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Category: Politics

January 6 is exactly what the Fourteenth Amendment was talking about

January 6 is exactly what the Fourteenth Amendment was talking about

Quinta Jurecic writes: The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, concerning his role in the January 6 coup attempt, began on February 9, 2021. Almost exactly three years later, on February 8, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over whether that last, desperate effort to illegally hold on to power might now disqualify Trump from returning to the Oval Office. Many commentators have argued that the nine justices should overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision barring Trump’s candidacy…

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U.S. and Britain escalate Middle East conflict with massive strike on Houthi targets in Yemen

U.S. and Britain escalate Middle East conflict with massive strike on Houthi targets in Yemen

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, U.S. officials said. The military targets included logistical hubs, air defense systems and weapons storage and launching locations, they said. President Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies “will not tolerate” the militant group’s…

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Self-defense can never justify genocide

Self-defense can never justify genocide

In an editorial, The Guardian says: The definition of genocide is simple: a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part. Its determination is much more complex. The legal threshold is high. Nonetheless, judges at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague could issue an interim ruling on the charges against Israel within weeks. A decision on which of the provisional measures requested by South Africa should…

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ICJ case against Israel could finally empower the genocide convention

ICJ case against Israel could finally empower the genocide convention

Julian Borger writes: Just a month after its 75th anniversary, the genocide convention could be entering a new age of greater relevance as the international court of justice convenes in The Hague to consider the Israel-Gaza war. South Africa has brought a case to the ICJ accusing Israel of committing genocide in its military response to the 7 October Hamas attack that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians. The South African case includes references to the Israeli use of blanket bombing…

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Nelson Mandela’s support for Palestinians endures with South Africa’s genocide case against Israel

Nelson Mandela’s support for Palestinians endures with South Africa’s genocide case against Israel

The Associated Press reports: Barely two weeks after he was released from prison in 1990, Nelson Mandela flew to Zambia to meet with African leaders who had supported his fight against South Africa’s apartheid system of forced racial segregation. One figure stood out among the men in dark suits eagerly waiting to greet Mandela on the airport tarmac: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, wearing his black and white checkered keffiyeh headdress, had traveled to see the newly freed Mandela. He grabbed…

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Emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have ‘immense’ effect on climate catastrophe

Emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have ‘immense’ effect on climate catastrophe

The Guardian reports: The planet-warming emissions generated during the first two months of the war in Gaza were greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, new research reveals. The vast majority (over 99%) of the 281,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2 equivalent) estimated to have been generated in the first 60 days following the 7 October Hamas attack can be attributed to Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza,…

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Democrats propose bill to neuter militias

Democrats propose bill to neuter militias

Vice reports: Militias who like to spend their weekends training to overthrow the government could find themselves running afoul of federal law, under new legislation being proposed in the House and Senate Thursday that seeks to curtail paramilitary activity. The “Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act” is being introduced by Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, and Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, both Democrats. The legislation would prohibit publicly patrolling, drilling or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities, interfering with or…

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‘We should be worried’: Israel faces peril at The Hague in Gaza ‘genocide’ case

‘We should be worried’: Israel faces peril at The Hague in Gaza ‘genocide’ case

The Times of Israel reports: Israel, on Thursday, will for the first time in its history find itself in the dock in the International Court of Justice in The Hague — charged with genocide. Although the idea that Israel is committing genocide in the war in Gaza, meaning intentionally murdering Palestinian civilians, might seem outlandish to some, the allegations are extremely serious and even an interim ruling against Israel could have a severe impact on its international status and global…

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Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy on Israel’s conduct in Gaza

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy on Israel’s conduct in Gaza

  Palestinian authorities say one in every 100 residents of Gaza have been killed over the past three months. That’s more than 23,000 dead, nearly two-thirds of them women and children. This human toll is front and center as Western officials visit the region expressing increasing concern about the situation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken today has been meeting with top officials in Israel to persuade them to protect civilians, allow more aid into Gaza, and try to prevent…

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‘Deep concern’ for patients and staff at Gaza’s al-Aqsa hospital

‘Deep concern’ for patients and staff at Gaza’s al-Aqsa hospital

BBC News reports: The three doctors from the UK [Deborah Harrington, Nick Maynard, and James Smith] said they witnessed “horrific” injuries and challenging conditions inside al-Aqsa hospital. “We had no running water in theatres, so we had no ability to scrub up and wash,” Mr Maynard said of the surgical unit. “We just had to use alcohol gel before operating.” “There were no drapes to cover the patients in theatres, so we had to use makeshift gowns to try to…

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CPJ and partners call on President Biden to protect journalists in the Israel-Gaza war

CPJ and partners call on President Biden to protect journalists in the Israel-Gaza war

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined five other press freedom and human rights organizations on Wednesday in calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to act immediately and decisively to promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting on the hostilities in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. The Israel-Gaza war has taken a severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, and Israel declared war on the militant Palestinian group, launching military operations in…

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Russia is on course to lose 500,000 troops by end of 2024

Russia is on course to lose 500,000 troops by end of 2024

Business Insider reports: The average number of Russian casualties in Ukraine each day had risen by almost 300 during last year, the department said, citing data from the Ukrainian defense ministry. Neither Business Insider nor the UK’s MOD could independently verify the methodology used by the Ukrainian general staff. But the MOD previously said the figures were “plausible” considering mounting casualty figures from Russia’s attacks on Avdiivka, a small town on the edge of occupied Donetsk. The department said the…

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Trump vowed he’d ‘never’ help Europe if it’s attacked, top EU official says

Trump vowed he’d ‘never’ help Europe if it’s attacked, top EU official says

Politico reports: One of Europe’s most senior politicians recounted how former U.S. President Donald Trump privately warned that America would not come to the EU’s aid if it was attacked militarily. “You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,” Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020, according to French European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was also present at a meeting at the World…

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Coverage of Gaza war in NYT and other major newspapers heavily favored Israel, analysis finds

Coverage of Gaza war in NYT and other major newspapers heavily favored Israel, analysis finds

The Intercept reports: The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza showed a consistent bias against Palestinians, according to an Intercept analysis of major media coverage. The print media outlets, which play an influential role in shaping U.S. views of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, paid little attention to the unprecedented impact of Israel’s siege and bombing campaign on both children and journalists in the Gaza Strip. Major U.S. newspapers disproportionately emphasized Israeli deaths…

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How Ukraine must change if it wants to win

How Ukraine must change if it wants to win

Anne Applebaum writes: On December 29, Russia launched the largest missile attack against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. On January 2, another attack of the same magnitude hit schools, hospitals, and apartment blocks across Ukraine. Early yesterday morning—the day after Orthodox Christmas—the Russians hurled yet another missile barrage at Ukraine. Together, these attacks sent a message: Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in negotiations, cease-fires, or swapping land for peace. Although he cannot overwhelm Ukraine militarily,…

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Trump’s legal arguments are getting increasingly embarrassing

Trump’s legal arguments are getting increasingly embarrassing

Jeremy Stahl writes: On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump’s attorneys tried to convince a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that their client is entitled to “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for the actions he took while in office related to Jan. 6 and his efforts to steal the 2020 election. Their argument? That Trump was president, so it doesn’t matter. The three judges did not seem impressed. They are poised to rule…

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