ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 11-17 July
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 11 July to Sunday, 17 July from ForesightNews
Monday marks the 16th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which has returned to the forefront again recently with Ratko Mladic’s arrest and last week’s Dutch court verdict assigning responsibility to the Dutch state for the deaths of three men who were handed over to Bosnian Serb forces.
In Washington, Hillary Clinton is set to host the latest meeting of the Middle East Quartet, which is hoping to break a deadlock and re-start peace talks ahead of the September UN General Assembly meeting.
In Brussels on Tuesday, the OECD and the European Commission launch the OECD International Migration Outlook for 2011, which is expected to feature details on recent and future migration to the EU from North Africa.
Meanwhile, the Julian Assange saga is revived as his two-day extradition appeal opens in London. Assange is fighting a 24 February ruling that would extradite him to Sweden to face questioning for alleged sexual assaults.
Hours before the Assange hearing closes on Wednesday, the long-running sodomy trial for Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim resumes following his fourth unsuccessful attempt to have the trial judge dismissed. The oft-delayed trial has been going on for over two and a half years.
The UN Security Council is also scheduled to meet in New York on Wednesday to discuss South Sudan, and, according to current UN Security Council President Peter Wittig, the UN General Assembly may formally approve the new country’s UN membership on Thursday following independence on 9 July.
A Utah court hears an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) constitutional challenge to the Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act (Bill HB497) on the day that a restraining order against the enforcement of the bill expires. The law requires police officers to verify the immigration status of anyone stopped for felonies or certain misdemeanours.
Friday is the big deadline in Greece, when the government is due to repay some €2.4bn in sovereign debt bonds, a payment only possible if it receives the next tranche of its IMF/EU loan in time. Another €2bn payment is due on 22 July.
In nearby Istanbul, the fourth meeting of the Libya Contact Group gets underway, with EU diplomats publicly hoping for an increased presence from African Union members.
The role of social media in the Arab Spring is also likely to be a hot topic today, as Twitter celebrates the fifth anniversary of its public launch.
On Saturday, thousands of Shia Muslims converge on Iraq’s holy city of Karbala to celebrate the ninth century birth of Imam Muhammad al Mahdi in a pilgrimage known as Shabaniyah.
Presidential elections are held in the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe on Sunday, with incumbent Fradique de Menezes ineligible for a third term and the country’s first President Manuel Pinto da Costa hoping to return to power.
Sunday also marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
Highlights: Srebrenica anniversary and Quartet meeting (11 July); OECD migration report and Julian Assange hearing (12 July); Assange and Anwar Ibrahim hearings and UN Security Council meeting (13 July); South Sudan UN membership and Utah immigration challenge (14 July); Greek bond payment, Libya Contact Group meeting and Twitter anniversary (15 July); Shabaniyah pilgrimage (16 July); Sao Tome and Principe elections and Spanish Civil War anniversary (17 July).