News archive: February 2013
25 February 2013
The United Nations (UN) has invoked its immunity to deny claims for compensation from 5.000 victims of the Haiti cholera epidemic, believed to have been caused by UN peacekeepers that imported the infection into the country.
The reigning scientific theory about the origin of the epidemic is that peacekeepers from Nepal imported the cholera and, through a faulty sanitation system at their base, infected a tributary of the country’s largest river. The cholera epidemic has killed almost 8.000 people and has stricken hundreds of thousands more.
Source: The New York Times | U.N. Rejects Claim for Direct Compensation to Victims of Cholera Epidemic in Haiti
Source: The Guardian | UN will not compensate Haiti cholera victims, Ban Ki-moon tells president
25 February 2013
The White House threatened China and other states with diplomatic and trade action over corporate espionage in a conference on Wednesday, after cataloging more than a dozen cases of commercial thefts and cyberattacks at some of the biggest companies in the United States (US). The strategy of the Obama administration was outlined in a report at the conference.
The strategy report said Washington would work with its allies to coordinate on ways to pressure states like China, which according to the US government are engaged in heavy theft of intellectual property.
Source: The Wall Street Journal | U.S. Ups Ante for Spying on Firms
Source: Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets | February 2013
19 February 2013
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that he would forbid his military forces from requesting American or NATO forces to conduct airstrikes. The announcement follows a joint Afghan-NATO attack last week in the Kunar Province (in eastern Afghanistan), that killed ten civilians. The airstrike was reportedly requested by the Afghan National Directorate of Security.
Source: The New York Times | Karzai to Forbid Afghan Forces From Requesting Foreign Airstrikes
18 February 2013
The New York Times reports that there is a likely role for French counterterrorism forces in tracking down militants in Mali, also after the French troops will be replaced by a United Nations peacekeeping force. A State Department official of the United States stated that ‘there’s going to be an ongoing need for a counterterrorism operation in northern Mali, and that probably will always reside in the hands of the French and not in the hands of the United Nations.’
Source: The New York Times | Official Details French Role in Mali
15 February 2013
The SHARES Project is closely following and collecting news items that are linked to the issue of shared responsibility (see: www.sharesproject.nl/news). Here is our third ‘SHARES News Items Overview’, a new category of blog posts consisting of a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility. (more…)