Busy, busy, busy week…

While this was a very eventful week in terms of world affairs, in my corner of the world the historic floods along the river Danube take over all the news these days.

Fortunately in Hungary it is not as bad as in some parts of Germany and the Czech Republic, but most of all it is due to the hard work of both professional people and volunteers who come to work day and night not just from the affected areas but all over the country. I wish all the strenght and persevarence to all those along the dams.

Now let’s take a look further:

On world affairs:

5 Shocking Human Rights Abuses Exposed By UN Syria Report

Really disturbing findings regarding the acts of both sides of the conflict that occured in the first months of this year. 

Russia wants Tehran at Syria conference

Now, it is still unclear who is going to be there at this conference and whether it will be a serious event at all with any tangible results. Of course now we know there will be no summit in June. But what can possibly change until July?

UN announces largest ever humanitarian appeal for conflict-torn Syria

Meanwhile the UN approved the largest ever humanitarian aid for Syria.

Is the UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights collapsing?

I mentioned last week that Austria threatened to withdraw its peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, now it is decided. Here’s what Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had to say about this, and the Security Council held an emergency session on Friday to discuss the future of this mission.

On the legal side:

Arms Trade Treaty: Open For Business

I feature this here, because at this point, the rules of international treaty law are the ones that come into highlight. I posted links about the arms trade treaty a few times before. Now it is open for signatures and ratification. The above is just one of the articles speculating about the Treaty’s future in the maze of American politics. Here find the list of the 67 countries that signed it on the first day. 

ICC prosecutor reproaches UN for ‘inaction and paralysis’ on Darfur

Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Darfur expressing disappointment about previous inaction and paralysis within the Council.

Personnel decision of the week:

Samantha Power’s tough road ahead

I don’t think any of the Republican critics are good enough to make me thinks she’s not going to be good at this job.

Transitional Security Advisors

Now here’s an optimist one from ForeignPolicy.com, that anticipates Susan Rice and Samantha Power to “finally move U.S. foreign policy into the 21st century”. But will they?

Posh events of the week:

I mentioned earlier how I love to follow such events for the old fashioned protocol of them. This week we had two. First the thanksgiving service for the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation on Tuesday, and then the wedding of Sweden’s Princess Madeleine on Saturday (congrats to them!). I was only able to follow both with half an eye this time. For the wedding I even missed my favorite part (the ceremonial entrance of the guests) since I was out until the last minute when it started.

Only one thing I would like to note: LOL at those people who cry scandal at the Duchess of Cambridge wearing the same hat for the second time or the Countess of Wessex wearing an almost similar styled dress as the bride. I mean, come on people, there are bigger problems in the world! If you don’t believe me, scroll back up!

And speaking of royalty, I just can’t leave out this moment of Queen Elizabeth II at BBC’s new Broadcasting House this week. She took a brief visit at the newsroom and at the same time to the live broadcast of BBC News. This just made me smile. 🙂

Success of the week:

Still in Britain, the Hungarian group Attraction won the finale of Britain’s Got Talent last night. Congratulations!