Sunday Smack

Happy Weekend Everybody! I had a busy weekend and I cannot believe it is almost over. How about you all? Take a moment to check out some of my favorite blog posts from this week. The Baga Massacre US Secretary of State John Kerry was relatively quick this time to call it a crime against humanity, but is the international community willing and able to act quickly enough to stop further violence? Misunderstanding Terrorism: Charlie Hebdo Didn’t Provoke the Killers Is it possible to agree with both sides of this debate? I said it before and I’ll say it again,…

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The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, opens a preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, opens a preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine Today, Friday, 16 January 2015, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine.  The Prosecutor’s decision follows the Government of Palestine’s accession to the Rome Statute on 2 January 2015 and its declaration of 1 January 2015, lodged under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute – the Court’s founding treaty – accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC over alleged crimes committed “in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since…

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Pope Francis: Free expression doesn’t mean right to insult others’ faith – CNN.com

Pope Francis: Free expression doesn’t mean right to insult others’ faith – CNN.com On France terror and Charlie Hebdo controversy, Pope Francis said people “cannot insult other people’s faith,” nor should they “kill in the name of God.” “One cannot make war (or) kill in the name of one’s own religion,” Francis said on his way to the Philippines. “… To kill in the name of God is an aberration.” And: “One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.”

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Today, Paris is the capital of the world. French president Francois Hollande reportedly told members of his cabinet before the unity march in Paris.

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kateoplis: Today in Paris: The largest demonstration in French history (Source: https://vine.co/)

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday Everybody! How are you all doing after the first working week of 2015? After the tragic events of this week, I should say I prefer the “eventlessness” (I know, I just made this word up) of the past few weeks, when there are not much to read and post about. I do hope the rest of this year will be filled with much more positive news. France’s Open Wound / La Plaie Béante de la France Great, great post about the two sides of this sad story. I myself shared the #jesuischarlie hashtag a few times since the tragic…

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UN Secretary General: 2015 to be challenging, but also promising

UN Secretary General: 2015 to be challenging, but also promising Secretary General Ban Ki-moon briefed the UN General Assembly about this year’s priorities for the UN on Thursday. Click the picture to read the whole speech and more.

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un-dpa: The Security Council met 263 times, an increase of 36 per cent over the previous year. This is just one of the findings in the 2014 Highlights of Security Council Practice report produced by the Security Council Practices and Charter Research Branch in the Security Council Affairs Division of DPA. Full report at http://www.un.org/en/sc/inc/pages/pdf/highlights/2014.pdf

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newyorker: The cover of next week’s issue, by Ana Juan. No words. Well done, The New Yorker.

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It’s absolutely vital, they can’t win. We are all suffering, with grief, with fear, but we will do it anyway because stupidity will not win. ‘Charlie Hebdo’ columnist Patrick Pelloux. The paper will put out one million copies next week (via micdotcom)

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