For today, links to 10 reports: from the Reuters, Associated Press, Middle East Eye, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Hamas chief Sinwar thanks Hezbollah in letter to Nasrallah. From Reuters. BEIRUT — Hamas chief Yehya Sinwar thanked the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for his group’s support in the conflictwith Israel, Hezbollah said toiday, in the first reported message since Sinwar became Hamas leader in August. The Iran-backed Hezbollah . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from AP.

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FROM SEPT. 12  Blinken says U.S. will keep pressing Israel to spare Gaza humanitarian sites. From AP. The U.S. secretary of state said Thursday that the United States will continue to press Israel to do more to spare humanitarian sites in the Gaza Strip, a day after . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM SEPT. 12  U.S. cites Egypt’s help in Gaza as Washington sends full military aid despite human rights concerns, by Courtney Bonnnell | AP  WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is sending Egypt its full $1.3 billion allocation of military aid, setting aside conditions placed by Congress on some of the money over human rights concerns and citing Cairo’s role as a mediator in the Israel-Hamas war. The State Department said . . .READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye.

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FROM SEPT. 12  Israel names Hamas gunmen it says were targeted in strike that killed UNRWA staff. From Reuters. JERUSALEM — The Israeli military on Thursday named nine men it said were Hamas militants killed in Gaza airstrikes that the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said had left six of its staffers dead. The military said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed by direct Israeli hit, autopsy report indicates, by Ragip Soylu | Middle East Eye  An autopsy report prepared by the Palestinian Authority and dated Sept. 6 suggests that Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old Turkish–American activist, was directly shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, according to three forensic experts . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM SEPT. 12  World must pressure Hamas on Gaza deal, Netanyahu says after group’s statement. From Reuters. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that more pressure should be put on Hamas to accept a new Gaza deal proposal, after the Palestinian militant group said it was only willing to implement a ceasefire free of new conditions. READ MORE . . .

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Gaza economy shrinks to less than a sixth of its pre-war size, UN report says, by Emma Farge and Cecile Mantovani | Reuters  GENEVA — Gaza’s economy has shrunk to less than a sixth of its size when the Israel-Hamas war began nearly a year ago, while unemployment in the occupied West Bank has nearly tripled, a U.N. report said on Thursday, underscoring the challenges of reconstruction. The report described . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM SEPT. 12  The first wave of polio vaccines for more than 550,000 kids is wrapping up in Gaza. From NPR. The WHO and UN are wrapping up the first round of polio vaccinations in Gaza. In just a few weeks, when vaccinators will re-deploy to give kids under 10 the second shot of the two dose regimen. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM SEPT. 12  UK Prime Minister meets with President Biden to talk special relationship and Ukraine. Reported by Willem Marx | NPR  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is traveling to Washington for meetings with President Biden, largely focusing on foreign affairs and decades-old “special relationship” between the two nations. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM SEPT. 12  Harris or Trump? They are two sides of the same imperialist, settler-colonial coin, by Ramona Wadi | Middle East Monitor  The genocide is not happening because of Oct. 7, but because Israel decided it wanted to ethnically cleanse Gaza, and the cross-border incursion provided an opportune moment to begin in earnest. It is happening because . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to nine reports from the Kyiv Post, the Associated Press, Reuters, the Moscow Times, Tass, and Agence France-Presse; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Typhoon fighters escort Royal Air Force recce mission deep Into Black Sea airspace, by Stefan Korshak | Kyiv Post  Two Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets escorting a RC-135 strategic surveillance aircraft flew a rare reconnaissance mission closely approaching and probing air defenses in the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula on Thursday, open-source air traffic data reviewed by Kyiv Post showed. READ MORE . . .

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Russia warns it can take unspecified measures in response to U.S. drone flights over Black Sea. From AP. Russia’s Defense Minister ordered officials to prepare a “response” to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said today, in an apparent warning that . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE, HERE and HERE for reports from Reuters, the Moscow Times. and Kyiv Post.

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Trump to eventually see there is no alternative to Putin’s proposals on Ukraine — diplomat. From Tass. MOSCOW — Former U.S. President Donald Trump, regardless of his status in the future, will eventually understand that there is no alternative to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposals on Ukraine, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said today. “Time will come and Mr. Trump . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine working on own peace plan, to be ready before year-end — Zelensky. From Tass. MOSCOW — Hoping to finally put an end to the conflict, Ukraine plans to put out a detailed peace plan later this year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said today in a joint news conference with his Slovenian counterpart, Natasha Pirc-Musar. READ MORE . . .

