Research Briefing
This note provides an update to the second reading and committee stage Library research papers on the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill, also known as the 'Vulture Funds' Bill. The Act entered into force in June 2010 and will lapse if not renewed within a year due to a 'sunset clause'.
Research Briefing
The UK has an opt-in arrangement to measures in the "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice", which concern mainly immigration and asylum, border control, judicial cooperation in civil law, policing and criminal law. This Note looks at parliamentary scrutiny of the opt-in arrangement.
Research Briefing
Describes the cases that led to the quashing of the terrorist asset-freezing regime by the Supreme Court, the temporary provisions bill that reinstated it and the present Bill, designed to provide a permanent solution to the problem.
Research Briefing
The failed attempt on 25 December to destroy an airliner bound for Detroit has focussed attention on the situation in Yemen. This note summarises political and military developments in the country and looks at Yemeni relations with the UK and the EU.
Research Briefing
The FiReControl project, involving the closure of local fire control rooms and the establishment of 9 regional control rooms, has been highly controversial. This note covers the background to the reform and recent developments.
Research Briefing
The UN's eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are aimed at reducing world poverty and improving lives by 2015. This note provides background and a progress assessment ahead of a UN review summit in September 2010.
Research Briefing
Summary about disturbances and the change of government in Kyrgyzstan
Research Briefing
The first part of this paper focuses on the Pashtuns, beginning with a survey of the geographic, historical and cultural factors which have shaped Pashtun identities in Afghanistan and Pakistan before going on to describe the political and security arrangements under which they currently live. The paper then reviews the Pashtun armed militant groups currently operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The second part of the paper then looks at the US AfPak policy, setting out its origins and evolution before assessing the prospects for success over the coming year and beyond.
Research Briefing
This note discusses how the European Convention on Human Rights affects UK planning law
Research Briefing
In April 2009 President Obama set out his vision for a world without nuclear weapons, and in doing so laid the groundwork for renewed international efforts to strengthen and advance the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Over the past year that momentum has translated into the agreement of a successor to the US-Russia START treaty, global commitments to secure highly vulnerable nuclear materials within four years and the establishment, at the May 2010 Review Conference, of an action plan in support of the three main pillars of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This paper examines the prospects for achieving that vision of 'global zero'.
Research Briefing
This is a archived Commons Library briefing on Emerging economies: Brazil, China, India & Russia (BRICs) from 2010.
Research Briefing
This paper considers the current political situation in Sudan, including the impact of the April 2010 elections in which Omar al-Bashir was re-elected as national President. The prospects for Sudan over the coming year are examined, with particular reference to the two referendums to be held in January 2011, required under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and the recent resurgence of the conflict in Darfur.
Research Briefing
This Note is intended to be a companion to Library Standard Note 831 Fixed Term Parliaments. It explains how fixed term parliaments operate in a number of other advanced democracies, both parliamentary and presidential.
Research Briefing
In order to make sense of Sudan's present and possible futures, it is vital to know something of its recent past. This is the purpose of this Standard Note, which provides a detailed account of events in Sudan, including their regional impact, between 2003 and 2009. It will not be updated.
Total results (page 162 of 180)