How is everybody doing this weekend?
Once again I wish the weekend would last a few days longer, so I could catch up with all the things I don’t get to do with my 10+ hours per day working schedule.
I know I seem to be complaining all the time, but finally I am about to act on it too. In the meantime, check out the news that caught my attention this week.
On world affairs:
Nobel Peace Prize Fails to Pacify
Interesting collection of social media responses to the news. I personally am among those who are disappointed that Malala did not get the Nobel Peace Prize this year, but then I am sure this was not her last and only chance. Moreover, I do understand the gesture behind awarding the OPCW, I think it’s very much like last year’s Prize to the EU. It’s like saying ‘you have a difficult task to handle guys, we want you to do it right, here’s how we support you’.
Peacekeepers to the Central African Republic?
The 17th UN peacekeeping mission is now approved by the UN Security Council.
ICC on trial before the African Union
I am still not sure there is a real chance of the African Union as a whole moving away from the International Criminal Court, and thus international justice. We will probably know more about it today or tomorrow.
On the legal side:
Does the UN’s Syria Resolution Violate the Chemical Weapons Convention?
Is there really a conflict between the aims of the Syrian chemical weapons inspection and those of the Convention? Even more interesting after the organization behind the inspection team gets this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
World event of the week:
The Budapest Water Summit has been held this week in Budapest with high profile attendees from all over the diplomatic spectrum, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who made opening remarks on the first day of the summit.
This was actually the second time in two years for Secretary General Ban to visit Hungary. Two years ago I was fortunate enough to be present at his lecture at the Hungarian Academy of Science. Unfortunately this time I did not have the chance to attend any of the programmes. Besides the opening press conference of the summit, he met President János Áder at his residence, he had a meeting with Prime Minister Orbán at the Parliament, and spoke at the Corvinus University of Budapest.
The Water Summit concluded on Friday with the participants accepting the Budapest Statement. To learn more about the statement and the whole programme of the event visit budapestwatersummit.hu.
Entertainment bit of the week:
Charlie Hunnam drops out of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
OK, well, first of all, I had no idea who Charlie Hunnam was until they announced he would get this role. I have to admit I don’t really care who is going to play Christian Grey either, although I am indeed courious what the movie is going to be like.
The reason I wanted to share a few words about this today anyway, is because I am reading Fifty Shades of Freed for more than a month now!
Yes, sometimes I do read those ‘fashionable’ books, the ones they talk about just out of curiousity. Long time readers might remember I shared my not so flattering opinion about the first part here, the second I found a little better, but this one I really don’t know what to do with.
It is officially becoming the most boring book I have ever read and at the same time or more like as a consequence: the one that took me the longest time to finish ever. I have already read two other books in the meantime, but I just cannot progress with this one.
How about you all? What are you all reading these days?