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Russia delivers 17 strikes at Ukrainian military-industrial sites over week. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian forces delivered 17 strikes by precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, hitting Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises, logistics centers, army and foreign mercenaries’ deployment areas over the past week in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today in a broader statement. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian drone strike in central Russia sets oil depot ablaze. From AFP. A Ukrainian drone set an oil depot in the central Tambov region ablaze early today, regional authorities said. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it had intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones overnight, but without mentioning the Tambov region attack . . . READ MORE . . .

First and second, Reuters and Associated Press reports, both linked to others. Next, five reports from today and yesterday’s “Morning Edition” program on National Public Radio. Then, a note to check yesterday’s entry for two late segments.— MCM

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Russian forces pound key cities as Ukraine demands tougher sanctions, by Natalia Zinets and Conor Humphries | Reuters * Zelenskiy says rhetoric on sanctions not enough * EU executive head says more sanctions will come * U.S., EU set to ban new investment in Russia * Pope condemns Bucha “massacre” * Ukraine reports attacks in south and east LVIV, Ukraine/DUBLIN — Artillery pounded key cities in Ukraine on today, as its president urged the West to act decisively in imposing new and tougher sanctions being readied against Russia in response to civilian killings widely condemned as war crimes. Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion have gained new impetus this week after dead civilians shot at close range were found in the town of Bucha after it was retaken from Russian forces. As Pope Francis described the killings there as a “massacre”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the West needed to act decisively in taking “more . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages, by Robert Burns | The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Kyiv was a Russian defeat for the ages. The fight started poorly for the invaders and went downhill from there. When President Vladimir Putin launched his war on Feb. 24 after months of buildup on Ukraine’s borders, he sent hundreds of helicopter-borne commandos — the best of the best of Russia’s “spetsnaz” special forces soldiers — to assault and seize a lightly defended airfield on Kyiv’s doorstep. Other Russian forces struck elsewhere across Ukraine . . . But as the seat of national power, Kyiv was the main prize. But Putin failed to achieve his goal of quickly crushing Ukraine’s outgunned and outnumbered army. The Russians were ill-prepared for Ukrainian resistance, proved incapable of adjusting to setbacks, failed to effectively combine air and land operations, misjudged Ukraine’s ability to defend its skies, and bungled basic military functions like planning and executing the movement of supplies. “That’s a really bad combination if you want to conquer a country,” said Peter Mansoor, a retired Army colonel and professor of military history at Ohio State University. READ MORE . . .

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EU considers a ban on Russian coal imports. Will that help to deescalate the war? NPR’s A Martinez talks to Henning Gloystein of the Eurasia Group, about the European Union considering a ban on Russian coal imports. Listen HERE.

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The State Department makes it easier for anyone to help resettle refugees. Reported by NPR’s Joel Rose. Because refugee resettlement agencies are stretched thin, the U.S. is testing a new approach. Groups of regular people are sponsoring Afghan refugees in communities where they’ve rarely gone before. Listen HERE.

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For a special issue, the comic book series ‘El Peso Hero’ travels to Ukraine. From NPR. Fed up with Mexico’s non-interventionist policy after Russia invaded Ukraine, Hector Rodriguez has his Mexican American superhero go to Ukraine in the latest issue of the series. Listen HERE.

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3 military medics in Ukraine describe how the war has changed them. Reported by NPR’s Elissa Nadworny. Young military medics in Ukraine talk about their experience and life under the Russian siege. Listen and read HERE. 

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The U.S. insists that Russia should be held accountable for war crimes. NPR’s A Martinez talks to White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer about options available to the U.S. and its allies for holding Russia responsible for alleged war crimes. Listen and read HERE.

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NOTE: YESTERDAY’S ENTRY HAS TWO CONSORTIUM NEWS PIECES INCLUDED IN LATE AFTERNOON

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TO BE CONTINUED

Below please find the opening paragraphs of an essay outlining international law as it pertains to the crime of aggression and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Made available on the afternoon of March 29 by Consortium News, it is the first part of a two-part series by former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and former United Nations arms inspector  Scott Ritter. A second look at the same subject is provided by CN editor-in-chief Joe Lauria in a piece, HERE, titled “Is Putin’s War Legal?”— MCM

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Russia, Ukraine & the Law of War: Crime of Aggression

By Scott Ritter

When it comes to the legal use of force between states, it is considered unimpeachable fact that in accordance with the intent of the United Nations Charter to ban all conflict, there are only two acceptable exceptions. One is an enforcement action to maintain international peace and security authorized by a Security Council resolution passed under Chapter VII of the Charter, which permits the use of force.

The other is the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the Charter, which reads as follows:

“Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.”

A plain-language reading of Article 51 makes it clear that the trigger necessary for invocation of the right of self-defense is the occurrence of an actual armed attack — the notion of an open-ended threat to security does not, by itself, suffice.

