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UN experts find that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine

UN experts find that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine

The New York Times reports: Russian soldiers have raped and tortured children in Ukraine, a United Nations-appointed panel of independent legal experts said in a damning statement on Friday that concluded war crimes had been committed in the conflict. A three-person Commission of Inquiry set up in April to investigate the conduct of hostilities in four areas of Ukraine laid out the graphic allegations in an unusually hard-hitting, 11-minute statement to the U.N Human Rights Council in Geneva. “The commission…

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U.S. has sent private warnings to Russia against using a nuclear weapon

U.S. has sent private warnings to Russia against using a nuclear weapon

The Washington Post reports: The United States for several months has been sending private communications to Moscow warning Russia’s leadership of the grave consequences that would follow the use of a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. officials, who said the messages underscore what President Biden and his aides have articulated publicly. The Biden administration generally has decided to keep warnings about the consequences of a nuclear strike deliberately vague, so the Kremlin worries about how Washington might respond, the officials…

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‘They are watching’: Inside Russia’s vast surveillance state

‘They are watching’: Inside Russia’s vast surveillance state

The New York Times reports: Four days into the war in Ukraine, Russia’s expansive surveillance and censorship apparatus was already hard at work. Roughly 800 miles east of Moscow, authorities in the Republic of Bashkortostan, one of Russia’s 85 regions, were busy tabulating the mood of comments in social media messages. They marked down YouTube posts that they said criticized the Russian government. They noted the reaction to a local protest. Then they compiled their findings. One report about the…

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Trump made N.Y. attorney general’s fraud case virtually unbeatable

Trump made N.Y. attorney general’s fraud case virtually unbeatable

Renato Mariotti writes: New York Attorney General Tish James raised eyebrows when she refused last-minute settlement overtures from former President Donald Trump. Her 222-page lawsuit filed Wednesday doubles down, asking for wide-ranging penalties against Trump, including $250 million and various bans that would bar Trump and his three oldest children from selling or acquiring real estate or applying for loans in New York for five years — potentially devastating measures for a company that depends on plastering the family name…

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Are we in the midst of a silent mass extinction?

Are we in the midst of a silent mass extinction?

Andy Carstens writes: Nearly one fifth of the genetic diversity of the planet’s most vulnerable species may already be lost, an analysis published today (September 22) in Science finds. If accurate, it would mean that many species are already below a conservation threshold proposed last year by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) a part of the United Nations Environment Programme. Moisés Expósito-Alonso was in his back yard in Menlo Park, California, last year reading a monograph on the unified…

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Put up or shut up: Dearie asks Trump lawyers whether they believe FBI lied about seized documents

Put up or shut up: Dearie asks Trump lawyers whether they believe FBI lied about seized documents

The Washington Post reports: The Mar-a-Lago special master on Thursday ordered Donald Trump’s lawyers to state in a court filing whether they believe FBI agents lied about documents seized from the former president’s Florida residence in a court-authorized search last month, or claimed to have taken items that were not actually in Trump’s possession. In a Thursday afternoon filing, U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie — the special master — told Trump’s legal team to state by Sept. 30 whether…

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A thorough rebuke of Judge Aileen Cannon’s pro-Trump order

A thorough rebuke of Judge Aileen Cannon’s pro-Trump order

Aaron Blake writes: As U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ruled twice in the Mar-a-Lago documents case for the former president who nominated her to the bench, many legal experts — including conservatives and executive-power advocates — have strained to understand how she could have reached such conclusions about Donald Trump’s claims. On Wednesday night, two fellow Trump nominees joined with another judge to provide the rebuke of Cannon’s jurisprudence that those experts suggested might be coming. A three-judge panel…

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As mobilization begins in Russia, sold-out flights, protests and arrests

As mobilization begins in Russia, sold-out flights, protests and arrests

The Washington Post reports: Within hours of President Vladimir Putin’s speech declaring a partial military mobilization on Wednesday, men all over Russia — including some who had tried for months to ignore the messy war in Ukraine — suddenly found their lives thrown into chaos as they were summoned to duty. The men, mostly reservists under 35 who served in the army and have junior military ranks, were handed written notices in their offices or at their homes. In some…

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‘It’s a 100% mobilisation’ on day one of Russia’s drive to build its army

‘It’s a 100% mobilisation’ on day one of Russia’s drive to build its army

The Guardian reports: Summons delivered to eligible men at midnight. Schoolteachers pressed into handing out draft notices. Men given an hour to pack their things and appear at draft centres. Women sobbing as they send their husbands and sons off to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The first full day of Russia’s first mobilisation since the second world war produced emotional showdowns at draft centres and even signs of protest, while it appears Russia could be considering far more…

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Russia’s military divided as Putin struggles to deal with Ukraine’s counteroffensive, U.S. sources say

Russia’s military divided as Putin struggles to deal with Ukraine’s counteroffensive, U.S. sources say

CNN reports: Russia’s military is divided over how best to counter Ukraine’s unexpected battlefield advances this month, according to multiple sources familiar with US intelligence, as Moscow has found itself on the defensive in both the east and the south. Russian President Vladimir Putin is himself giving directions directly to generals in the field, two sources familiar with US and western intelligence said– a highly unusual management tactic in a modern military that these sources said hints at the dysfunctional…

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Evidence of extensive Russian torture of Ukrainian civilians

Evidence of extensive Russian torture of Ukrainian civilians

New Lines reports: The blood of Ukrainian detainees is still visible on the floor and on the wooden batons Russian forces used to beat them. Ukrainians were tied to metal-framed chairs before being electrocuted with cables or choked with a length of rope. Proof of the horrors to which local residents were subjected during more than six months of occupation was revealed on Sept. 19 in a dark and dust-filled basement under the police station in Izium, a strategic city…

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Anger against Iran’s ‘morality police’ erupts after death of Mahsa Amini

Anger against Iran’s ‘morality police’ erupts after death of Mahsa Amini

The Washington Post reports: The protests started small, outside the Tehran hospital where a 22-year old Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini died last week after being detained by the “morality police” for an untold violation of the country’s harsh strictures on women’s dress. By Tuesday, the protests were racing across the country, in a burst of grief, anger and defiance. Many were led by women, who burned their headscarves, cut their hair and chanted, “Death to the dictator.” The ferocity…

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As the New York AG files a $250 million lawsuit, has a Trump tipping point been reached?

As the New York AG files a $250 million lawsuit, has a Trump tipping point been reached?

E. Danya Perry, Joshua Stanton and Norman L. Eisen write: In the last month, the array of investigations involving Donald J. Trump and many of Trump’s associates and family members has reached an intense pitch. Today another bombshell detonated—one that may prove to be the most devastating. New York Attorney General Letitia James has announced the filing of a monumental civil enforcement action against Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, the Trump Organization and many other Trump affiliates….

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Putin drafts reservists for war in Ukraine, threatens nuclear response, as Kremlin appears to be in crisis

Putin drafts reservists for war in Ukraine, threatens nuclear response, as Kremlin appears to be in crisis

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the threat of a nuclear response in the conflict and ordered reservists to mobilize, escalating the war in Ukraine following stinging losses on the battlefield and drawing harsh criticism from President Biden. “Russia will use all the instruments at its disposal to counter a threat against its territorial integrity—this is not a bluff,” Mr. Putin said in a national address that blamed the West for the conflict in Ukraine, where…

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