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Oct 10, 2025
Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across various aspects of modern life.
Enshittification is "the collapse of discipline," says Doctorow. "America's ruling class has managed to neutralize all the discipline that it ever faced. Their weirdest, worst ideas are the ones that we're all stuck with."
Doctorow also elaborates on a point he makes in his book: "Donald Trump's election represents the ultimate triumph of enshittification in the political realm."
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Oct 10, 2025
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, a leading Venezuelan opposition figure. Machado was set to run for president last year, but she was disqualified by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, with fellow opposition leader Edmundo González standing in for her. Venezuela's National Electoral Council ultimately declared Maduro the winner of the contested election, and he was sworn in for his third term in January.
Machado has voiced support for U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and other efforts to topple the government; she aims to privatize the country's state oil industry and has praised right-wing Latin American leaders, including Argentina's Javier Milei and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele.
Friday's Nobel announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has openly campaigned for the award.
"It's a perplexing choice," says Greg Grandin, a historian of Latin America. "They've given it to somebody who's completely aligned with the most militarist and darkest face of U.S. imperialism."
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Oct 10, 2025
A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Friday after the Israeli government approved the first phase of the U.S.-backed plan to end two years of war in the Palestinian territory. The deal calls for a pause in Israeli attacks, the release of the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, as well as an influx of badly needed humanitarian aid for the starving population of Gaza. Israeli forces have pulled back but continue to control roughly half the territory, with the ceasefire agreement calling for further withdrawals in later phases.
"This is a deal that really should have been made long, long ago," says Amjad Iraqi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. "We've known that the parameters of this truce have been on the table for well over a year, if not since the very beginning of the war."
Palestinian human rights attorney Diana Buttu says while people are happy for a pause in the slaughter, she finds it "repulsive" that Palestinians had to bargain with their own oppressors. "It should have been that the world put sanctions on Israel to stop the genocide, rather than forcing Palestinians to negotiate an end to it."
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Oct 10, 2025
Israeli Government Approves First Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Grand Jury Indicts New York Attorney General Letitia James, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado, Colombia's President Petro Claims Colombians Killed in Boat Struck by U.S., Peruvian Lawmakers Swear In New President, U.S. Begins Implementation of $20 Billion Bailout for Argentina, Federal Government Shutdown Enters 10th Day, Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Deployment of National Guard Troops in Illinois, National Guard Troops Set to Begin Patrols of Memphis, Oklahoma's Republican Governor Criticizes Trump's Deployment of Texas Troops to Illinois, Texas Court Halts Execution of Robert Roberson, Convicted over "Shaken Baby Syndrome"
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Oct 09, 2025
Israeli forces have abducted over 500 peace activists over the past week who were sailing to Gaza in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged territory. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say most of the participants were sent to Ktzi'ot Prison, notorious for harsh and abusive conditions. Some have reported physical abuse, humiliation and inhumane treatment by Israeli soldiers.?
Jewish American activist David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, says he faced additional abuse because of his background.
"They reached down and saw my passport, which had my full name, David Rashi Kremen Adler, and asked if I was Jewish. I said I was Jewish. They ripped me by the ear and forced me to bend down and stare at the flag of the state of Israel," says Adler, who also describes being confronted in prison by the far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called Adler a "terrorist."
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Oct 09, 2025
President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the "first phase" of a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal for Gaza. The 20-point roadmap includes a swap of captives and a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, though details on many of the planks remain sketchy. Democracy Now! spoke with Palestinian and Israeli analysts on how to interpret the peace plan.
"We're now at a fork in the road," says Mouin Rabbani, a Palestinian Middle East analyst. "While it's very welcome, of course, that the genocide may be coming to an end … this is a renewed Oslo process with an even lower political ceiling." He says there are calls around the globe for a "different paradigm … in which Israeli accountability for its actions replaces these meaningless, endless negotiations about nothing."
Muhammad Shehada, a writer and analyst from Gaza, is critical of the deal, saying that "as soon as a ceasefire deal is signed, nobody bothers with the details. Gaza disappears, and it's back to this slow, latent, invisible violence of starvation and engaging people in a permanent state of nonlife."
Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political analyst and scholar, says that the deal was politically advantageous for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Netanyahu can now be the complete package," says Goldberg. "Netanyahu was the fearless leader who fought the difficult, inevitable war, but he is now the fearless leader who brings the difficult, inevitable deal."
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Oct 09, 2025
Celebrations broke out in Gaza and Israel overnight after President Trump announced Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first phase of a hostage-ceasefire deal. Trump said the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza would likely be released on Monday. Israel has also agreed to release hundreds of Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons, but a final list of prisoners has not been released. Eyad Amawi, an aid coordinator who joins us from Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, has "mixed feelings, happiness, worries and hopes" about the deal. He is cautious due to "Israeli habits" during ceasefire agreements to "grant themselves more time to punish our people, to increase the suffering."
During the first phase of the deal, Israel will withdraw forces from parts of Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged territory. A ceasefire is expected to begin after the Israeli government formally approves the deal.
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Oct 09, 2025
Trump Says Israel and Hamas Have Agreed to Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Israel Continues Attacks on Gaza Even as Palestinians Celebrate News of Ceasefire, Spanish Parliament Approves Israel Arms Embargo as Dutch Protesters Hold Sit-Ins for Gaza, GOP Defeats Senate War Powers Resolution to Limit Trump's Strikes on Alleged Drug Traffickers, IRS to Furlough Nearly Half Its Workers as Government Shutdown Enters Second Week, 500 National Guard Troops Arrive in Chicago as Trump Calls for Mayor and Governor to Be Jailed, Pastor Shot in Head by "Less Lethal" Round at Chicago-Area ICE Protest Joins Lawsuit, Trump Holds Roundtable on Antifa, Claims to Go After Its "Funders", Antifa Expert to Flee with Family to Spain Following Death Threats, Former FBI Director Comey Pleads Not Guilty to Charges He Lied to Congress, WaPo: One-Quarter of FBI's Agents Assigned to Immigration Enforcement, Tennessee Lawmaker Justin Pearson Launches Primary Challenge to Incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen, 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded to Hungarian Novelist László Krasznahorkai, Jordanian American Omar Yaghi, Son of Palestinian Refugees, Wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
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Oct 08, 2025
The new documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink looks at how hedge funds have gutted newsrooms across the country. The hedge fund strategy of "distressed asset investing" involves buying up industries that are struggling to turn a profit, and then selling off their assets and laying off workers. "You have people who are interested solely in making money off of the newspapers and not in serving the community and doing good journalism," says director Rick Goldsmith. "This is happening all over the country, and more than half the daily newspapers are either owned or controlled by hedge funds."
Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is now streaming and airing on PBS.
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Oct 08, 2025
We speak to journalist David Klion about the Trump-affiliated right wing's increasing grip on mainstream news media, as "anti-woke" pundit Bari Weiss takes the helm as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. The former New York Times opinion writer, who left the paper over what she alleged was a climate of censorship, brands herself as a champion of free speech, but in reality "has a 20-year history of suppressing speech that she finds objectionable, especially when it's speech championing the rights of Palestinians and criticizing the state of Israel," says Klion. Weiss's ascension comes just after CBS's parent company, Paramount, completed a merger with Skydance, the media company founded by the son of billionaire Larry Ellison. Ellison, the founder of the tech company Oracle and soon-to-be part owner of social media platform TikTok in the U.S., is also a staunch supporter of Israel and has close ties to Donald Trump. Weiss's appointment by the Ellisons "is an ideological power play," says Klion. "It's about elevating her political ideology over the most important and storied news brands in the United States."
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Oct 08, 2025
Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election for a House seat in Arizona two weeks ago, has still not been sworn in to Congress. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is blaming the government shutdown for the delay, even though he previously expedited the swearing-in of multiple Republicans who won their special elections before election results were even in. It's more likely, say supporters, that Grijalva is being held up to prevent what she has pledged will be her first act in Congress: adding her name to and thus triggering a vote on California Congressmember Ro Khanna's bill for the public release of files related to the federal investigation of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. "She needs to get sworn in today," says Khanna, adding that every day Grijalva is not seated in the House "is breaking precedent and depriving people of who they voted for." Grijalva says, "This is an incredibly scary precedent to set. If you don't agree with the politics of the speaker, then they can keep you out of your duly elected office."
Khanna and Grijalva also discuss the legacy of Grijalva's late father, the longtime Arizona Congressmember Raúl Grijalva; the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration; right-wing attacks on freedom of the press; and more.
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Oct 08, 2025
As the government shutdown enters its second week, Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of California says "the Republicans could open government today." The two parties are at a standoff over provisions in the Republican spending bill that would cut health insurance benefits for millions of Americans. President Donald Trump said Tuesday furloughed government workers may not be paid, breaking with precedent and a 2019 law. "In a shutdown, we always pay our troops, we always pay essential workers, and Trump is threatening both to lay them off illegally and not to pay them," says Khanna.
