Ruling in a case brought by the Mothers of Srebrenica, the Netherlands high court found that the relatives of Bosnian men killed by Serb forces in 1995 cannot sue the UN for failing to protect them during the massacre.
In the wake of last month’s kill-spree in southern France, lines across the blogosphere are drawn predictably, indicating the near-complete polarization and lack of any dialectical spark in contemporary thinking on the question of Jew-hatred.
WikiLeaks and Anonymous team up to target Stratfor, winning favorable alterno-coverage. Predictably, nobody is talking about WikiLeaks’ continued silence on charges of complicity with grave human rights abuses in Belarus.
The European Union approved a second bailout for Greece, signing off on a $170 billion rescue package—a day after thousands of protesters took to the streets to oppose austerity measures in both Greece and Spain.
Benjamin Netanyahu made the first-ever visit by an Israeli leader to Cyprus, to discuss offshore gas development and a possible new pipeline. But Turkey objects to the plans, claiming sections of the exploration blocs as under its continental shelf rights.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its concern over the trial of Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, which involves his investigations of acts that occurred during the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco.
The Greek cabinet approved new austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF, as unions began a two-day general strike. This second bailout would cut €3.3 billion from state spending, lower the minimum wage by more than 20%, and lay off thousands of workers.
As ethnic Albanian protesters blocked the road linking Kosova to Serbia, the government is building a four-lane highway to link the country to Albania—a project protested as a nationalist boondoggle by the Serb minority.
Police in Bucharest fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators who blocked traffic in the city’s University Square to protest IMF-imposed austerity measures and poor living standards, demanding the resignation of President Traian Basescu.
Thousands of followers of the far-right Jobbik party protested against the EU in Budapest over European measures against a power-grab by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s rightist government. Last week, thousands of leftists marched against Orban.
Internet restrictions passed last year are set to go into effect in Belarus, amid international criticism. The new law creates several tiers of limitations on use of the Internet, imposing penalties for visiting “blacklisted” sites.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the good ol’ Soviet-era KGB, applies pressure on Facebook and the VKontakte social networking site in a bid to snuff post-electoral protests against Vladimir Putin’s continued rule.
