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1 May 2015
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James B Comey, told Polish ambassador to the United States that he regretted remarks made earlier which suggested Polish complicity in the Holocaust. The comments were made in the context of a speech given at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, parts of which were reprinted in The Washington Post. The offending passage read: ‘in their minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland and Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to do. That’s what people do. And that should truly frighten us.’ (more…)
Source: The New York Times | FBI Chief Tells Poland's U.S. Envoy He Regrets Holocaust Remarks
Source: The New York Times | Poland Demands Apology Over F.B.I. Director’s Holocaust Remarks
Source: Reuters | FBI chief tells Poland's U.S. envoy he regrets Holocaust remarks
22 April 2015
The sale of American military hardware is on the rise in the Middle East, reports the New York Times. Defense industry officials notified Congress that Arab allies fighting the Islamic State – Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt – are set to purchase thousands of American-made missiles and other weapons. Until recently Gulf Nations militaries have been “a combination of something between symbols of deterrence and national flying clubs. Now they’re suddenly being used”, said Richard L. Aboulafia, a defense analyst at the Teal Group. Saudi Arabia has become the world’s fourth largest defense market, spending more than USD 80 billion on weaponry last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute tracking global military spending. The Emirates and Qatar have followed suit, the Emirates spending nearly USD 23 billion last year and Qatar signing an USD 11 billion agreement for the purchase of Apache attack helicopters and an air defense system. (more…)
Source: The New York Times | Sale of U.S. Arms Fuels the Wars of Arab States
16 April 2015
On 30 March 2015, a working group of current and ex-judges, advocates and professors from across the globe released the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations. The Oslo Principles seek to overcome the political impasse which has so far obstructed agreement on defining a common international approach to climate change. They aim to ‘identify and articulate a set of Principles that comprise the essential obligations States and enterprises have to avert the critical level of global warming’. ‘These principles underscore that states have moral and legal duties to take action to avert the destructive effects of climate change’, said Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale and the Director of Yale’s Global Justice Program. (more…)
Source: Yale | OSLO PRINCIPLES ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE OBLIGATIONS
Source: Legal Experts Release Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations | 30 March 2015
15 April 2015
In a ‘landmark legal case’, nearly 900 Dutch citizens have filed a claim against the Dutch government for a failure to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate change, and for the ‘co-creation’ a dangerous future world. The action is a case of ‘firsts’; it represents both the first attempt by European citizens to hold their government accountable for inefficient climate policies, and the first use of existing human rights law to found a claim in respect of climate change. (more…)
Source: Think Progress | In Landmark Case, Dutch Citizens Sue Their Government Over Failure To Act On Climate Change