Tag: Syria

Happy weekend eveybody! I hope you all had a great week and an even better weekend! Unfortunately I am still struggling with this terrible cold, I have spent almost all of September sick, and it only seems getting worse… Anybody has any suggestions to cure pneumonia-like coughing and shortness of breath? I think I’ve tried everything, really, but who knows… Anyway, this past week was packed in terms of world affairs with quite a few new developments. I will cover UNGA-related items separately, so here now I collected other stories from this week. Strikes in Syria: The International Law Framework…

Happy Sunday Everybody! I was down with a terrible cold most of this week, which made me delay the launch of one new feature to the blog. But, better late than never, right? I’ll work on it next week. Hope you can take time to check out this week’s post while doing your Sunday things. 🙂 The Legality of ISIS Air Strikes Under International Law While John Kerry continues his campaign to collect supporters for the cause, this is a great post about the alternatives of making bombing Syria look like it was legal.  The NATO Summit’s Most Important Outcome…

Recipes From the Islamic State’s Laptop of Doom “The black Dell laptop found in an Islamic State safe house inside Syria not only contains instructions forhow to weaponize the bubonic plague, it also includes thousands of files that provide a window into how would-be jihadists become radicalized, and how they learn to carry out their deadly craft.” “There’s also evidence that Muhammed has a sweet tooth: The laptop contains recipes for baking a cake, making banana mousse, and for the preparation of caramel.He even kept some screen shots of a music playlist he listened to in January 2010, which included the…

Happy weekend everybody! And happy long weekend to all my readers from the US! I should say happy last weekend of summer, but it just doesn’t sound right… 🙂 As always, I have ambiguous feelings this time of the year. Summer being my favorite season, I want it to last forever (I know, I should move someplace warm…), and at the same time I am excited for new things and things freshening up with fall approaching. Speaking of new things, I will be introducing some new features of the blog this coming week, I can’t wait to share them with…

Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura was named UN mediator for Syria on Thursday, taking on the Herculean task of finding a political solution to the dragging civil war. He replaces the hugely respected Lakhdar Brahimi, who resigned in May after two rounds of peace talks collapsed and as the conflict escalated into a fourth year, killing more than 162,000 people. UN chief Ban Ki-moon confirmed the appointment of the special representative and his Egyptian deputy, urging the much-divided Security Council and Syrian parties to work closely with him. Ban has frequently criticized animosity on the Council between Western powers and…

Happy weekend everybody! There could not possibly be anyone who needed this weekend more than me. I have worked 10-12 hours/day all week, substituting for two of my colleagues away on vacation. It left me really worn out and anxiously looking forward to my own vacation two weeks from now. Catching up on world news was kind of a relaxation after all that. How about you all? How is your summer going so far? A Call for Article 51 Letters There are rules in the UN Charter for the instances of using force. And then there is reality. Perhaps this…

Hello Everybody! I hope you all have spent the longest Saturday of the decade well! I keep being busy with important deadlines approaching both in my work and my studies, that’s the reason this blog seems to be neglected these days. Here’s what I recommend from my weekly reading anyway: UN Chief Warns Military Strikes in Iraq May Backfire The Secretary General actually suggests that keeping things unresolved once again and arming one side against the other would probably even worsen things in the region. World Refugee Day Draws Attention to Shortcomings of International Law World Refugee Day was Friday…

Happy Sunday, people! I hope you are all having a great weekend! Has anybody else been hampered by Feedly’s down periods this week? I hope it’s all solved by now, because in the end I had to scroll through 250+ posts this weekend. Here’s what I thought was worth sharing with you out of all of it. Jihadi takeover in Mosul and Iraq’s looming breakdown This week’s events in Iraq adumbrates very difficult times to come while there already are plenty of problems to solve in the region. Why the UN General Assembly Just Selected Uganda’s Anti-Gay Foreign Minister as…

Hey there, everybody! I am back after a very eventful week and a half spent with friends, lots of laughter, London of course, and a few days of work even. Fortunately this one is a long weekend, so I can at least attempt to get some much needed sleep. It has also been a very eventful week world affairs-wise, I couldn’t even keep up with things here. I will try to reflect back on everything I have missed though, in the coming days. Now, I hope you’ll check out what I have read this past week. Starvation in Syria: Is…

Hope everybody had a great weekend! After an incredibly grey and stormy week in Hungary with a taste of Yvette, summer is expected to arrive next week. And I can’t wait. Here’s a few posts of what I read last week. Syrian Peace Envoy Finally Admits Defeat I tend to agree with SG Ban that it is not Brahimi’s failure. I’d like to think that the problem is not unsolvable after all, even though two high profile diplomats have given up trying already. Then again, I don’t blame neither of them. EU’s Newest Sanction Targets: Crimean Firms, Not Russian Ones…