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Oct 08, 2025
Israeli Forces Kill 8 Palestinians Across Gaza in the Past 24 Hours, Israeli Far-Right National Security Minister Ben-Gvir Prays at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, Mideast Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner Set to Attend Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Egypt Today, Israeli Forces Intercept Another Gaza-Bound Humanitarian Aid Flotilla, Draft White House Memo States Furloughed Workers Could Be Prevented from Receiving Back Pay, FAA Warns of Staffing Shortages at Airports in Major Cities Amid Shutdown, National Guard Troops from Texas Arrive in Chicago, ACLU Accuses Trump Admin of Subjecting Immigrants to Inhumane Conditions at Angola Prison, Wired: ICE Bolstering Social Media Surveillance Nationwide, Attorney General Bondi Evades Questions on Epstein Files in Contentious Senate Hearing, Former FBI Director James Comey Set to Appear in Federal Court Today, SCOTUS Appears to Favor Removing Colorado's Ban on LGBTQ "Conversion Therapy" for Minors, Politico: Trump Admin Looking to Privatize $1.6 Trillion in Federal Student Loan Debt, California Governor Newsom Signs Law Aimed at Combating Antisemitism in Schools, Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $996 Million in Talc Baby Powder Cancer Case, Missouri Attorney General Subpoenas Planned Parenthood for Records of Abortion Patients
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Oct 07, 2025
We speak with Plestia Alaqad, an award-winning Palestinian journalist whose on-the-ground reporting from Gaza captured global attention during the early days of Israel's military assault two years ago. Then just 21 years old, her video dispatches went viral and offered the world a rare glimpse of life under bombardment. Alaqad, who fled Gaza with her family in late 2023, has now published The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resistance, drawn from the diary she kept in the weeks following October 7, 2023.
Reflecting on the last two years, Alaqad says that "Israel succeeded in isolating and dividing Gaza from the rest of the world" and making daily life intolerable for Palestinians. "They've been displaced, bombed, trapped and starved deliberately by Israel."
Alaqad also stresses that the story of Palestine goes beyond just the last two years. "History didn't start on October 7. It's been two years of the genocide, but it's been 77 years, if not more, of the ongoing Nakba that started in 1948," she says.
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Oct 07, 2025
As the world marks the second anniversary of the October 7 attack, we speak with Maoz Inon, an award-winning Israeli peace activist whose parents Bilha and Yakovi were both killed that day when Hamas fighters stormed their kibbutz near the Gaza border. Since then, Inon has become a world-famous advocate of peaceful coexistence for Israelis and Palestinians. His forthcoming book, co-authored with Palestinian peace activist Aziz Abu Sarah, is titled The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land.
"It's a very sad day, because so many lives were lost in the last two years," says Inon. Reflecting on his parents' lessons about life, Inon says it's up to current and future generations to build something better: "It's our turn — our turn to sow the seeds of peace, the seeds of reconciliation, the seeds of equality, knowing that next year and next season will be better."
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Oct 07, 2025
Israelis, Palestinians and people around the world are marking two years since the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza. The second anniversary of October 7 comes amid renewed hope for a ceasefire, as mediators from Hamas and Israel meet in Egypt to negotiate over U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for the future of Gaza. The proposal, like previous ones, calls for a swap of captives, as well as a phased Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza. But major questions remain over what both Israel and Hamas will agree to.
"We welcome any peace agreement," says Eyad Amawi, a representative of the Gaza Relief Committee and a coordinator for local NGOs, based in Deir al-Balah. "We hope that a ceasefire agreement will [be] completely implemented and we can reinforce our society here and renew the life and return the hope for our civilians."
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Oct 07, 2025
As Chicago braces for a possible deployment of National Guard troops by President Trump, we speak with Ed Yohnka from the ACLU of Illinois about how the administration's ongoing immigration crackdown is putting communities at risk. For weeks, federal agents with ICE and other agencies have carried out violent immigration arrests across Chicago, including in a high-profile raid on a residential building in which many U.S. citizens were also detained. "There's no emergency," says Yohnka, who blames the administration for needlessly escalating tensions in Chicago, seemingly in search of excuses for more violence. "And when anybody protests, then that's seized upon by the administration as a claim for the need to bring in further forces," says Yohnka.
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Oct 07, 2025
Israelis Mark 2nd Anniversary of Hamas Attacks with Commemorations and Protests, Israeli Strikes Have Killed Over 100 in Gaza Since Trump Called for Halt to Bombings, 170 Activists, Including Greta Thunberg, Deported from Israel After Raid on Gaza-Bound Flotilla, U.N. Says Israeli Attacks Have Killed Over 100 Civilians in Lebanon Since Ceasefire, National Guard Troops Head to Chicago After Judge Declines to Block Deployment, Trump Administration Appeals Judge's Order Blocking Deployment of National Guard to Portland, Trump Threatens More Mass Layoffs, Blames Democrats, as Government Shutdown Enters 7th Day, U.S. Sends 10 Immigrants to Eswatini in Another "Third Country" Deportation Flight, UNHCR Warns Countries Not to Abandon 1951 Refugee Convention, Syria Establishes Parliament with Few Women and Minority Lawmakers, ICC Convicts Former Sudanese Militia Leader of War Crimes in Darfur, Paramount Skydance Acquires The Free Press, Installs Bari Weiss as Editor-in-Chief of CBS News, Supreme Court Rejects Appeal from Jeffrey Epstein Co-Conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva Blasts Delay to Her Swearing-In as an "Epstein Cover-Up"
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Oct 06, 2025
Starvation is now being used as a weapon of war in numerous conflicts across the globe — including Sudan, which continues to endure a yearslong famine. Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric doctor who just returned from Sudan, says that the famine is man-made. "Atrocities in Palestine, atrocities in Sudan that relate to malnutrition, that relate to famine, are a consequence of underlying structures that enable these things to happen," says Haj-Hassan, who also volunteered in Gaza.
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Oct 06, 2025
Palestinians are still being systematically starved in Gaza even as ceasefire talks are underway this week. "It is a choice that Israel has, whether to feed the people or whether to starve them," says Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University. "The children who have been through this will suffer physical and cognitive harm for the rest of their lives, and there is an obligation on those who perpetrated the crime, and indeed on the rest of us, to give them the support."
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Oct 06, 2025
Global condemnation is mounting as hundreds of international activists remain in Israeli prison days after Israel's military raided and captured dozens of boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla. Reuters reports at least 170 flotilla activists, of the more than 400 arrested, have been deported from Israel. Many have described torture and mistreatment in Israeli custody. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg told Swedish officials she was held in a cell infested with bedbugs and deprived of food and water. Turkish activist Ersin Çelik told the Anadolu news agency that guards had "dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag."
Kieran Andrieu is a British Palestinian journalist who was recently deported to Britain after being detained aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla. Andrieu says that activists faced torturous conditions in Israeli prisons. "They were throwing people's medicine in the bin in front of them and laughing in their faces," he says. "They were totally and utterly insensitive to the possibilities of any of us dying."
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Oct 06, 2025
President Trump is calling on negotiators to "move fast" on Gaza ceasefire talks as delegations from Hamas and Israel convene in Egypt to discuss the 20-point plan announced last week by the White House. The deal calls for Hamas to release all remaining hostages and to disarm. Daniel Levy, president of the U.S./Middle East Project, says it is unclear whether the plan will lead to an end to genocide in Gaza, yet "with all the faults in this plan, and there are multiple, … Biden never pushed this hard," says Levy.
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Oct 06, 2025
Gaza Ceasefire Talks Begin in Egypt Today, Israel Kills Seven Palestinians in Gaza Today, Tens of Thousands Rally in Tel Aviv in Support of Hostage Deal, Federal Judge Blocks Trump from Deploying National Guard Troops to Oregon, Trump Admin Plans to Send Hundreds of National Guard Troops to Chicago, Trump Uses Shutdown to Withhold Federal Funding from Democratic-Led Cities and States, WaPo: Trump Admin Looking to Change Age Requirements for Social Security Disability Payments, U.S. Forces Bomb Another Boat Off the Coast of Venezuela, Killing Four People, Russia Fires More Than 50 Missiles and Nearly 500 Drones at Ukraine, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu Resigns Less Than a Day After Forming His Cabinet, Global Sumud Flotilla Activists Allege Mistreatment by Israel in Detention, Major Pro-Palestinian Protests Erupt All Over the World, NYT: Trump Set to Lower Refugee Admissions, Supporting Mostly White South Africans, Journalist Mario Guevara Deported to El Salvador After Being Detained by ICE for Over 100 Days, Authorities Probing Alleged Arson Attack at Home of South Carolina Judge Criticized by Trump Admin
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Oct 03, 2025
The Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces Thursday as its dozens of vessels approached the shores of Gaza. In response to the detention of the flotilla's activists, Italian labor unions have launched a nationwide general strike demanding their release and an end to Israel's relentless assault. Global Sumud Flotilla spokesperson Maria Elena Delia shares an update from Rome, where hundreds of thousands are participating in nonviolent protest.
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Oct 03, 2025
The Oscar-winning actress and activist Jane Fonda is relaunching her father Henry Fonda's free speech organization, the Committee for the First Amendment. First established in 1947 to combat the rise of McCarthyism, the organization brings together members of the film and television industry to push back against and refuse government censorship. Fonda's announcement comes after the television network ABC brought back late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's show following widespread protest. Kimmel's show had been pulled from the air after he made comments criticizing the Trump administration's response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. "This regime is held up by pillars: military, media, professions and so forth. If each pillar organizes to remove support, we can do it," says Fonda about why she's decided to relaunch the organization now. "We have to do it."
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Oct 03, 2025
UPDATE: Mario Guevara was deported from the United States early on October 3, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara may be deported to El Salvador as soon as today despite holding work authorization in the United States and never having been charged with a crime. Guevara, who founded the outlet MG News, where he received awards for his coverage on immigration, has lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. He was arrested and jailed in June for live-streaming an anti-Trump "No Kings" demonstration near Atlanta.
