The ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese political and militant group Hezbollah is on shaky ground following an Israeli air-strike on Beirut's southern suburbs March 28. It was the first strike on Lebanon's capital since a pause in hostilities came into effect on Nov. 27 last year. Israel—which has bombed southern Lebanon almost daily despite the ceasefire—said it was retaliating for a rocket attack into northern Israel. (TNH)

In Episode 271 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes heart in the simultaneous protests in Israel and Gaza—against Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, respectively, and both calling for a halt to the bombardment. Despite the obvious forces pitting these protesters against each other, the potential for conscious unity between them represents a real glimmer of hope. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Nearly 60 people, including children, have been killed as the United States expands its two-week bombing campaign in Yemen to include (according to a review by the Associated Press) "firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities." This comes as recently exposed Signal messages between senior US officials discussing the air-strikes demonstrated a flippant attitude towards the lives of Yemeni civilians. In one disturbing exchange concerning an apparent strike on a civilian apartment building, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz writes: "The first target—their top missile guy—we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed." "Excellent," comes the reply from Vice President JD Vance. The messages, which were brought to light after a journalist from The Atlantic was mistakenly added to the officials' group chat in a staggering breach of normal security protocols, show a callous indifference to the ethical implications of bombing civilian areas. This is perhaps unsurprising for a country that provided many of the planes and trained many of the pilots involved in the Saudi-led bombing campaign that killed over 9,000 Yemenis between 2015 and 2022.

President Donald Trump's migration crackdown has been credited with reducing flows northward towards the United States, but it is leaving hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers trapped in limbo further south, unsure whether to take riskier journeys to try to reach the US and anxiously wrestling with what to do next.

Amnesty International on March 24 called for an end to unlawful violence against protesters and detention of activists and journalists by police in Türkiye. The country has seen mass protests in the wake of the arrest of opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. Authorities have confirmed the arrest of 1,133 protesters, and at least eight journalists, since the beginning of the protests last week. Upon review of available video footage, Amnesty secretary general Agnès Callamard noted police interactions with peaceful demonstrators involving use of batons, pepper-spray, tear-gas, water-cannon and plastic bullets, as well as the kicking of people on the ground. Callamard stated that such use of force has resulted in numerous injuries and hospitalizations, and called for a prompt investigation of the violence.

The international Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) called upon UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on March 25 to urgently intervene in the repression of peaceful protests in Pakistan's conflicted Balochistan province. The group urged Guterres to secure the immediate release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other members of the Baloch Yekjehti Committee, a local rights group. Dr. Baloch and several of her comrades were detained at a protest in provincial capital Quetta against enforced disappearances.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded March 19 that widespread enforced disappearances and torture committed by Russia during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine constitute "crimes against humanity." The announcement marks a significant development, as crimes against humanity constitute one of the most serious classifications of international crimes.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report March 19 urging Mexican authorities to conduct a "thorough" and "impartial" investigation into an apparent mass killing site outside the city of Guadalajara, in Jalisco state.

According to the report, a local collective called the Jalisco Search Warriors on March 5 uncovered uncovered the site on an isolated ranch, where they found "bone fragments…hundreds of shoes, clothing items, charred human remains, and three underground ovens..."  The discovery was made while attempting to locate missing individuals or their remains, with local citizens organizing the effort in the absence of a sufficient response by the authorities.