My Columbia Journalism students are out reporting non-stop: working sources they've built over months, navigating the campus unlike any outsider, and adding much-needed context, humanity and depth to coverage.

If you're an editor looking to commission them, get in touch.

Let’s talk about the 50+ page Colonna report on #UNRWA that was released today. 👇🧵

un.org/sites/un2.un.o…

Nearly 300 bodies found in mass grave at Gaza hospital

'There were signs of field executions. We do not know if they were buried alive or executed. Most of the bodies are decomposed.'

cnn.com/2024/04/22/mid…

Inspirational tweet by HRC on Earth Day.

This chart is not encouraging lol

I used to be a war crimes lawyer at Department of State.

The Secretary of State's explanation at today's briefing for why the Department could assess the commission of war crimes in Ukraine but not Gaza is unconvincing.

Thanks for this “diverse viewpoint” NYT, something I can’t get anywhere else (besides the White House, most of Congress and the entire intelligence community)

RIP to the great AP reporter Terry Anderson. He is best known for his 7-year abduction & imprisonment in Lebanon. Less known: In Korea, he is honored for his heroic on-the-scene reporting of the Gwangju Uprising and the military invasion of the city. 🧵
yahoo.com/news/us-journa…

For starters, there are two Leahy laws, one for State and one for DoD. They prohibit US assistance (under the FAA & AECA & w/use of DoD $) to a unit of a foreign security force if SecState or SecDef have credible information the unit committed a gross violation of human rights.

It might be helpful to walk through some issues related to reports that the USG is finally applying the Leahy laws to Israel--even though reports say it is just one unit.

BLUF: It is symbolically *significant*, but its impact will do *very little* to stem harm to Palestinians🧵

Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of its claims that employees of the UN relief agency UNRWA are members of terrorist organisations, an independent review led by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna has said.

The Colonna report, which was commissioned

Reporters and the public shouldn’t be kept in the dark for days or weeks about court filings in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial.

Journalists need contemporaneous access to court documents to report about the trial fully and accurately. politico.com/news/2024/04/2…

100 %

U.S. Troops in Niger Say They’re “Stranded” and Can’t Get Mail, Medicine interc.pt/49JKpLK by Nick Turse interc.pt/49JKpLK

U.S. Troops in Niger Say They’re “Stranded” and Can’t Get Mail, Medicine by Nick Turse theintercept.com/2024/04/18/nig…

“The Biden administration needs to acknowledge that their plan in Niger has failed and they need to bring these troops home immediately,” Rep. Matt Gaetz told The Intercept.

The lack of staffers with TS/SCI clearance frustrates the House of Representatives' ability to engage in vital oversight and informed decision-making.

It's been a problem for FISA section 702 reform -- and also for Congress's work on matters of war and peace.

Nothing but respect for Lee Ferran who, in a DVIDs search, found this piece of incredible Air Force/Space Force lore that sets specific parameters about how 'Hotel California' can be performed at Thule AFB in Greenland:

As the situation in #Niger 🇳🇪 continues to deteriorate, nobody is paying attention. We have ~1,000 men and women on the ground. If we don’t get them out immediately, we risk a catastrophic event.

.HumanRightsInstitute calls on Columbia to stop requesting the use of police force to suppress peaceful protests and to rescind all undue punitive measures against students for the legitimate exercise of their fundamental rights

Our full statement here:

hri.law.columbia.edu/hri-statement