaddafi’s attitude about the ICC. Peter Spiro previewed the Arizona SB-1070 immigration case before the Supreme Court, discussing why the court should have ducked and also expanded upon his NY Times op-ed before giving a recap of Wednesday’s oral arguments. Julian Ku also pondered the end...

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah has said that Iran can strike US bases in the Middle East if Israel were to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. In other Hezbollah news, the group ponders an uncertain future if one of its two closest allies, President Assad of Syria, is defeated in the current uprising. Syrian refugees fleeing the country’s turmoil have started arriving in European countries. Ahead of this weekend’s poll, Hong Kong students and teachers continue their protests against China patriotism classes that would become compulsory from 2016....

The big news yesterday was that Ecuador granted WikiLeaks’ founder, Julian Assange, political asylum, angering Britain. Swedish and British authorities are critical of the decision, while UK authorities are refusing to grant Assange safe passage out of London. One of Assange’s attorneys, Baltazar Garzon, has entertained the idea of taking this dispute between Ecuador and the UK to the International Court of Justice, if the British authorities do not allow him safe passage. Amid threats that the British will terminate diplomatic status for the Ecuadorian embassy, EJIL:Talk!...