Syria has met the second major deadline imposed by the Russian-US agreement to disarm Syria’s chemical weapons. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has examined 21 out of the 23 chemical weapons facilities it had identified, and declared that Syria has destroyed its capability to produce or use chemical weapons. This is a remarkable achievement given the circumstances even though the agreement does nothing to stop the ongoing conventional violence in the country. If the Russians and Americans could show similar commitment to stopping the humanitarian crisis in Syria, then we might have a better chance of saving lives.
There is controversy over the number of civilian deaths associated with the American use of drones in Pakistan. As reported earlier, two human rights groups estimated that about 400 civilians had dies in the strikes. However, the Pakistani government itself published numbers closer to the American estimate: 67 civilian deaths since 2008. There is speculation that the Pakistani government has low-balled its estimates in an attempt to dampen concerns over reports that the Pakistani government has in fact approved the strikes despite its earlier denials.
The International Criminal Court has decided to delay its prosecution of the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, for a third time. The charges against Kenyatta are that he fomented ethnic violence in Kenya after the election in 2007. An estimated 1,300 people died in that violence. The Kenyan government has appealed to the UN Security Council to delay any prosecution of Kenyatta while he holds the presidency. Many also suspect that the charges are taking a back seat to the exigencies of the anti-terrorist movement after the violence in the Kenyan shopping mall earlier in the year. It will be interesting to see how the world addresses these issues.
World Politics News 
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