"Mario's case is really the tip of the spear, and today's deportation is deeply troubling," says lawyer Nora Benavidez. "It is because of his journalistic work that they targeted him. They really do not want what he's doing to expose ICE." Benavidez also responds to the attempted deportations of pro-Palestine immigrant students on U.S. college campuses. "It really mirrors the way that Mario has also been targeted because the government, very similarly, simply went after him for his speech," she says.
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Oct 03, 2025
The Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara may be deported to El Salvador as soon as today despite holding work authorization in the United States and never having been charged with a crime. Guevara, who founded the outlet MG News, where he received awards for his coverage on immigration, has lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. He was arrested and jailed in June for live-streaming an anti-Trump "No Kings" demonstration near Atlanta.
"Mario's case is really the tip of the spear, and today's deportation is deeply troubling," says lawyer Nora Benavidez. "It is because of his journalistic work that they targeted him. They really do not want what he's doing to expose ICE." Benavidez also responds to the attempted deportations of pro-Palestine immigrant students on U.S. college campuses. "It really mirrors the way that Mario has also been targeted because the government, very similarly, simply went after him for his speech," she says.
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Oct 03, 2025
As officials with Hamas say they will respond "soon" to President Trump's ceasefire proposal to end Israel's nearly two-year war on Gaza, brokered with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, we look at the many other deals Witkoff and his family are involved with. A New York Times investigation reveals that when Witkoff, a real estate developer and longtime friend of Trump, began his new position as a diplomat in the Middle East, his son Alex took over his company, the Witkoff Group. Since then, not only has the Witkoff Group continued to ink major deals with investors in the Gulf Arab states, but the elder Witkoff has not even fully divested from the company. "There is no question that these relationships and these allegiances carry over between business and politics. … [T]he Witkoffs and other people in the administration may or may not be profiting personally from them while they are trying to do this work," says Debra Kamin, who reported the story. We also speak to Kamin about turmoil in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Trump.
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Oct 03, 2025
Israeli Attacks Kill 22 Palestinians Since Dawn, Far-Right Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir Taunts Global Sumud Flotilla Activists, Over 1,000 Rabbis and Jewish Peace Activists in Brooklyn Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Trump Calls Gov't Shutdown an "Unprecedented Opportunity" to Punish Political Opponents, Trump Admin Cuts Nearly $8B in Clean Energy Projects in States That Voted for Kamala Harris, Massive Fire Erupts at Chevron Oil Refinery in California, Trump Asks Universities to Sign "Compact" Supporting His Agenda in Exchange for Funds, Immigration Judge Denies Asylum Bid of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Appeals Court Allows ICE to Deport Award-Winning Journalist Mario Guevara, Trump Declares U.S. Is in "Armed Conflict" with Drug Cartels, Paramilitary Attacks on Besieged North Darfur City Killed 91 in September, Two Victims of Manchester Synagogue Attack Were Struck by Police Bullets, Including One Who Died, Sarah Mullally Named First-Ever Female Archbishop of Canterbury, FDA Approves Generic Version of Abortion Medication Mifepristone
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Oct 02, 2025
A new investigation by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa looks at reproductive rights in El Salvador, which has one of the world's most restrictive anti-abortion laws and has imprisoned women who suffered obstetric emergencies like miscarriages or stillbirths.
While exact numbers are difficult to ascertain, one woman who spent time in prison in El Salvador for a miscarriage estimated "that 90% of the women who are in prison in El Salvador are in prison for this," says Hinojosa.
Hinojosa also cautions that a version of El Salvador's law could make its way to the United States as states pass more abortion bans following the end of Roe v. Wade.
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Oct 02, 2025
We speak with the acclaimed filmmakers Raoul Peck and Alex Gibney about their latest documentary, Orwell: 2 2=5, which explores the life and career of George Orwell and why his political writing remains relevant today.
"We are living again and again — not only in the United States, but in many other countries, including in Europe, in Latin America, in Africa — the same playbook playing again and again," says Peck, who directed the film.
Gibney, a producer on the film, says Donald Trump perfectly illustrates the "assault on common sense" that is part of any authoritarian system. "What you instinctively know to be true is upended by the authoritarian leader, so that everything flows from him," says Gibney. "He just invents things on the spot, but he expects them to be revered as true."
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Oct 02, 2025
Israel's Navy has intercepted dozens of ships in international waters, halting efforts by international activists to break Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid to the starving population. Video live-streamed by the Global Sumud Flotilla showed Israeli commandos boarding ships and abducting dozens of activists on Wednesday. At least 201 people from 37 countries were taken into custody, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela.
Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, who is on the steering committee of the Global Sumud Flotilla, says this latest attack reveals ongoing international complicity with Israel's violations of international law. "Israel has been committing genocide for 22 months, and nothing happens," says Abukeshek.
We also speak with reporter Emily Wilder, who is on board the Conscience, still sailing toward Gaza as part of a later wave in the ongoing campaign to break the siege. She says that it was important for her, as a journalist, to bear witness and make it clear that "Israel does not represent my voice."
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Oct 02, 2025
Israeli Forces Abduct Hundreds of Activists in Raid of Gaza-Bound Humanitarian Aid Flotilla, Israeli Military Warns Gaza City Residents to Flee or Be Classified as Terrorists, Amid Government Shutdown, White House Freezes $26 Billion in Funds and Plans Mass Layoffs, Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Efforts to Fire Federal Reserve Governor — For Now, Trump Directive Classifies "Anti-Capitalism" and "Anti-American" Views as Domestic Terrorism, Jane Fonda Relaunches Henry Fonda's McCarthy-Era "Committee for the First Amendment", Trump Shares Racist Deepfake Videos Mocking House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Trump Posts, Then Deletes, Deepfake Video Promoting "Medbed" Conspiracy Theory, Federal Judge Orders ICE to Release DACA Recipient Catalina "Xóchitl" Santiago, Planned Parenthood Closes Two Remaining Clinics in Louisiana, At Least 2 Killed in Attack on Manchester Synagogue, Police Open Fire at Anti-Government Protesters in Morocco, Killing Two People, Primatologist and Conservationist Jane Goodall Dies at Age 91
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Oct 01, 2025
A Reagan-appointed judge has issued a scathing ruling rebuking the Trump administration's targeting of pro-Palestine students. Judge William G. Young called the case AAUP v. Rubio "perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court" and ruled that contrary to the State Department's claims, "noncitizens lawfully present here in [the] United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us."
For more, we're joined by lawyer Alex Abdo, who worked on the case; Todd Wolfson, president of the plaintiff, the American Association of University Professors; and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, whose arrest and targeting by the Trump administration in March kicked off a heightened scrutiny of immigrants living and working on U.S. college campuses. "If free speech means anything in this country, it means masked government agents can't pick you up off the street and throw you into jail because of what you've said," explains Abdo. He adds that the ruling will help support Khalil against the Trump administration's ongoing attempt to deport him. Details that emerged during the trial revealed that the Trump administration is continuing to target Khalil "to make an example out of me."
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Oct 01, 2025
At an unprecedented gathering of hundreds of top generals and admirals from U.S. military installations around the world, President Trump delivered a rambling speech Tuesday alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They laid out their vision of a "warrior" culture in the U.S. military and claimed the United States is facing an "invasion from within." Eugene Fidell, a military scholar at Yale Law School, says the meeting was a means of "exacting loyalty, special loyalty, from the most senior officers and enlisted personnel" and that by promoting a solely "white male" image of the U.S. armed forces, the administration has made clear it "wants to turn back the hands of the social clock."
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Oct 01, 2025
We speak to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as President Trump singles out the city as a training ground for the military and National Guard deployment. Militarized federal agents from the FBI and Border Patrol have already joined ICE agents for a city-wide crackdown against immigrants and protesters. Felony charges have been brought against protesters at ICE's Broadview detention center. "This is yet another example of how this president is militarizing forces, ultimately with the goal to occupy cities," says Johnson, who calls Trump's threats a "political stunt" and an "affront to democracy."
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Oct 01, 2025
Israel Kills 51 Palestinians in 24 Hours as Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla Sails into "High-Risk Zone", Trump Gives Hamas "Three or Four Days" to Respond to Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Parents of Israeli Soldiers March Alongside Hostage Families Calling for an End to Gaza War, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens for Pro-Palestinian Activism, Trump and Hegseth Address 800 Military Generals and Admirals in Unprecedented Meeting, U.S. Gov't Shuts Down After Senate Funding Bill Fails, ICE Agents Assault Group of Reporters Documenting Arrests at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, Probe Launched After Local Journalist Was Shot by a Pepper Ball by Immigration Agents, Federal Authorities Rappel into Chicago Apartment Complex and Arrest Alleged Undocumented Immigrants, Mexican Immigrant Dies a Week After Shooting at Dallas ICE Facility, Pentagon Preserves Medals of Honors Awarded to Soldiers in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, Powerful Earthquake Kills at Least 69 People in the Philippines, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change Among Winners of 2025 Right Livelihood Award
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Sep 30, 2025
Tension between immigration agents and community activists is growing in Chicago, where ICE agents have deployed tear gas and pepper balls against ongoing protests outside Chicago's Broadview ICE detention facility.
Democracy Now! speaks with community activist Cristóbal Cavazos, who says that the people of Chicago have been steadfast in their mobilization against ICE, with communities engaging in daily protests and community safety patrols. "We're really doing some historic mobilization here in Chicago, and we're super proud," says Cavazos. "The key word here is 'resistance.'"
