After last week’s four-day-long weekend this one lasts only one day in Hungary. A pretty annoying practice really, although I have to add yesterday was the first “working Saturday” when I actually worked. On past ones I only went to work or not even that. The one day weekend turned out to be quite unpleasant though, so I don’t even mind it’s almost over already.
Unfortunately, I also had some major PC issues this past week and I wasn’t even able to use my laptop for a couple of days. Lessons learned: 1. A dysfunctional keyboard for a graphomaniac like me is no fun. 2. No matter how simple the problem seems, a specialist always knows better.
Once again, many thanks to Pisti for not just fixing the problem but making this thing work better than ever! (If you’re in Budapest in need of IT support, he’s the best!)
Anyway, when I finally got around to catch up with my reading and writing there were some 200+ unread posts in my Feedly. Here’s a few I found worthy of sharing.
On world affairs:
UN Pressures Syria to Open Up ‘Chemical’ Battlefields
The Kosovo Precedent for Syria Isn’t Much of a Precedent
Unquestionably the news story of the week. It’s still unclear whether the UN investigators will be able to access the site, but everybody seems to agree that something grave has happened there. Once the chemical weapons usage is proved, actions will need to be taken. Make sure you check the newer Lawfare blog posts on the Kosovo line, they seem to think the Obama administration is looking for a justification to interfere.
UN Inspectors get green light for Syrian nerve agent hunt
And this just came in while I was typing the last words of this posts. It seems the investigation will actually happen. Looking forward to the developments on this.
Egypt: It’s Time to Call in the ICC
Senator: Obama Administration Secretly Suspended Military Aid to Egypt
Suspending military aid sounds like a better message than simply canceling the joint military practice for sure. Those guys in Cairo are busy with other stuff anyway. And now with releasing Mubarak, it is like Egypt is still on the same path, only now going backwards in a very fast pace. Indeed it is time to call in the ICC.
Swiss parliament slams own government’s UN nomination of Quaddafi Prize founder
I haven’t mentioned this before, although it’s been a developing story for a couple of weeks and actually one of the first major issues the new US ambassador to the UN opined on in harsh terms. Jean Ziegler will not represent Switzerland in the Human Rights Council at last.
On the legal side:
Arms treaty garners some state parties
No news really, but while we are impatiently waiting for the courts to be back in full swing (or is it just me?), we could take a look at the current status of the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty.
That’s it for now, I’ll try to be more prepared and organized next week. Happy last week of summer for you all!
