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OSCE Official Urges Russia to Adhere to ECtHR Rulings
January 06, 2016
Arguing that Russia's Council of Europe membership requires adherence to European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR") rulings, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's ("OSCE") Parliamentary Assembly human rights chair Isabel Santos has indicated that a new law permitting Russian courts to review international human rights rulings simply seeks to evade unfavorable ECtHR decisions.
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Reform Approval Amplifies Voices of Russia, China at IMF
January 06, 2016
The approval of International Monetary Fund ("IMF") reforms in a spending deal recently passed by the US Congress means the international organization can double its permanent financial resources and gives "emerging" economies, including Russia, China, and India, greater voting power at the IMF.
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Abrams Calls on US Congress Not to Fund UNESCO
January 06, 2016
Elliott Abrams writes in The Weekly Standard that the US Congress must show resolve in upholding US policy not to fund any UN organization that admits Palestine as a member by denying the Obama Administration's request for a waiver permitting the President to "re-fund" the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO").
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UN Agents Seek Scale-up of EU Refugee Program
January 06, 2016
UN agents have increased pressure on EU authorities to increase drastically the number of refugees it is resettling in Europe, with the head of the UN refugee agency Antonio Guterres calling the current effort "not enough" and the UN's special envoy for migration Peter Sutherland labeling the EU's inability to deal with the "manageable number" of migrants "absurd."
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Panel Cites UN Failures in Sex-Abuse Cases
January 06, 2016
An independent panel established to investigate the UN response to allegations of the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic has found that "gross institutional failure" at UN agencies prevented a meaningful response to the allegations and led to further abuse.