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Sep 30, 2025
President Trump has directed 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to be deployed to Portland, claiming troops are necessary to "protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists." Trump's order comes after he signed an executive order claiming the decentralized antifa movement is a "domestic terror organization." "There is nothing going on right now in Portland or any part of Oregon that requires him to send in the federal military," says Sandy Chung, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon.
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Sep 30, 2025
The U.S. government appears to be headed to a shutdown at midnight Wednesday after President Trump and Democratic leaders failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill. Democrats are looking to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act and reverse cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs that were implemented by the tax and spending bill passed earlier this year.
"The president is all too happy to fund programs he likes and defund programs he doesn't like," says David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect. "That's the textbook definition of a government shutdown. And we've been in that state since the inauguration, practically, and now we're just going to admit it."
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Sep 30, 2025
As the Israeli blockade of Gaza continues, a nearly 50-boat flotilla carrying humanitarian aid is currently some 150 nautical miles from Gaza. The grandson of Nelson Mandela, Nkosi Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, speaks with Democracy Now! from the Global Sumud Flotilla.
South Africans "are beneficiaries of international solidarity. Those that rallied behind our cause and stood side by side in supporting the anti-apartheid movement ensured that we attained our freedom in our lifetime," says Mandela. "This is why today we utilize our voice to support the oppressed and most vulnerable nations across the globe."
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Sep 30, 2025
After a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip on Monday that aims to end Israel's war on Gaza, free the remaining Israeli hostages and remove Hamas from power. Netanyahu expressed support for the deal, but he has already backed away from key elements, including a call for Israel to eventually pull its troops out of Gaza. Hamas has not responded yet to the deal. As part of his 20-point peace plan, Trump announced the establishment of an international transitional governing body called the "Board of Peace," which Trump would head.
Palestinian human rights attorney Diana Buttu says the deal is "certainly not a plan that is going to end the genocide. What they're simply attempting to do is repackage it." Buttu also notes that while Trump met with Netanyahu before announcing the plan, Palestinians were not consulted. Buttu asks, "Why is it that Palestinians have been forced to negotiate an end to their genocide?"
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Sep 30, 2025
Netanyahu Agrees to 20-Point "Peace Plan" for Gaza; Trump Warns Hamas to Agree or Face Destruction, Netanyahu Apologizes to Qatar over Airstrike That Targeted Hamas Delegation in Doha, Another Palestinian Baby Starves to Death as Israeli Attacks Kill More Civilians in Gaza, Journalist Charged with Hate Crime After Photographing Protest of New York Times's Gaza Coverage, Vance Warns "We're Headed to a Shutdown" as Trump and Democratic Leaders Fail to Reach Spending Deal, U.N. Reinstates Sanctions on Iran over Nuclear Program, Trump Admin Strikes Deal with Iran to Deport Iranian Nationals, YouTube Agrees to Pay $24.5M to Settle Trump Lawsuit, HUD Fires Two Whistleblowers Over Trump Admin's Efforts to Dismantle Civil Rights Enforcement, Trump Again Threatens to Cut Off Federal Aid to NYC If Mamdani Is Elected Mayor, Trump Admin Allocates Public Land to Coal Mining and Provides $625M for Coal-Fired Power Plants, OpenAI Plans to Build 5 New Data Centers With Help of SoftBank and Oracle, Sen. Sanders: Nearly 700 Prescription Drugs Have Increased in Price Despite Trump's Pledges
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Sep 29, 2025
The Black liberation activist Assata Shakur died on September 25, 2025, at the age of 78. She passed away in Cuba, where she received political asylum in 1984 after escaping the U.S. prison system, and where she continued to reside for decades despite U.S. attempts to capture and extradite her. In 1998, Shakur wrote an open letter to Pope John Paul II during his historic visit to Cuba, after New Jersey state troopers requested the pope call for her extradition. "The New Jersey State Police and other law enforcement officials say they want to see me brought to 'justice.' But I would like to know what they mean by 'justice.' Is torture justice?" Shakur wrote. "When my people receive justice, I am sure that I will receive it, too." We play Shakur's recording of her letter, in memory of her life and her work.
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Sep 29, 2025
Democracy Now! was on the streets as thousands marched to the United Nations in New York City Friday while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly. Despite the fact that Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes he has presided over in Gaza, he was able to travel to the U.N. without incident, as the United States says it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. We spoke to protesters demanding Netanyahu's arrest and an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza.
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Sep 29, 2025
In an exclusive interview just hours after incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams's decision to end his reelection bid, we sat down with Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, to lay out his campaign and his vision for an affordable city. We discuss his platform, his support for Palestinian rights and why he identifies as democratic socialist. Mamdani also responds to Adams's decision to drop out, which is expected to help consolidate votes for Mamdani's main opponent, disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. "The reason that Donald Trump is seeking to clear the lane for Andrew Cuomo is because he knows that Andrew Cuomo will clear the lane for Donald Trump's agenda," he says.
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Sep 29, 2025
Israel Kills at Least 50 Palestinians over the Past Day in Gaza, ??Over 100 Diplomats Walk Out on Netanyahu During U.N. Speech, U.S. Revokes Visa for Colombian President Petro After He Joined Palestine Protest at U.N., NBC News: U.S. Military Officials Drawing Up Plans to Attack Venezuela, Oregon Sues Trump Admin over Plans to Deploy Troops to Portland, Armed Federal Agents Patrol Downtown Chicago as Trump Admin Escalates Immigration Crackdown, ICE Detains Des Moines School Superintendent Ian Roberts, NYC Mayor Eric Adams Announces He's Dropping Out of Mayoral Race, Iraq War Veteran Attacks Mormon Church in Michigan, Killing at Least 4 People, Iraq War Veteran Opens Fire at Bar in North Carolina, Killing 3 People, Trump to Attend Hegseth's Unprecedented Meeting with Top Generals and Admirals, Trump to Meet with Congressional Leaders to Avert Government Shutdown, SCOTUS Allows Trump Admin to Withhold $4 Billion in Foreign Aid, Russia Launches Onslaught of Drones and Cruise Missiles at Ukraine, Indigenous Rights Organization Accuses Ecuadorian Armed Forces of Killing Community Member, Missouri Governor Signs into Law Trump-Backed Congressional Map, NFL Announces Bad Bunny to Headline Super Bowl Halftime Show, Assata Shakur Dies at 78 in Havana
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Sep 26, 2025
As the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign on Venezuela, we speak with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. In recent weeks, the U.S. has bombed multiple alleged Venezuelan "drug boats" at sea, killing at least 17 people without providing any clear evidence that they were involved in drug trafficking or linked to the government in Caracas. The U.S. has also increased its military footprint in the Caribbean and placed a $50 million bounty on President Nicolás Maduro for information leading to his arrest for narcotrafficking.
The U.S. military presence in the Caribbean "is a threat to Venezuela and to the countries of the region," says Fernández de Cossío. "There's no real reason for that to be there, and the justification that they're fighting drugs or organized crime is believed by no one. … They're assassinating people for no reason."
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Sep 26, 2025
President Donald Trump is escalating his attack on progressive groups following the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and a deadly shooting that targeted an immigration jail in Dallas. White House officials have repeatedly blamed Democrats and left-wing groups for contributing to political violence, but investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein says the motivations of people who commit such acts are often more complicated.
Klippenstein has reported on the backgrounds of Kirk's accused killer and the gunman who targeted the Dallas ICE facility, and says friends described both young men as somewhat isolated and largely uninterested in partisan politics. "That was perhaps the most normal thing about these two shooters, that they were disengaged with politics," he says.
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Sep 26, 2025
Israel's military has issued new evacuation orders for neighborhoods of Gaza City as Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into the Gaza Strip's largest urban area. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have already fled Gaza City for overcrowded areas further south, as Israeli forces systematically flatten much of the city. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continues to kill dozens of Palestinians every day amid widespread famine.
"People feel now it's a permanent state of displacement," says leading Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud, who has just left Gaza City. "People have been herded from one area to another."
Mahmoud also discusses the toll of reporting on the genocide despite Israel's repeated targeted assassinations of journalists in Gaza, including many with Al Jazeera. "We believe the world deserves to learn the truth," he says of his choice to keep working despite the risks.
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Sep 26, 2025
Ex-FBI Director James Comey Indicted as Trump Escalates Campaign of Retribution on Opponents, Israeli Attacks Kill Dozens in Gaza City as Some Palestinians Resist Forced Evacuation, Israel Bombs Yemen's Capital, Killing 8 and Wounding 142, "No Justice If Palestine Is Not Freed": Mahmoud Abbas Addresses U.N. General Assembly, Benjamin Netanyahu's Jet Is Diverted to Evade Potential Arrest in Europe on ICC Warrant, Microsoft Cuts Off Some Services Used by Israeli Military Unit to Spy on Palestinians, Russia's Foreign Minister Says NATO and EU Have Declared a "Real War" on Russia, Trump Administration Readies $20 Billion Bailout of Argentina and Trump Ally Javier Milei, Video Shows ICE Agent Assaulting Ecuadorian Mother Inside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, Amazon Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Trump Signs Executive Order Allowing TikTok to Keep Operating in the U.S.
