46 h. ago US raid on Venezuela ‘undermined a fundamental principle of international law’, says UN rights body – live

Spokesperson for UN high commissioner says ‘accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention’Deposed Maduro pleads not guilty after capture in shock US attack on VenezuelaUS foes and allies denounce Trump’s ‘crime of aggression’ in Venezuela at UN meetingMy colleague Sibylla Brodzinsky has reported on the relationship between the US and Colombia, home to significant oil reserves. Here is an extract from her story:Colombia has long been a close partner of the US in the fight against drug trafficking and enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington but relations have soured dramatically since Trump came to office.Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups such as the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, the majority of whose members demobilised after a 2016 peace deal Continue reading...

Society

48 h. ago Cooper says she raised international law with US over Venezuela

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper addressed the Commons after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro entered a not guilty plea in court in New York.

Society

61 h. ago Cooper says she raised international law with Rubio over Venezuela

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper addressed the Commons after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro entered a not guilty plea in court in New York.

Society

64 h. ago Did the US and Donald Trump break international law in Venezuela?

The US detention of Venezuela's President Maduro raises concerns over legality and international law

Politics

65 h. ago With Trump’s military action in Venezuela, the US has made every other country less safe | Volker Türk

This weakens the only mechanism we have to prevent world conflict, namely the UN. The international community must stand up for the rule of lawVolker Türk is UN high commissioner for human rightsThe US military operation in Venezuela undermines a fundamental principle of international law, agreed after the horrors of two world wars and the Holocaust: states must not use force to pursue their territorial claims or political demands.I am deeply disturbed by these events – and by some of the reactions I have seen. A narrative is emerging that seeks to justify the US military intervention as a response to the Nicolás Maduro government’s appalling human rights record.Volker Türk has been the UN high commissioner for human rights since 2022 Continue reading...

Events

68 h. ago Trump breached international law with Venezuela operation, suggests Swinney

The South American country’s president Nicolas Maduro was arrested and taken to the US over the weekend.

Politics

68 h. ago Hands off Greenland! Starmer backs Denmark's rebuke to Trump

Keir Starmer threw his support behind Denmark after it rebuked the president's persistent demands to take the territory.

Politics

69 h. ago Starmer says international law is 'complicated' as he desperately tries to sit on fence over Trump's Venezuela raid... but does manage to condemn US threats to Greenland

Keir Starmer dodged saying whether he believed the US had broken the law with the extraordinary seizure of Nicola Maduro from Caracas.

Politics

2 d. ago Was Trump’s attack on Venezuela illegal? What international law says about Maduro’s capture

This is clearly a blatant, illegal and criminal act, say law experts

Events

2 d. ago Donald Trump has broken international law over Venezuela regime change, says John Swinney

The First Minister said "I cannot see how international law has been respected here" after US troops pulled Nicolás Maduro from his bed and flew him to an American jail.

Politics

3 d. ago Trump’s coup in Venezuela didn’t just break the rules – it showed there aren’t any. We’ll all regret that | Nesrine Malik

It’s not just the triumphalism in the White House. Leaders loth to oppose this gangsterism must think how that looks to Putin, Xi and in the UAEI never thought it possible that you could look back on the Iraq war, and the foreign invasions of the “war on terror” in general, and feel some measure of nostalgia. For a time when there were at least concerted attempts to justify unilateral interventions and illegal wars in the name of global security, and even a moral duty to liberate the women of Afghanistan or “free the Iraqi people”.Now, as the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, is in essence abducted and Venezuela taken over by the US, there is barely any effort to situate the coup in any reasoning other than the US’s interests. Nor are there any attempts to solicit consent from domestic or international law-making bodies and allies, let alone the public. The days of the US trying to convince the world that Saddam Hussein did in fact have weapons of mass destruction despite secret...

Politics

3 d. ago European leaders appear torn in face of new world order after Venezuela attack

Leaders try to focus on what comes next, as backing for ejection of Maduro mingles uncomfortably with voicing of support for international lawVenezuela crisis: latest updatesEuropean leaders emerged divided and torn as they tried to welcome the ejection of Venezuela’s authoritarian president, but still uphold the principles of international law that did not appear to allow Donald Trump to capture Nicolás Maduro, let alone declare that the US will run Venezuela and control its oil industry.Europe tried to focus on the principle of a democratic transition, pointing out that the continent had not recognised Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela since what were widely regarded as fraudulent elections in June 2024. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Squirming Keir Starmer refuses to say whether he backs Trump's capture of Nicolas Maduro

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether US President Donald Trump's military action against Venezuela may have broken international law. 

Politics

4 d. ago Donald Trump has 'broken' international law UN says after military strikes in Venezuela

The United Nations has slammed the US’ military assault and capture of Venezuela’s President Maduro as a “dangerous precedent”, warning the strikes could spark chaos across the region

Events

4 d. ago Nigel Farage says 'unorthodox' US capture of Maduro could 'make China and Russia think twice'

He posted on X: 'The American actions in Venezuela overnight are unorthodox and contrary to international law - but if they make China and Russia think twice, it may be a good thing.'

Politics