U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney leaves office next week, leaving behind a legacy of back-room deals and, more importantly, a legacy of torture. Cheney in his eight years as vice president, and a career in civil service, paved the way for warrantless surveillance of the American people. Cheney also formed a team of legal experts […]
New Design Could Revolutionize World Slums Paper houses could transform sprawling slums, according to developers who hope the creation of a cheap, sturdy and sustainable housing structure made from paper will change the way the world's poorest city dwellers live. The dwellings, made from resin-treated paper, will first be used in Zimbabwe and Nigeria. PAKISTAN: […]
For the moment (and not to speak for Dan), I don't have any more analysis on the Gaza incursion – my take on the purely legal aspects of the issue is here. However, for those interested in the questions about the law of armed conflict posed by the incursion, Opinio Jurislinks what is certainly the […]
Are you a future global leader, do you want to share your ideas for change with the world, sick of people thinking you don't know what's going on in the world or your too young to make a difference? Well show the world what innovative ideas you have by putting your ideas, thoughts and youthful […]
Dan has two good posts addressing some of the legal criticism of the Israeli incursion into Gaza. There's been a vigorous debate on the incursion across the wonderful new array of Foreign Policy blogs; David Rothkopf summarizes his dispute with Steven Walt here. Christian Brose has a compelling piece here, too. While the writers don't […]
With Hamas and Israel ignoring international calls for a cease-fire, the top human rights official with the United Nations called for an investigation into war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military pushed deeper into the Hama-held Gaza Strip Sunday in the 16th day of assaults on the tiny Palestinian enclave. Khaled Meshaal, the […]
“Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by children.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, American physician, poet, writer, humorist and professor at Harvard, 1809-1894 They say 'the truth will set you free’, yet so often as we grow in to adulthood we forget the simple and all encompassing power of […]
We’ve all heard of snow days, but snow school? For the children of Leipzig Germany's Wood Kindergarten, everyday is a snow day. The Wood Kindergarten is all outdoors and regardless of the temperature, even if below zero, school carries on. In a day and age where too many children have to be forced outdoors to […]
The David Citadel Hotel stands in Jerusalem's Old City. Inside, a large room is reserved for a trilateral meeting between secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. A breakthrough, promised by Rice to end the six-year Palestinian Israeli deadlock is overshadowed by Israeli bulldozers ploughing away at the al-Aqsa […]
I enviously read about all of the fantastic jewelry Condoleezza Rice received from Arab governments in the past year. The gifts are worth at least $316 million‚ and that's with the U.S. foreign policy being wildly unpopular. According to the Associated Press: In January, Jordan's King Abdullah II gave Rice an emerald and diamond necklace, […]
Palestinian human rights officials suggested the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank may file formal war crimes charges against Israel in international court for activity in the Hamas-held Gaza Strip. Israeli forces launched their twelfth day of assaults on the tiny enclave on the border with Egypt. Hamas, the militant leadership of the Gaza Strip, […]
The issue of child marriage is in no way a new issue, it is one that has plagued children, especially young girls across geographical divides, while child marriage is more prevalent in some cultures, the true cause for the high levels of child marriage is more often economic than socially based. At the root of […]
I’ve written before about concerns surrounding Bosnian political stability. Within the international community, the chorus of worried voices is getting louder. Thomas Barnett argues the risk of further dissolution is endemic to the creation of a new nation. Stop Genocide blog, however, notes this piece by Morton Abramowicz and Daniel Serwer, arguing that Bosnia and […]
It's hardly news now – but the biggest Darfur story over the holidays was definitely this piece by the always-excellent Nicholas Kristof. Kristof lays out a set of serious actions the United States emissary to Sudan has been proposing to President Bush, and argues President-elect Obama should consider them immediately. Among the proposed actions: * […]
I read a disturbing article in Le Monde about a former Le Monde journalist who is facing serious charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The UN body is mandated to prosecute individuals for egregious crimes against humanity. And on August 8, 2008, the Hague Tribunal decided to prosecute journalist […]