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Sep 25, 2025
Spain and Italy are sending naval vessels to protect the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla after activists said drones repeatedly attacked their boats near Greece on Wednesday. Activists said the most recent strikes marked the seventh attack on the solidarity movement's vessels. The Global Sumud Flotilla is the largest humanitarian convoy in history to traverse the Mediterranean Sea, says David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, who joins Democracy Now! from the flotilla. "We are not here to drop the aid and go home and pat ourselves on the back. We are here to establish a humanitarian corridor for states themselves to assume their responsibilities and to deliver the aid at the scale that Gaza requires."
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Sep 25, 2025
The Committee to Protect Journalists says recent Israeli strikes on newspaper offices in Yemen killed 31 journalists and media support workers, making it the deadliest attack on journalists anywhere in the world in 16 years. CPJ said the attack was the second-deadliest attack on the press ever recorded by the organization. "These are civilians," says Niku Jafarnia, Middle East and North Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch. "We have documented, like many other organizations, war crime after war crime after war crime, as well as acts of genocide and extermination, in the context of Gaza."
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Sep 25, 2025
More than a dozen West African men who were deported to Ghana by the United States have since been returned to their home countries by the Ghanaian government, despite legitimate fears of torture or persecution at home. Ghana is one of a growing list of countries that have signed "third country agreements" with the United States to accept U.S. deportees. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, notes that in many cases judges have ordered the Trump administration not to deport immigrants to countries where they may face persecution. "It's a complete ruse to get around the order from the immigration judge," he says. "This fits a pattern of the Trump administration trying to evade court orders."
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Sep 25, 2025
Hundreds of people who were once detained at the troubled immigration jail in the Florida Everglades, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," have disappeared. Democracy Now! speaks with Shirsho Dasgupta, a Miami Herald reporter who found that, as of late August, about two-thirds of the 1,800 immigrants who were held there in July have gone missing from ICE's online database, with their families and attorneys unable to locate them. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled the jail could continue to operate despite reports of abuse.
"What we're seeing at Alligator Alcatraz is basically a new model of immigration detention, where a state-run facility is operating as an extrajudicial black site, completely outside of the previous models of immigration detention in this country. And it's making what was already a terrible system somehow even worse," says Thomas Kennedy, policy analyst at the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
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Sep 25, 2025
Israeli Military Strikes Have Killed at Least 30 Palestinians Since Dawn, Spain and Italy Send Naval Vessels to Protect Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla, Major News Outlets Call on Israel to Allow International Journalists into Gaza, Macron Claims Trump Assured Him West Bank Annexation Would Be a Red Line, Drone Attack in Israel Injures at Least 22 as Israelis Protest Netanyahu Before Departure to U.S., Trump Blames "Radical Left Democrats" After Video Game Enthusiast Fires on Dallas ICE Facility, 39-Year-Old Prisoner Dies in California ICE Jail Days After Days of Medical Neglect, Journalist Mario Guevara Faces Deportation After Arrest While Documenting Anti-Trump Protest, Nearly 2 Million Evacuate as Typhoon Ragasa Batters Southern China, China's Leader Makes Landmark Pledge to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ukraine's Zelensky Tells General Assembly Russia Will Expand Aggression Unless It's Stopped, Trump's Newly Appointed U.S. Attorney to Bring Charges Against Former FBI Director James Comey, Oklahoma High Schools Ordered to Install Chapters of Charlie Kirk's Youth Organization, U.S. Park Police Remove Statue of Trump Holding Hands with Jeffrey Epstein from National Mall, GOP Nominee in NYC Mayoral Race Says He Was Offered Money to Drop Out, French Ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy Sentenced to 5 Years for Campaign Finance Conspiracy, New Mexico Lawmaker's Daughter Calls Him "Total Loser" over "Propaganda Trip" to Israel
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Sep 24, 2025
President Trump says he is designating the decentralized anti-fascist movement known as "antifa" as a terrorist organization, as conservatives blame left-wing groups and ideas for creating the conditions that led to conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination. The Trump administration is "using this as a catch-all to go against the broader left and anyone who speaks out against fascism right now, while at the same time giving continued unchecked authority to the FBI to ignore the rise of right-wing violence," says writer Will Potter. "The intention is to capitalize on this to crack down on their opponents and to consolidate authoritarian power."
Potter is the author of Little Red Barns, an investigation into the state repression of those who attempt to expose the harms of the factory farming industry, with mechanisms to criminalize journalism and label civil disobedience as terrorism through its crackdown on citizen journalists, environmentalists and animal welfare activists, says Potter.
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Sep 24, 2025
President Trump is promoting unproven claims that both vaccines and the common painkiller acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol or by the brand name Tylenol, cause autism. Trump's recent anti-vaccine and anti-autism stances have been influenced by his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist who unsuccessfully ran for president himself before throwing his support behind Trump's reelection campaign. "The way they talk about autism, in this such sort of baby terms, in this very simplistic idea that we're going to find the cause of autism or the cure for autism, it rings hollow … because we know it's a complex interplay between oncogenes and the environment," says Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and the parent of a child with autism, who notes that increased autism rates are also a consequence of improved diagnostic practices. He discusses the current state of autism research and the Trump administration's larger attacks on mainstream science.
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Sep 24, 2025
On Tuesday, Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly at its headquarters in New York City, criticizing the international governing body, immigration and the science of climate change, while boasting about his presidency and the military power of the United States. In what became the longest U.N. speech ever made by a U.S. president, Trump bragged about ending "seven unendable wars" and said countries that do not crack down on immigration "are going to hell." "Trump was speaking to a far-right international around the world," says Washington Post journalist Ishaan Tharoor, who has covered all of Trump's U.N. speeches since his first term in office.
This year's UNGA was also marked by the growing recognition of Palestinian statehood by member nations. Western countries including France and the U.K. broke with decades of precedent in doing so, making the U.S. the only member of the U.N. Security Council not to recognize a Palestinian state. Tharoor comments on the significance and limitations of these announcements, and on Trump's relationship with Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, who opened the UNGA just before Trump spoke.
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Sep 24, 2025
Trump Blasts the United Nations, Saying "Your Countries Are Going to Hell", Israel Intensifies Bombardment of Gaza City, Killing More Than 50 People Today, Global Sumud Flotilla Under Attack from Drones and Explosions, U.N. Commission: Israel Establishing Permanent Control in Gaza and Jewish Majority in West Bank, Trump Says Ukraine Could Win Back Territory Captured by Russia, Syrian Interim President al-Sharaa Interviewed by Former CIA Director David Petraeus, EU and WHO Dispute Trump's Claims Linking Acetaminophen During Pregnancy With Autism, Trump Suggests He Will Sue ABC After Jimmy Kimmel Returns to the Airwaves, At Least 11 People Killed After a Drone Attack Strikes a Birthday Party in Haiti, Immigrants Deported to Ghana Were Sent to Home Countries Despite Safety Concerns, Trump Admin Sanctions Wife of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Who Led Probe of Bolsonaro, Ryan Routh Found Guilty of Attempting to Assassinate President Trump, House Democrats Launch Probes Against Border Czar Tom Homan, Department of Agriculture Places Hunger Researchers on Leave, Democrat Adelita Grijalva Wins Special Election in Arizona's 7th Congressional District
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Sep 23, 2025
Illinois Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh was thrown to the ground by ICE agents on Friday during a protest outside the Broadview Processing Center in Chicago, where immigrant detainees are held. At least 10 people were arrested as federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas into the crowd, which was there to oppose the Trump administration's immigration crackdown known as "Operation Midway Blitz."
"If they are willing to do that to a congressional candidate on camera in front of press, imagine what they are willing to do to their detainees behind boarded-up windows," says Abughazaleh.
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Sep 23, 2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act into law this week, banning all law enforcement — including federal immigration agents — from covering their faces while conducting raids in the state.
"What this law is trying to do is to take us back from the era of routine masking based on completely foundationless officer claims of fear," says Eva Bitran, the director of immigrants' rights at the ACLU of Southern California.
Trump administration officials have already vowed to ignore the California law, "and this is why we need to have a federal solution that will apply nationwide," says New York Congressmember Nydia Velázquez, who has introduced the No Masks for ICE Act in Congress. "This administration is out of control, and it's affecting everyone."
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Sep 23, 2025
Egypt's best-known political prisoner, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, was granted a presidential pardon on Monday and has reunited with his family after spending most of the last 12 years in prison. The writer and political dissident was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled the Mubarak dictatorship, and he has been repeatedly targeted by the current authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Most recently, he was sentenced to five years in prison for a Facebook post. That sentence ended last September, but authorities refused to release him, saying his two years of pretrial detention did not count. Monday's pardon comes after years of international pressure to "Free Alaa," including in the United Kingdom, where he also holds citizenship. Both Alaa and his mother, Laila Soueif, participated in lengthy hunger strikes.
Ahdaf Soueif, Abd El-Fattah's aunt, says his release has brought the family "tremendous relief," as well as "hope that this is the beginning of the release of a lot of other political prisoners" in Egypt.
We also speak with journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who has covered the case for many years. "Alaa is free, but he doesn't have justice," he says. "There's still so many thousands of political prisoners in Egypt, including dozens who are behind bars simply for speaking out in solidarity with Palestine and against Israel's genocide in Gaza."
