Introduction

A new swine influenza virus is causing outbreaks in humans in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and the virus has possibly spread to other countries. This outbreak has alarmed public health officials because of its epidemiological characteristics, which indicate that the virus may be able to cause a pandemic.

On May 30, 2008, delegates at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), a new treaty that seeks to ban the use, development, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, and transfer of cluster munitions.[1] The CCM will be opened for signature on December 3, 2008 (CCM, Article 15).

Introduction

The Bali Roadmap marks a milestone in the process of international consensus building, setting forth a multilateral legal framework to address climate change. Delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali (Dec. 3-15 2007) launched a two-year process with a comprehensive agenda and 2009 deadline to complete negotiations for a post-2012 agreement.

On August 2, 2007, Russian explorers in a submersible planted their national flag on the seabed below the North Pole in symbolic support of Russia's 2001 claim relating to its extended continental shelf. This claim was first made on December 20, 2001 in the context of Russia's submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in accordance with Article 76(8) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In February 2007, international media reported that Indonesia had decided not to continue to share with the World Health Organization (WHO) samples of avian influenza A (H5N1) strains appearing in Indonesia. Instead, Indonesia decided to pursue a commercial arrangement with a pharmaceutical company, which would use the samples to develop an avian influenza vaccine for Indonesia.

Introduction

[Insight Editor's note: This Insight differs from the usual ASIL Insight in that it concerns an action taken by the ASIL itself.

Introduction