A human rights group has warned New York state and local officials that investment of public funds in bonds issued by Israel violates both international law and fiduciary duties and may expose officials and beneficiaries alike to “substantial legal, ethical and financial risks”.
The warning, from the human rights group Dawn, was sent on Friday along with a 26-page memo to the New York governor, Kathy Hochul; the state’s attorney general, Letitia James; New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani; and the state and city comptrollers, Tom DiNapoli and Mark Levine, respectively. It calls on them to immediately cease new purchases and divest any current holdings in Israeli bonds, arguing the investments violate “legal obligations not to aid and abet Israeli crimes and their fiduciary duties to taxpayers”, Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Dawn, said in a statement.
The letter, which threatens litigation, comes as calls for divestment from Israel have grown in the US following the war in Gaza, and as some elected officials have moved away from once-reflexive support of Israel.
Human rights group warns New York officials against investing public funds in Israeli bonds
Thousands march in anti-ICE protest in New York City: ‘If it’s them today, it’s us tomorrow’
Thousands chanted and marched in New York City on Friday to protest the Trump administration’s escalating mass deportation campaign.
Among the protesters were young and old people, all braving plunging cold temperatures in thick coats, hats and gloves.
As the sun began setting, demonstrators chanted against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), referring to that agency, the Ku Klux Klan, and fascism in the same breath.
Thousands chanted and marched in New York City on Friday to protest the Trump administration’s escalating mass deportation campaign.
Among the protesters were young and old people, all braving plunging cold temperatures in thick coats, hats and gloves.
As the sun began setting, demonstrators chanted against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), referring to that agency, the Ku Klux Klan, and fascism in the same breath.
“Abolish ICE!” and “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA!” the crowds chanted. They also chanted, “Chinga la migra” – which is a colloquial way to say “fuck immigration enforcement” in Spanish.
Weight-loss drugs draw thousands of lawsuits alleging serious harm
A Maryland truck driver suffered an “eye stroke” that left him blind, first in one eye and then the other.
A Louisiana woman vomited for weeks before being diagnosed with a brain dysfunction typically caused by a vitamin deficiency.
An Oklahoma real estate agent heard her colon pop as it ruptured while she drove her granddaughter home from a softball game. “My colon blew up. Literally blew up,” she said.
All three have filed lawsuits that blame the popular class of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which include Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, and they’re part of a growing number of lawsuits alleging the drugs’ makers failed to sufficiently warn of the risk of certain severe injuries.
The suits come as the use of the blockbuster drugs has skyrocketed, embraced by millions of Americans to manage diabetes, lower the risk of heart disease and lose weight. The drugs, which mimic a hormone that slows digestion, triggers insulin and helps people feel full longer, cut America’s stubbornly high obesity rates – for the first time in more than a decade – and show promise in aiding a range of conditions from kidney disease to drug addiction.
Atlanta FBI boss reportedly ousted after questioning DoJ’s renewed interest in 2020 election
The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office was reportedly removed from his post after questioning the Trump administration’s renewed interest in investigating the role of Fulton county, Georgia, in the 2020 election.
The agent, Paul W Brown, had expressed concerns around the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton county, which have been perpetuated by Donald Trump since he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to an MS NOW report on Friday. Citing sources, MS NOW also reported that Brown refused to carry out searches and seizures of records connected to the election that Trump lost four years before winning a second presidency in 2024.
News of Brown’s ouster came after the justice department on Thursday executed a search warrant and seized records from the Fulton county elections office in the Atlanta area. Authorities seized 700 boxes related to 2020 election results in the county, which Biden won.
Trump’s national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, was also seen at the county’s election office that day, drawing concern from Democratic lawmakers about partisan overreach.
Brown was replaced the week before the service of the search warrant at the elections office, as first reported by the Associated Press. The personnel decision was not publicized by the FBI, and the AP said the reason for Brown’s removal was not immediately clear.
Don Lemon Released After Federal Court Appearance
Don Lemon has been released from custody after a federal court appearance Friday in Los Angeles.
Lemon was arrested and charged after covering a Minnesota protest that interrupted a church service on Jan. 18.
He was arrested Thursday night and released on his own recognizance Friday. He'll be able to travel throughout the country, and was not ordered to give up his passport.
Lemon's next court date will be Feb. 9 in Minneapolis.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news,” he said. “I will not stop now. There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable."
Rosebank oil field 'could breach international law' over West Bank link
They say profits would flow in part to the Israeli oil and gas company Delek Group, which the UN human rights commissioner accuses of "supporting the maintenance and existence" of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Legal advice commissioned by the environmental group Uplift, says the link with Delek means the UK government risks breaching the Geneva Conventions if it gives drilling at Rosebank the green light.
Delek did not respond to a request for comment.
The UK government said it could not comment on individual projects.
Uplift's legal advice refers to potential breaches of Article 49 and Article 53 of the Geneva Conventions, which relate to occupation, deportation and the destruction of property.
It also alleges that Delek's activities could be regarded as "ancillary" to war crimes and crimes against humanity under Section 51 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Act 2001.
Middle East Today: West Bank Violence Warning, Gaza Water Emergency, And Growing Humanitarian Pressure
UN Warns Settler Violence Is Undermining Palestinian Presence In West Bank:
The UN Human Rights Office has warned that increasing settler violence is weakening Palestinian presence in key areas across the occupied West Bank. The office reported multiple serious attacks within a short period and warned that patterns of intimidation, land pressure, and displacement risk permanently altering demographic realities in strategic locations.
The UN stressed that the forced transfer of Palestinians within occupied territory may constitute a war crime and could also meet the threshold of a crime against humanity under international law. The office called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and end policies it says contribute to displacement and instability across the territory.
Gaza Water Emergency Intensifies After Major Pipeline Damage:
Palestinians crowded into Gaza tents struggle to see a better future even as ceasefire moves forward
A key border crossing is set to reopen, the ceasefire is moving forward and the United States is imagining a gleaming new Gaza, but Palestinians in the devastated enclave are still struggling to simply survive.
Residents of the Gaza Strip described desperate conditions this week, but also expressed hope that the reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt and phase two of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal will bring some relief after more than two years of death and destruction.
We "hope that this will be good for us because we are living in a very bad situation," Samir Abu Daqa, from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said as he stood in front of a makeshift tent with his five young children.
"We want reconstruction, we want a life, we want schools, we want medical treatment, we want hospitals," said Abu Daqa, 51, who said he previously worked in a cafeteria but was injured during the war and left unable to work.
After months of stagnation, a breakthrough was made this week in efforts to push ahead with the ceasefire deal that was brokered in part by President Donald Trump.
CPB agrees to revive a $36 million deal with NPR killed after Trump's pressure
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed Monday to fulfill a $36 million, multi-year contract with NPR that it had yanked after pressure from the Trump White House.
The arrangement resolves litigation filed by NPR accusing the corporation of illegally yielding to Trump's demands that the network be financially punished for its news coverage. The argument, part of a broader lawsuit by NPR and several stations against the Trump administration, focused on CPB funding for NPR's operation of a satellite distribution system for local public radio stations. NPR announced Monday it would waive all fees for the stations associated with the satellite service for two years.
The judge in the case had explicitly told CPB's legal team he did not find its defense credible. CPB lawyers had argued that the decision to award a contract instead to Public Media Infrastructure, a new consortium of public media institutions, was driven by a desire to foster digital innovations more swiftly.
"The settlement is a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system in our legal challenge to [Trump's] Executive Order," Katherine Maher, President and CEO of NPR, said in a statement.
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