"an airstrike hit a three-story civilian apartment complex and knocked out an exterior wall early Saturday as U.S. forces assaulted the city." "The strike killed Rosa González, 80, her family said, and seriously wounded a second person."

"The dangerous thing here is the idea that a President can just decide that a leader is not legitimate and then invade the country and presumably put someone in power who is favored by the Administration. If that were the case, that’s the end of international law"

"Spain did not recognize the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognize an intervention that violates international law"

Disastrous

Shameful

Trump and his cronies can try to dress this up, but it is an illegal act of war to replace Maduro and grab Venezuela's oil for his billionaire buddies. Full statement below:

Don’t be fooled: you can’t both claim this was simply the execution of an arrest warrant AND say the U.S. is now "running" Venezuela & grabbing its oil resources. Trump just admitted this was a clear regime-change play to enrich U.S. oil companies & his billionaire buddies.

"As the Government of Chile, we express our concern and condemnation of the military actions by the United States taking place in Venezuela ..." "Chile reaffirms its commitment to basic principles of International Law, such as ..."

"Mexico strongly condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally ... by armed forces of the United States of America against targets in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in clear violation of Article 2 of the [UN] Charter" www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/m...

I fear we are going to have to say this a lot again: Int law prohibits bombing countries for the sake of democracy. FOR VERY GOOD REASON. It tends not to work. Attacking a country because its leader lacks legitimacy - whether as pretext or sincerely held rationale - is still just an aggression.

Sen Mike Lee with the first account I’ve seen of the Admin’s legal theory for the strikes. On the domestic law side — something like: Art II law enforcement power to capture Maduro (by invading his own country) combined with Art II power to protect those personnel executing the warrant.

Expect someone in the administration may have dusted off this 1989 OLC opinion. www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/...

I am following the situation in Venezuela with great concern. The European Union calls for de-escalation and a resolution in full respect of international law and the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Siguiendo con gran preocupación la situación en Venezuela. La Unión Europea hace un llamamiento a la desescalada y a una resolución basada en el marco del Derecho Internacional y de los principios consagrados en la Carta de las Naciones Unidas.

Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/

For those who missed this over New Years ;-)

The obstruction of justice is a key US export under Trump. He has attempted to interfere in the criminal trial of Jair Bolsonaro, tried to get charges dropped against Benjamin Netanyahu and is tightening the screws on the International Criminal Court. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being called radical,” he said to loud cheers from the gathered crowd.

Mamdani: I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.

Everything is going great why do you ask

👇🏽

The levels ...

Another outrageous action. The Netanyahu govt is banning over 30 aid orgs — including CARE, Mercy Corps & Doctors Without Borders groups — from providing life-saving aid to people in Gaza.  Another betrayal of humanity. And, once again, the Trump Admin says and does nothing.

Welcome to A New Era, Ramzi Kassem!

A scorched boat washed ashore on a remote beach in Colombia. Then mangled bodies. And then empty packets, a few with marijuana traces. We matched the physical and digital evidence to a U.S. airstrike — and found a fishing community terrified to go to sea. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/w...

Cam is young and untested and Congress is a tough job and just give me my ballot.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com As Filippo Grandi prepares to step down after a decade as UN high commissioner for refugees, he sees “a crisis of global leadership, a failure of imagination and ambition, and a proliferation of populist rhetoric that is numbing us to the plight of others,” he writes.

US judge blocks Trump administration from deporting UK anti-disinformation campaigner

"In becoming man, Jesus took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people ..." www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

"Israeli officers closed an event celebrating Christmas on Sunday, confiscating equipment, and arresting the Palestinian Santa Claus, as well as a DJ and a street vendor. In a video, police can be seen pushing the men to the ground and handcuffing them as bystanders watched."

“Do not be afraid. We must move forward united and strong, to rebuild life in Gaza together.” “We are rooted here, and we will remain here.” “You are not alone. Together, we will rebuild everything.” www.lpj.org/en/news/card...

Always Be Closing.

“We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said the joint statement released by Britain, which also included Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

Sad to see this from my undergrad alma mater.

"At least 44 Palestinian Christians have been killed in the conflict" "Some were killed in Israeli sniper or artillery attacks that hit Gazan churches, the committee said, while others died of illness, injury or malnutrition because of a lack of food or medical care."

"Palestinian officials say that 406 people have been killed since the cease-fire, including 157 children." "The imbalance ... reflects the continuation ... of the Israeli military’s ... allowing strikes on militants even when they risk killing large numbers of civilians."

In this article for E-IR, @victorkattan.bsky.social and I compare the Security Council's Resolutions on Gaza and Western Sahara and explain why, in our opinion, they contribute to the erosion of the law of self-determination, decolonisation and prohibition of annexation www.e-ir.info/2025/12/16/t...

Update: Belgium's declaration is excellent. Same theme as its Myanmar declaration: The intent to destroy a substantial part of a group may constitute a military goal, or an intermediate means to achieve a military goal, or otherwise coexist with military goals. Hard agree.

Belgium has filed a declaration of intervention under Article 63 of the ICJ Statute in South Africa v. Israel. (Belgium's declaration in Gambia v. Myanmar was excellent) www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

Not talking about Russia. Talking about us.

"Seven prisoners have been taken to hospital since starting their hunger strikes. Five have been admitted more than once."

Principled Conservatives™️ are leaving the Heritage Foundation for something called Advancing American Freedom. I wonder what AAF's position is on ... oh ... oh I see ...

Am I the only one? Probably. Ah well nevertheless

Great to see @pagingdrpaige.bsky.social's review of my @cambup-law.cambridge.org monograph, Statehood as Political Community in the @iclq.bsky.social! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

"Following the law does not mean it's legal, that does not mean it's right" Unclear if the young man is a natural lawyer or a legal positivist but either way shout out to him.

Hang on let me get my handkerchief

Shout out to Kathryn.

NEW: The FBI has launched "domestic terrorism" investigations into anti-ICE activity across the US. Some cases are under Trump's NSPM-7 order to crackdown on "anti-fascism" and "anti-Americanism." Docs obtained by @propertyofthepeople.org + shared w/ Guardian include FBI map of cases in 30+ states:

Suddenly in the mood for biryani

With immense thanks to the corpus of stellar @justsecurity.org analysis on international humanitarian law, I hope those preparing for Spring semester courses can benefit from this curated supplement. Please share with anyone who could use!