Prior to the adoption of the U.N. Charter, the customary international law interpretation of the role of pre-emption as applied to the principle of self-defense was Hugo Grotius, the 17^th century Dutch legal scholar who, in his book De Jure Belli Ac Pacis (“On the Law of War and Peace”) declared that “war in defense of life is permissible only when the danger is immediate and certain, not when it is merely assumed,” adding that “the danger must be immediate and imminent in point in time.”

Grotius formed the core of the so-called “Caroline Standard” of 1842, (named after a U.S. ship of that name which had been attacked by the British navy after aiding Canadian rebels back in 1837) drafted by then U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster. It supported the right of pre-emption or anticipatory self-defense only under extreme circumstances and within clearly defined boundaries.

“Undoubtedly,” Webster wrote, “it is just, that while it is admitted that exceptions growing out of the great law of self-defense do exist, those exceptions should be confined to eases in which the ‘necessity of that self-defense is instant, overwhelming, and leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation.’”

Until the adoption of the U.N. Charter in 1945, Webster’s criteria, borrowing heavily from Grotius, had become Black Letter Law regarding anticipatory action in international law. However, once the United Nations was established and the U.N. Charter sanctified as international law, the concept of pre-emption or anticipatory self defense lost favor in customary international law.

George Ball, deputy under-secretary of state for President John F. Kennedy . . . READ MORE . . .

 

First, TeleSUR reports that Russian-Ukrainian online negotiations may resume Monday. Second, a link to the Associated Press report made available at 3:30 p.m. EDT. Third, a Reuters report made available at about 11:50 a.m. EDT. All three link to other detailed stories and may be updated. Fourth, in a review of States of Emergency, by Kees van del Pijl, Edward Curtin notes the author’s information about biological weapons research in Ukrainian laboratories carried out under an agreement with the U.S. Defense Department. (Note: the book will be published by Clarity Press, publisher of Curtin’s Seeking Truth in a Country of Lies.) Finally, a reporter interviews the Slovenia’s prime minister on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” —MCM

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Russian and Ukrainian delegations reportedly expected to resume online talks Monday; Russia is said to have destroyed a military base in northwestern Ukraine. From teleSUR Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he is ready for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I am ready for negotiations with him. I was ready over the last two years and I think that…without negotiations we cannot end this war.” Also Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of a Ukrainian military base in the Zhitomir region bordering Belarus. . . . Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that in the operation, the aviation used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles . . . Since last night, 62 military targets have been hit in Ukraine, including three command posts, a multiple rocket launcher, two weapons and ammunition depots, and 52 military equipment concentration points, Konashenkov summarized. READ MORE . . .

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Amid new bombings, Ukraine now seen as a war of attrition, by Cara Anna | The Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities said Sunday that Russia’s military bombed an art school sheltering about 400 people in Mariupol, and tearful evacuees from the devastated port city described how “battles took place over every street,” weeks into the siege. The fall of Mariupol would allow Russian forces in southern and eastern Ukraine to link up. But Western military analysts say that even if the surrounded city is taken, the troops battling a block at a time for control there may be too depleted to help secure Russian breakthroughs on other fronts. Three weeks into the invasion, Western governments and analysts see the conflict shifting to a war of attrition, with bogged down Russian forces launching long-range missiles . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy presses Israel for missile defense help, fighting rages in Mariupol, by Pavel Polityuk| Reuters * Mariupol city council says thousands taken by force to Russia * Zelenskiy says siege of Mariupol is a war crime * Appeals to Israel for help in video link with Knesset * Russia says it has fired hypersonic missiles *  Turkish minister says Russia, Ukraine closer to ceasefire | LVIV, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian forces fought for control of the port city of Mariupol on Sunday, local authorities said, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Israel for help in pushing back the Russian assault on his country. In the latest in a series of appeals he has made for help from abroad, Zelenskiy addressed the Israeli parliament by video link and questioned Israel’s reluctance . . . READ MORE . . .

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BOOK REVIEW: Edward Curtin recommends States of Emergency: Keeping the Global Populations in Check by Kees van del Pijl Curtin begins: ”This book is a brilliant and comprehensive analysis of the Covid-19 crisis and the worldwide states of siege instituted under its cover. Reading it, one cannot help but shake one’s head in outrage at the long-planned nature of the wealthy global elite’s seizure of power under the guise of a germ emergency and the revolutionary crisis it has created. I say this not only because I am predisposed to the author’s thesis, but because he buttresses his argument with overwhelming documentation that is meticulously sourced and noted.  This is a work of genuine scholarship of the highest order, and to read it closely and with an open mind one can’t help but be convinced of its essential truth.” READ MORE . . .

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Despite risks, Slovenian PM went to Kyiv to show Ukraine it’s not alone. Prime Minister Janez Janša speaks with NPR’s Michel Martin of “All Things Considered” about his visit to Kyiv during the Russian invasion. Listen HERE when audio becomes available.