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Sep 23, 2025
Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Dozens of Palestinians, Including Children, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco Follow France in Recognizing Palestinian State, Italian Unions Lead General Strike Demanding End to Israel's Assault on Gaza, Supreme Court Allows Trump to Fire FTC Commissioner, ABC to Resume Broadcasts of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" But Sinclair Stations Will Continue Censorship, Trump Links Tylenol to Autism Without Evidence and Proposes Changes to Childhood Vaccine Schedule, Miami Herald: Two-Thirds of Immigrants Held at "Alligator Alcatraz" in July Have Disappeared, NYT: Trump Admin Attempting to Limit Enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, Prominent Egyptian Blogger and Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah Released from Prison, Colombian Government Terminates Arms Purchases from the United States, White House Rebuffs Offer by Maduro for Direct Talks with Trump, ICC Charges Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte with 3 Counts of Crimes Against Humanity
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Sep 22, 2025
The U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal took a historic step Sunday in formally recognizing the state of Palestine, but Palestinian physician and politician Mustafa Barghouti says "it's not enough." From Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Barghouti says sanctions against Israel are needed to bring an end to its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and other abuses across Palestinian territory. "Everything you see in terms of recognition today by France, Britain, Australia, Canada and others is happening only because of the steadfastness and resilience and resistance of the Palestinian people, because of the heroism of ordinary Palestinian citizens who refused to leave their country and who risked everything to stay in Palestine," he adds.
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Sep 22, 2025
Following the U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal's formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, Democracy Now! speaks with Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen in Tel Aviv. "This is a belated but blessed step forward," says Zeigen. "We need to level the field in order for us, Israelis and Palestinians, to be able to shape the only viable future for us, which is a shared future." Zeigen's mother, Vivian Silver, a 74-year-old Canadian Israeli peace activist, was killed on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri.
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Sep 22, 2025
As we broadcast today, Egyptian authorities announced a presidential pardon for Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a free speech and democracy activist imprisoned for six years on dubious charges of "spreading false news." The blogger was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled the Mubarak dictatorship, and was repeatedly targeted by the current authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Monday's pardon comes after years of international pressure to "Free Alaa," including in the United Kingdom, where he also holds citizenship.
"We might feel lonely and isolated and cold and wet and hungry when we're on the streets demonstrating," says Jeremy Corbyn, a member of British Parliament and former leader of the U.K. Labour Party who has supported freedom for El-Fattah, who has joint Egyptian-British citizenship, and met with his family members. "It makes a difference, and his freedom is a product of all that solidarity all around the world."
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Sep 22, 2025
The United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal and Canada have formally recognized Palestinian statehood, joining about 150 countries, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week, as France and five other states are also expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state on Monday. "This is an opportunity to renew our political solidarity," says Jeremy Corbyn, member of the British Parliament and former leader of the U.K. Labour Party. "It also actually further isolates the United States in global opinion, because the United States is the only real big country that still supports Israel." Corbyn joins us from a Palestinian flag-raising event in London.
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Sep 22, 2025
We look at how the assassination of Charlie Kirk has emerged as a tool for the Trump administration to crack down on dissent and free speech, as tens of thousands gathered Sunday in Arizona for a memorial for the conservative activist, including his wife Erika Kirk. While she called for forgiveness, President Trump and other top speakers, including Vice President JD Vance and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, reiterated calls for revenge on political opponents. "It is not just rhetoric," says Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. "The president really is using every lever at his disposal to silence, suppress and even imprison his political enemies." Trump has also suggested that it should be illegal for journalists to cover his presidency in a negative light.
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Sep 22, 2025
Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal Formally Declare Recognition of a Palestinian State, Israel Escalates Bombardment of Gaza City, Killing at Least 61 People in a Day, Israeli Airstrike Against Lebanon Kills 5 People, Including 3 Children, CPJ: Israeli Strikes Killed 31 Yemeni Journalists in Deadliest Attack on Press in 16 Years, Tens of Thousands Gather in Arizona for Charlie Kirk Memorial as Trump Says "I Hate My Opponent", Trump Says It is "Really Illegal" for Journalists to Give His Administration Negative Coverage, New Pentagon Rules Bars Credentialed Reporters From Reporting on Unauthorized Info, Trump Urges Bondi to Prosecute His Political Rivals as U.S. Attorney Resigns Resgns Under Pressure, Trump Signs Executive Order Imposing $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visas, MSNBC: Trump Border Czar Homan Recorded Accepting $50K in Cash from FBI Agents, Ten People Arrested in Anti-ICE Protests in Chicago, 42-Year-Old Man Dies in ICE Custody in Long Island, ICE Detainees in Louisiana on Hunger Strike to Protest Conditions at Angola Prison, California Passes Bill Banning Law Enforcement from Wearing Masks, Trump Administration Ends U.S. Annual Report on Hunger in America, Sudan: RSF Drone Strike Kills at Least 85 People in Darfur, More Than 200 Protesters Arrested in Anti-Government Demonstrations in the Philippines, Tens of Thousands of Brazilians Protest Against Bill Granting Bolsonaro Amnesty, Trump Reveals Details About Possible TikTok Deal with China
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Sep 19, 2025
Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers. He is expected to serve the remainder of his life sentences under house arrest at the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Nation in Belcourt, North Dakota. In a wide-ranging conversation, we spoke to Peltier about his case, his time in prison, his childhood spent at American Indian boarding school and his later involvement in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and more. "We still have to live under that, that fear of losing our identity, losing our culture, our religion," Peltier says about his continued commitment to Indigenous rights. "The struggle still goes on for me. I'm not going to give up."
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Sep 19, 2025
Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers. He is expected to serve the remainder of his life sentences under house arrest at the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Nation in Belcourt, North Dakota. In a wide-ranging conversation, we spoke to Peltier about his case, his time in prison, his childhood spent at American Indian boarding school and his later involvement in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and more. "We still have to live under that, that fear of losing our identity, losing our culture, our religion," Peltier says about his continued commitment to Indigenous rights. "The struggle still goes on for me. I'm not going to give up."
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Sep 19, 2025
Israeli Forces Advance Deeper into Gaza City, Killing at Least 21 Palestinians Since Dawn, U.S. Vetoes U.N. Security Council Draft Resolution Calling for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli Far-Right Minister Smotrich Calls Gaza Strip a "Real Estate Bonanza", Delivery Driver Kills Two Israeli Soldiers at Jordan-West Bank Crossing, Afghanistan Rejects Trump's Calls for the U.S. to Retake Bagram Air Base, Trump Threatens to Revoke Broadcast Licenses of Networks over Negative Coverage, Trump Asks SCOTUS for Emergency Order to Remove Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve Board of Governors, At Least 11 Democratic Officials Arrested at Federal Plaza in Anti-ICE Protest in NYC, Report: ICE Placed More Than 10,000 People in Solitary Confinement, Trump-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Immediately Deporting Guatemalan Children, CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel Votes to Restrict Access to MMRV Vaccine, After Deadly U.S. Strikes on Boats, Venezuela Mobilizes More Than 2,500 Soldiers to La Orchila Island, Hundreds of Thousands of Protesters Take Part in Demonstrations in France
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Sep 18, 2025
A powerful new documentary produced by Fault Lines on Al Jazeera English tells the story of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the Palestinian pediatrician and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza whom Israel has detained with virtually no contact to the outside world for almost nine months. He became known to millions of people around the world for his regular video dispatches from inside the hospital describing the toll of Israel's brutal military assault on Gaza and on the hospital itself. In late December 2024, Israel raided Kamal Adwan Hospital and forcibly evicted its staff and patients. Dr. Abu Safiya was arrested by Israeli soldiers and has been held without charge in harsh conditions ever since.
We play clips from the documentary, The Disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya, and speak with director Amel Guettatfi, as well as Dr. Azra Zyada in London, who was in frequent contact with Dr. Abu Safiya before his abduction.
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Sep 18, 2025
We speak with the secretary general of Amnesty International about the human rights group's new report on the "global political economy enabling Israel's genocide, occupation and apartheid" against Palestinians. Agnès Callamard says Israel's "24 months of genocide" since October 2023 would not be possible without international support and the continued supplying of Israel's war machine by major arms makers, technology firms and other companies. The report names the U.S. military contractors Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the Israeli arms companies Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, the South Korean conglomerate Hyundai and the U.S. tech company Palantir Technologies, among others. While Israel faces growing international condemnation over its actions in Gaza, Callamard says other states must push for an immediate ceasefire and impose consequences, including an arms embargo on Israel.
"You can denounce as much as you want. If you do not take actions, including economic actions, then your words are empty," says Callamard.
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Sep 18, 2025
Israel Attacks Gaza City by Land, Air and Sea, Killing 79 Palestinians in a Day, European Commission Proposes Curbs on Trade with Israel over Gaza Assault, Families of U.S. Citizens Killed by Israeli Soldiers and Settlers Demand Accountability, "A Genocide Against the Palestinian People": Sen. Bernie Sanders Condemns Israel's Actions in Gaza, Russia and Ukraine Trade Drone Attacks; U.S. Announces Investment in Ukraine's Minerals, ABC "Indefinitely" Suspends "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" over Comments About Charlie Kirk's Killer, Shooter in Rural Pennsylvania Kills 3 Police Officers, Wounds 2 Others, Former CDC Director Testifies on RFK Jr.'s Pressure to Change Vaccine Schedule for Children, Federal Reserve Votes to Lower Interest Rates for the First Time This Year, Former Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Speaks Out After Firing, Federal Judge Orders ICE to Improve Conditions at Manhattan Jail, Immigration Judge in Louisiana Orders the Deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, Trump Designates Antifa as a Terrorist Organization, House Judiciary Committee Rejects Request to Subpoena Banks in Epstein Case
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Sep 17, 2025
Robert Redford, the legendary Oscar-winning director, actor and activist, died at the age of 89 on Tuesday. Redford was a longtime environmental activist who served for five decades as a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He was also the creator of the Sundance Film Festival, which he helped grow into one of the largest independent film festivals in the world. Democracy Now! interviewed Redford many times over the years about his career, the importance of independent cinema and his environmental activism.
