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ICC Staff Detained in Libya Set Free
After a weeks long ordeal in which a ICC officials working on the defense of Saif al Islam (Gaddafi’s son) were detained for “espionage,” the International Criminal Court officials are finally out of the country. This episode was a very big deal because the ICC requires the cooperation of countries to succeed, and the Libyan authorities were clearly using her detention as a warning sign that they want to try Seif Al Islam in Libya and not the Hague. “The Libyan government said it was releasing [Melsisa] Taylor and three of her ICC colleagues as a “humanitarian” gesture. She was freed from the mountain town of Zintan and driven to the capital, Tripoli, where she was due to fly to The Hague for a reunion with her husband and two-year-old daughter. The deal to free Taylor was agreed late on Sunday, with the ICC’s South Korean president, Sang-Hyun Song, flying to Tripoli on Mondayand driving to the mountains to collect his four-person team. Taylor sat down with Song to a lunch laid on by her Zintani captors of chicken, fish, rice and a can of fizzy orange.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/LMcl0B)
2 Million Displaced by Epic Floods in India
Monsoon rains have caused the Brahmaputra river to levels unseen in years. “The worst monsoon floods in a decade to hit a remote northeastern Indian state have killed more than 80 people and forced around 2 million to leave their homes, officials said Monday. Nearly half a million people are living in relief camps that have been set up across Assam state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told journalists in Gauhati, Assam’s capital. The rest of the 2 million displaced have moved in with relatives or are living in the open, sheltering under tarpaulin sheets.” (CBC http://bit.ly/LM9g0t)
Jim Kim Takes Over World Bank
The new World Bank chief took the helm on Monday. “In an email reaching out to the World Bank’s staff, Kim said his priority was to intensify the bank’s efforts to help developing countries protect growth and jobs. ‘The global economy remains vulnerable,’ Kim said in the email. ‘The Bank Group stands ready to support countries as they design and implement longer-range strategies for sustainable, inclusive growth.’ Kim said no other organization could combine on-the-ground experience, knowledge and analysis to tackle its main mission of eradicating poverty.” (Reuters http://bit.ly/LMd0yY)