• Former President of Cote d’Ivoire Laurent Gbabgo was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court on Wednesday amid fears that “victor’s justice” could stoke further tensions in the fragile “reconciliation” process. The ICC is…

• The Global Campaign for Aid Transparency released its 2011 Pilot Aid Transparency Index that highlights the shortcomings of international aid in an effort to make it more transparent.
• Friday marked the International Day for the…

• A court in Belarushanded down a four-and-a-half year prison sentence to prominent human rights activist Ales Byalyatiski for tax evasion on Thursday in a move that was seen as politically motivated. The UN human rights panel criticized the country on Friday for…

• On Wednesday, President Saleh of Yemen signed an agreement to end his 33 year rule in exchange for immunity from prosecution from Saudi Arabia, officially handing over power to his Vice President al-Hadi; a move the UN Security Council welcomed. On Thursday, thousands took to the streets in the…

• The UN regional economic body, ECLAC, announced on Wednesday that poverty in Latin America is at its lowest level in 20 years. Among the countries that saw the largest drops in poverty are Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and Columbia, with poverty increasing only in Honduras and Mexico.
• On Wednesday,…

• Security officials in India reportedly killed senior Maoist commander, Molajula Koteswar Rao on Thursday, the latest in a series of senior leaders of the movement to be killed.  More than 100,000 security personnel have been deployed to the remote areas of centre and eastern India to fight…

• The London based International Institute for Environment and Development released a policy paper on Thursday that warned of an alarming number of African governments that seem to be signing away water rights in their countries for decades, with major implications for local communities.
• A…

Here are some interesting links I came across this week:

• For those of you in the academic world who haven’t heard of this free citation service, Zotero, check it out. Makes collaboration, citation and organizing your sources much easier.
• In the face of the recent attention afforded to the London riots, this view is…

The recent terrorist tragedy in Norway has garnered major attention in the news as of late, and also sparked much outrage at the instant accusations launched against Muslims for the attack. The media ran purely on speculation that the attacks were linked to an Islamist group based on incomplete and unverified information, and although the real culprit, a blonde and blue eyed Norwegian, has now been caught, the vast majority of the media has shown that so-called “Islamic” terrorists and…

The recent attention afforded to the Somali famine has mostly infuriated me. It’s not because I don’t care about those who are starving, quite the contrary; it’s more that I am infuriated with the way that the crisis is being painted in the media. For example:

The way it is so constantly referred to as a “natural disaster”, the result of drought or climate change, or some other ecological problem, as opposed to being a…

• EU leaders agreed on Friday to tighten migration safeguards, in a controversial response to an influx of migrants fleeing North Africa's upheaval. The refugee crisis sparked a debate over the extent that EU governments should share the responsibility for immigrants arriving elsewhere in the bloc.
• Poland…

• A court in Oman sentenced 55 people to prison on Tuesday for taking part in protests demanding jobs. The accused were found guilty of offences including robbery, unlawful gathering, and vanalising government departments. The protests happened between March and May.
• Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon…

Special thanks to Michael Southcott for his submissions.

• President Hugo Chavez of Venezuelaspent nearly two weeks  recovering from surgery in Cuba after swelling in his pelvis and has been out of public sight since, causing much speculation  that he may be seriously…

• On Friday, suspected insurgents killed two civilians  and wounded another four in a triple bombing attack in Thailand, near the Malaysian border. Thailand faces an election July 3rd, in a vote that the opposition…

• The meeting of religious leaders from Armenia and Georgiadid not result in any concrete agreements on disputes between the quasi-official churches after nearly one week of talks.
• Thousands of people marched on Parliament in Athens,…

Hello, hope all is well!

Sorry, several of the This Week in Conflict reports are a little late this week, as I have been without power or Internet since Tuesday, one of the side-effects of living in a conflict zone. As such, stories are only updated until Tuesday evening. I will try to keep to a consistent posting schedule, as much as my access to the Internet allows me.

Peace!

Rebecca

This Week in Conflict is now being divided…

Hello, hope all is well!

Sorry, several of the This Week in Conflict reports are a little late this week, as I have been without power or Internet since Tuesday, one of the side-effects of living in a conflict zone. As such, stories are only updated until Tuesday evening. I will try to keep to a consistent posting schedule, as much as my access to the Internet allows me.

Peace!

Rebecca

This Week in Conflict is now being divided…

Hello, hope all is well!

Sorry, several of the This Week in Conflict reports are a little late this week, as I have been without power or Internet since Tuesday, one of the side-effects of living in a conflict zone. As such, stories are only updated until Tuesday evening. I will try to keep to a consistent posting schedule, as much as my access to the Internet allows me.

Peace!

Rebecca

This Week in Conflict is now being divided…