"I guess you could call me an activist," Redford said in 2015. "The deniers of climate change are probably people who are afraid of change. They don't want to see change."
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Sep 17, 2025
President Trump signed an order authorizing the deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday. The order also creates a so-called safe task force, which Trump claims will address violent crime in the city. Law enforcement officers from several federal agencies will also be dispatched to Memphis, including the FBI, DEA, ICE and Homeland Security.
"This is nothing more than a power play for more authoritarianism from this administration," says Justin J. Pearson, Democratic Tennessee state representative. "We are dealing with the consequences of people who are in positions of power who do not care about our lives, who do not care about our communities, who don't care about eliminating poverty. They don't even care about crime," he adds.
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Sep 17, 2025
The alleged shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was formally charged Tuesday by Utah prosecutors. The top charge is aggravated murder, along with six other counts. The accused, 22-year old Tyler Robinson, also made his first court appearance to hear the charges read. Prosecutors say they will be seeking the death penalty in the case.
The case has set off media speculation about the shooter's possible motives, including the meaning behind cryptic meme references engraved on bullets recovered by police. Makena Kelly, senior writer at Wired, says that the messages are not "inherently political" and allude to some of the online communities Robinson was involved in.
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Sep 17, 2025
Israeli forces are pushing deeper into Gaza City as the full-fledged military ground invasion continues despite mounting international condemnation. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee Gaza City, where nearly 1 million Palestinians have been living among rubble and ruins ahead of Israel's ground offensive. "Just open your eyes and look at what's unfolding there," says Muhammad Shehada, a writer and analyst from Gaza. "It's impossible to see what's happening and conclude that there's anything else but genocide unfolding."
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Sep 17, 2025
As Israel continues its full-fledged military ground invasion of Gaza City, Democracy Now! speaks with Kathleen Gallagher, a U.S. military veteran and general surgeon currently volunteering in Gaza, who describes the scene on the ground from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Gallagher says she sees up to 400 patients a day, about 40% of whom are under the age of 20. This week she reports seeing six children killed with gunshot wounds to the head. After volunteering in Honduras and Ukraine, "This is worse than anything I've ever seen," Gallagher says.
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Sep 17, 2025
Israel Intensifies Bombing of Gaza City, Killing 37 Palestinians Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Testifies at Corruption Trial, Spain Cancels Major Arms Contract with Israel, Thousands of Protesters in Jerusalem March to Netanyahu's Residence Calling for End to Gaza War, Israeli Military Strikes Yemeni Port of Hodeidah, Four People Arrested for Projecting Trump and Epstein Photos on Windsor Castle Prior to Trump's UK Trip, Prosecutors in Utah to Seek the Death Penalty for the Accused Assassin of Charlie Kirk, Trump Threatens ABC Reporter Who Asked About DOJ Criminalizing Free Speech, Trump Files $15 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times and Penguin Random House, FBI Director Kash Patel Clashes with Senate Democrats at Oversight Hearing, Xp Lee Wins Minnesota House Special Election to Replace Melissa Hortman After Her Assassination, House of Representatives Passes Bills to Charge Minors as Adults in Washington, D.C., Eight Police Officers Fired in the Handling of Domestic Violence-Related Triple Homicide, New York Judge Tosses Out Terrorism Charges Against Luigi Mangione, Georgia Supreme Court Declines to Allow Fulton County DA Fani Willis to Keep Prosecuting Trump, Global Witness: 146 Land and Environmental Defenders Killed or Disappeared Last Year, Authorities Investigating Two Suspicious Hanging Deaths in Mississippi, Ben and Jerry's Co-founder Jerry Greenfield Quits, Claiming Unilever "Silenced" His Activism, Oscar-Winning Director and Environmental Activist Robert Redford Dies at Age 89
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Sep 16, 2025
On Monday, President Trump announced the U.S. bombed a boat in international waters, killing three people. The attack was the second to target what the Trump administration claims are drug smugglers from Venezuela. A previous strike on another boat killed 11 people. In a third incident, the U.S. Navy raided a fishing boat in Venezuelan waters, detaining nine fishermen for eight hours. This escalating U.S. military action follows a secret directive that Trump signed approving the use of military force in Latin America and an ongoing buildup of U.S. military presence in the Caribbean.
"We have a very clear example of political theater, an attempt at provocation, an ongoing effort at regime change, and the strategy of trying to use the military to interdict drug trafficking, which has failed incredibly in Mexico, Colombia, everywhere else the U.S. has applied it," says Venezuelan historian Miguel Tinker Salas, who adds the Trump administration is "misleading the public in indicating that these were drug traffickers with no evidence whatsoever." He says its attempt to manufacture a crisis in Venezuela is reminiscent of the lead-up to the U.S. war on Iraq.
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Sep 16, 2025
We speak to Bishop William J. Barber II about conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk's killing and the right-wing weaponization of his death. Barber says outrage over political violence should also extend beyond Kirk's assassination, to what he refers to as the political violence of policy, including the hundreds around the world who die of poverty, war and disease every day. "You cannot claim that you believe in a god or Christ of love and justice and mercy and grace and truth, and then you push policies that prey on the very persons, in the very communities, that the Scriptures, that the example of Jesus and the prophet tells us we should not only pray for, but we should also be lifting up and helping up and protecting."
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Sep 16, 2025
Congressmember Delia Ramirez, one of the co-sponsors of the Block the Bombs Act, which would withhold offensive weapons that violate international law and humanitarian norms deals from Israel, responds to a U.N. commission's recent conclusion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. She provides an update on the bill and says, "It's indefensible for anyone to, in this moment, try to make an excuse of what's happening and allowing it to happen under our watch."
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Sep 16, 2025
ICE's "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago is entering its second week of ramped-up immigration enforcement. Community members are mourning the loss of Silverio Villegas Gonzales, a 38-year-old single father and Mexican immigrant who was shot and killed by ICE agents while trying to avoid arrest at a traffic stop. Villegas Gonzales was unarmed and had no criminal record. His family has organized a fundraiser to help cover the costs of his funeral and burial. "ICE stopped a man right after he dropped off his child at school, because he's Brown, because maybe he looked like he worked a minimum-wage job, and then shot him to death," says Congressmember Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, who is calling for a full investigation into Villegas Gonzales's death and for ICE to be defunded. "The footage, the witnesses we have talked to do not match what the ICE reports show," she says, calling ICE a "terror organization" with "no guardrails."
Meanwhile, ICE agents have "abducted" a man who is suing a group of off-duty Chicago police officers, working as security for Home Depot, for abuse. Kevin Herrera, the legal director of Raise the Floor Alliance and an attorney for Willian Giménez González, says Giménez is being retaliated against for his lawsuit, which accuses the security guards of beating and bringing trespassing charges against immigrant day laborers in order to push them into the criminal legal system. "Willian was double-profiled, and now he's suffering consequences within the ICE detention system," says Herrera.
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Sep 16, 2025
U.N. Inquiry Finds Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, Israel Launches Major Ground Offensive to Seize Gaza City, Lebanon Says Israeli Airstrike on Residential Building Injured 12 Civilians, Secretary of State Rubio Meets with Qatar's Emir in the Wake of Israel's Deadly Strike in Doha, Trump Says U.S. Strikes a Second Venezuelan Boat, Killing 3 People, JD Vance Vows to "Dismantle" Institutions on the Political Left in the Wake of Kirk's Killing, Utah Law Allowing Open Carry on Campuses Criticized After Kirk's Assassination, Trump Signs Order Deploying National Guard Troops to Memphis, Trump Lashes Out at New York Governor Hochul for Endorsing Mamdani in NYC Mayoral Race, NYT: UAE Chips Deal Linked to $2B Investment in Trump Family Cryptocurrency Firm, Billionaire Larry Ellison Could Add TikTok to Media Empire as U.S. and China Reach Deal, Senate Confirms White House Adviser Stephen Miran as Fed Governor, Maurene Comey, Who Prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein, Sues Over Her "Politically Motivated" Firing, On El Salvador's Independence Day, Protesters Demand Release of Jailed Human Rights Defenders
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Sep 15, 2025
The University of California, Berkeley has provided Trump officials with the names of at least 160 students, faculty and staff in cases of alleged antisemitism on campus, in response to the administration's sweeping crackdown on Palestinian solidarity activism. The administration has already threatened to cut off federal funding from academic institutions and has targeted international students involved in the pro-Palestine movement.
"There is no good evidence that antisemitism is rampant on campus," says the philosopher Judith Butler, who teaches at UC Berkeley and whose name was among those shared with the Trump administration. "To take a position against genocide is certainly not an antisemitic thing to do. Most Jews are against genocide, and we were taught to be against genocide, and we were taught, as well, that 'never again' is a slogan that should apply to all people."
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Sep 15, 2025
Journalist Chris Hedges warns that President Trump and his allies are "weaponizing" the shocking assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk to crush dissent.
"We've reached a very frightening turning point," says Hedges. "We've already seen an assault on civil liberties, on institutions, universities, the media, that are tasked with maintaining an open society. That will now be accelerated."
