At last, the UN Security Council is calling on the Syrian government to immediately allow humanitarian aid into Syria, and to allow humanitarian pauses in the fighting – including along “key routes” for relief convoys. Millions inside of Syria are in dire need, and without aid their lives could be at risk.
A long-awaited agreement signed on Monday by Indonesia and the European Union to trade only in legal timber is a critical first step toward reform of Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt forestry sector. But there are still miles to go before both sides can claim “zero tolerance for illegal logging and its associated trade.”
Russia’s well-to-do urban professionals in their thirties and forties are heatedly discussing the need to “get the hell out.” Why? They do not believe they enjoy protection. If you get in trouble with the law you’ll be thrown in jail – and there’s no independent court to protect you.
Kenyan forces are already targeting Somalis after the Westgate Mall attacks, undertaken by Islamist militants with ties to the Somali militia, al-Shabaab. But Somali civilians – themselves often victims of al-Shabaab – should be protected from revenge attacks.
A new World Bank report says that Saudi Arabia tops the countries with laws limiting women’s economic potential. Maybe women’s ‘lack of potential’ in Saudi also reflects the fact that women aren’t able to go to school, work, get divorced or even undergo certain medical procedures without permission from a male guardian?
From earlier today: "...a network of people who are trying to sabotage the case against Mr Ruto by interfering with prosecution witnesses". With these words, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, described a newly unsealed arrest warrant for Walter Barasa. He is suspected of corruptly influencing witnesses in the trial of Kenya's deputy president, William Ruto, who faces crimes against humanity charges in The Hague.