Even though authorities are still trying to determine a motive in the killing, Trump has blamed "radicals on the left" for political violence, and top White House adviser Stephen Miller vowed to dismantle many progressive organizations. Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of shooting Kirk during a college event in Utah last week, grew up in a Republican family, and bullet casings found at the scene were engraved with references to various online and video games memes. Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox has claimed Robinson had "leftist ideology," but did not share any evidence to support the claim. There has also also been speculation that Robinson may have been influenced by a far-right movement known as Groypers, which is tied to the white nationalist Nick Fuentes and had previously targeted Kirk for harassment.
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Sep 15, 2025
As Israel continues its campaign to erase Gaza City by systematically bombing residential buildings, schools, homes and tent encampments, we speak with Dr. Mohammed Saqr, the director of nursing at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza. He says medical workers, who are starving like the rest of the population, have nothing left to give amid hundreds of deaths and injuries each day.
"We are psychologically unstable, because we see [the] execution of civilians on a daily basis," says Saqr. "We have no beds. We have to put patients on the ground — no supplies, no instruments. And things will go worse when the Israeli evacuation orders [displace] the Gaza City [residents] to come here to Khan Younis concentration camp."
Saqr also describes the daily challenges of life in Gaza, saying he only owns a single pair of shoes that he shares with his five sons. "Please stop humiliating us. We are not animals," he says.
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Sep 15, 2025
Israel Continues Bombardment of Gaza City, Killing 25 Palestinians Today, Arab Leaders Hold Emergency Meeting in Qatar to Discuss Israel's Strike in Doha, Israeli Army Raids Home of Oscar-Winning Filmmaker Basel Adra, Tyler Robinson, Accused of Assassinating Charlie Kirk, to Appear in Court Tuesday, More Than 100,000 Anti-Immigration Protesters March in London, Ukrainian Drones Attack Russian Oil Refinery, as Romania Says a Russian Drone Entered Its Airspace, The International Federation of Journalists Condemns Israel for Killing at Least Nine Yemeni Journalists, U.S. Expresses Regret over ICE Raid Targeting South Korean Workers in Georgia, Sushila Karki Sworn In as Nepal's Interim Prime Minister, Vows to Serve for Only Six Months, Venezuelan Gov't Accuses U.S. Navy of Raiding Fishing Boat in Venezuelan Waters, Trump Vows to Call a National Emergency and Federalize Washington, D.C., ICE Fatally Shoots Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez During Traffic Stop in Chicago, ICE Agents Abduct Willian Gimenez, Who Accused Off-Duty Chicago Police Officers of Abusing Migrants, Homeless Advocates Denounce Fox News Host Calling for Unhoused People to Be Executed, New York Gov. Hochul Endorses Mamdani for Mayor of New York City, Spanish Vuelta Bike Race Interrupted by Pro-Palestinian Protests, Actors Display Signs of Support for Palestinians at Emmy Awards Ceremony
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Sep 12, 2025
Following massive, youth-led anti-corruption demonstrations in Nepal, the country's former Chief Justice Sushila Karki looks set to become interim prime minister. This week, protesters set fire to the Parliament and other government buildings, and at least 21 people were killed in a police crackdown. The protests continued even after the government lifted its ban on social media platforms and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned.
"We don't really know what is happening at the moment … since most of our state institutions have been either destroyed or are nonfunctional," says Pranaya Rana, a writer and journalist based in Kathmandu. "We really are counting on the new generation, the Gen Z, who led the protests, to take us forward."
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Sep 12, 2025
Brazil's Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a military coup and seeking to "annihilate" democracy in Brazil following his election defeat in 2022. The sentencing marks the first time a former Brazilian head of state is brought to trial and convicted for attempting to overthrow the government. Bolsonaro and his co-conspirators, who were also sentenced to prison, hatched a plan that involved using armed forces to assassinate the President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The decision was made amid political pressure from the Trump administration to drop the case against Bolsonaro. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged that the U.S. would "respond accordingly," calling the ruling a witch hunt. "Latin American countries need to be united and have a very strong position to defend democracy and to defend our sovereignty and independence," says Maria Luísa Mendonça, director of the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights in Brazil.
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Sep 12, 2025
Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, about Israel's recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. "They are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen," says Hasan.
Hasan also comments on the deadly U.S. attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. "There's no scenario in which you can say it was an imminent threat to the U.S.," he says.
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Sep 12, 2025
President Trump announced on Friday that a suspect was in custody for the killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. Although the motive has not yet been established, Trump has escalated his attacks on the political left, saying, "We just have to beat the hell out of them." Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, who says that the right is using Kirk's killing to smear the left.
"There's a real rewriting of history going on. It's what far-right regimes do after tragedies like this: They try and weaponize them to go after their enemies," says Hasan. "None of us should celebrate political violence, because it's a threat to all of us," he adds.
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Sep 12, 2025
Israel's Deadly Attacks on Gaza City Have Left 50,000 Palestinians Without Shelter, Israeli Forces Arrest 1,500 Palestinians, Including Children, in Mass Raid on Tulkarem, Netanyahu Approves New West Bank Settlements, Warning "There Won't Be a Palestinian State", U.N. Security Council Condemns Israeli Strike on Qatar, Sens. Van Hollen and Merkley Say U.S. Is Complicit in Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians, Trump Announces Suspect in Charlie Kirk's Murder in Custody, State Department Threatens Action Against Immigrants Who Praise Killing of Charlie Kirk, Trump to Honor Charlie Kirk with Posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, Politicians Cancel Public Events, Citing Security Concerns in Wake of Charlie Kirk Killing, Several HBCU Campuses Put on Lockdown After Receiving Threats in the Wake of Kirk's Murder, Brazil's Supreme Court Sentences Ex-President Bolsonaro to Prison for Coup Attempt, Michigan Judge Dismisses Criminal Charges Against "Fake Electors", Senate Republicans Vote to Fast-Track Confirmation of Trump's Judicial Nominees, Federal Appeals Courts Allows Trump Admin to Cut Off Medicaid Funds to Planned Parenthood, California Approves Bill Allowing Providers to Omit Names of Patients from Abortion Pill Bottles, Trump Suggests Russia Sent Drones into Poland by "Mistake", Belarus Frees 52 Political Prisoners to Lithuania as U.S. Eases Sanctions
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Sep 11, 2025
We speak to two activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla as it prepares to set sail for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade. In recent days, two drone attacks on the flotilla ships, which are docked in Tunisia, have been reported. "We know who has interest in stopping these flotillas," says Mariana Mortágua, a Portuguese parliamentarian who has joined the Global Sumud Flotilla and suspects the strikes were the work of the Israeli military. Mortágua says she has joined the flotilla because it's "my duty to be here and to help in any way I can … to show people that Gaza is a real place. It's not an abstract location. Gaza exists. It's there. Real people are living there and are living under attack."
We also hear from Saif Abukeshek, a Palestinian activist based in Barcelona and a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla steering committee. "There is no one mission or campaign that will have a direct outcome impact. But I believe solidarity work is an accumulative process that we have to build in," says Abukeshek. "We have to mobilize people around the world. We have to get pressure on governments, because that's the only way that Israel will listen and will stop their crimes."
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Sep 11, 2025
Is President Trump working to build his own personal army? Investigative reporter Radley Balko responds to Trump's new executive order for a "standing National Guard quick reaction force" that the president can deploy at will. Trump has "always expressed envy for dictators and authoritarians overseas who have forces that they can deploy to do their own sort of personal bidding, whether it's putting down protests or going after political opponents," says Balko, who calls the order "a really dangerous development."
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Sep 11, 2025
The conservative activist Charlie Kirk, founder of right-wing student organization Turning Point USA, was assassinated Wednesday as he spoke before a crowd at Utah Valley University on the first stop of a fall campus tour. Kirk was 31 years old and founded Turning Point when he was just 18. A major cheerleader for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, he was killed by a single shot fired from a roof as he was responding to a question from an audience member about mass shootings. No suspect has been identified. Kirk transformed politics in the U.S., says journalist Jeff Sharlet, by organizing conservative youth around cultural issues including opposition to immigration and civil rights for LGBTQ people, people of color and women. Sharlet, who has written extensively about right-wing and white nationalist movements in the United States, says Kirk's "big issue was singular: It was whiteness." He discusses Kirk's legacy and the implications of this latest high-profile instance of political violence.
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Sep 11, 2025
Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Assassinated in Utah, Two Students Injured in Attack at Colorado High School, Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen, Killing 35 People and Injuring 131, Qatar's Prime Minister Says Israeli Strike on Doha "Killed Any Hope" for Hostages, Families of Hostages March on Israeli Military HQ to Demand End to Gaza Assault, Israeli Forces Killed 22 Palestinians in Gaza Since Dawn, Global Sumud Flotilla Vows to Break Israel's Siege of Gaza, Israeli President Herzog Receives Tough Reception in U.K., Poland Invokes NATO Article 4 After Russian Drones Fly Deep into Polish Territory, Trump Administration Reportedly Considers Military Strikes on Venezuela, U.K. Ambassador Peter Mandelson Fired over Epstein Ties, House Oversight Chair Rejects Call for Analysis of Trump's Signature on Epstein Letter, Fired FBI Officials Sue Director Kash Patel, Alleging "Campaign of Retribution" by White House, El Paso DACA Recipient Remains in ICE Jail After Judge Ends Deportation Proceedings, Workers Arrested by ICE at Georgia Hyundai Plant Depart for South Korea, "Game Over Greed": NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Calls on FIFA to Abandon Price Gouging
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