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  • "Another Wasted Life": Rhiannon Giddens on How Death of Kalief Browder Inspired Her Song

    “Another Wasted Life.” That’s the name of a remarkable new song by the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Grammy-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens. She released a video of the song on October 2 to mark International Wrongful Conviction Day. The song was inspired by Kalief Browder, a Bronx resident who died by suicide in 2015 at the age of 22 after being detained at Rikers Island jail for nearly three years, after being falsely accused at the age of 16 of stealing a backpack. He was held in solitary confinement for two years and was repeatedly assaulted by guards and other prisoners. In the video for “Another Wasted Life,” Rhiannon Giddens features 22 people who were wrongly incarcerated. Together, they collectively served more than 500 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. The video includes two men, David Bryant and Tyrone Jones, who each spent 40 years in prison. Another seven of the men each spent over 25 years locked up after wrongful convictions. Rhiannon Giddens made the video in partnership with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.

  • Juneteenth Special: Historian Clint Smith on Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

    We feature a special broadcast marking the Juneteenth federal holiday that commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. We begin with our 2021 interview with historian Clint Smith, originally aired a day after President Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth the first new federal holiday since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Smith is the author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. “When I think of Juneteenth, part of what I think about is the both/andedness of it,” Smith says, “that it is this moment in which we mourn the fact that freedom was kept from hundreds of thousands of enslaved people for years and for months after it had been attained by them, and then, at the same time, celebrating the end of one of the most egregious things that this country has ever done.” Smith says he recognizes the federal holiday marking Juneteenth as a symbol, “but it is clearly not enough.”

  • "Shoot the People": Meet Misan Harriman, Celebrated Photographer & Outspoken Advocate for Palestine

    The new documentary Shoot the People profiles the Nigerian British photographer and activist Misan Harriman, the first Black photographer to shoot the cover of British Vogue and an outspoken advocate of Palestinian rights. We speak to Harriman in New York City ahead of the film’s U.S. premiere, about his work, the repression and criminalization of pro-Palestine protest in the United Kingdom — including the unprecedented sentencing of four activists with the group Palestine Action as terrorists — and more. “I genuinely believe that through art and culture, we can see that the sum of all of our parts is stronger than the powerful few,” says Harriman.

  • DOJ Takes Elon Musk's Side in NAACP Lawsuit Against xAI for Polluting Black Neighborhoods

    The Department of Justice has intervened in a legal case involving the world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk, asking a Mississippi federal court to toss a lawsuit from the NAACP against Musk’s company xAI, a subsidiary of SpaceX. The NAACP says xAI is violating the Clean Air Act by running dozens of unpermitted gas-burning turbines in majority-Black neighborhoods to fuel its data centers in Memphis, Tennessee. The Department of Justice, however, is arguing that the lawsuit violates national security by “seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.” “We should be concerned about this type of authoritarian rule,” says NAACP attorney Abre’ Conner, who adds that communities themselves “should be the ones to make the decisions about our health, about pollution in communities, about stopping sacrifice zones from being furthered because of an agenda that does not serve everyday people.”

  • G7 Summit Highlights Global Economic System "Captured" by Billionaires: Oxfam

    World leaders are returning home from the annual G7 summit, having failed to address issues such as income inequality, climate change and territorial conflict, while entertaining the wealthy executives of the artificial intelligence and fossil fuel industries. Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar calls the G7 “a club of the super-rich super-elites” and slams the summit’s focus on business, and business as usual, at the expense of humanitarian efforts and improving the lives of “the common people.”

  • Trump's War on Iran Ends with a "Triumphant" Tehran and a Diminished U.S.: Vali Nasr

    The United States and Iran have officially signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war in Iran. The 14-point agreement includes an immediate end to fighting on all fronts including Lebanon, an end to the U.S. naval blockade on Iran and the full resumption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. It also proposes easing oil sanctions on Iran, unfreezing Iranian assets and launching a $300 billion investment fund to rebuild Iran, all while tabling the question of Iran’s nuclear program, which is instead set to be negotiated over in the coming months. “The United States is more eager for this war to end than Iran is,” says professor Vali Nasr, who teaches at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “In Iran, they’re very triumphant.” We discuss the long-term effects of the war, from the growing U.S. distrust of Israel, to the new generation of political leaders in the Islamic Republic, to the evolution of Iran into a major power player in an increasingly multipolar world.

  • Headlines for June 18, 2026

    Trump and Pezeshkian Sign Memorandum Aimed at Ending U.S. War on Iran, Israel Attacks Lebanon, Killing One and Wounding Three, Despite U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Deal, Ukrainian Drones Attack Moscow, Sparking Massive Oil Refinery Fire, Israeli Attacks on Gaza Have Killed Over 1,000 Palestinians Since October “Ceasefire”, Rep. Ro Khanna Is First U.S. Lawmaker to Sign Anti-AIPAC PEACE Pledge, Peace Activists Celebrate as Maryland Public Pension System Divests from Israeli Bonds, U.N. Says Gang Violence Has Displaced 1.5 Million Across Haiti, Haitian Immigrants Call on Supreme Court to Toss Case Seeking to End Protected Status, Advocates Say Jailed Immigrants “Disappeared” After Transfer from “Alligator Alcatraz”, Georgia GOP Rejects Trump’s Push to Redraw Legislative Maps Ahead of 2028 Elections, Trump Administration Sues to Halt Reparations for Black Residents in Chicago Suburb, Bill Pulte to Become Acting U.S. Spy Chief After Trump Calls Off Hearing for Nominee Jay Clayton, Pentagon Releases Names of 8 People Killed in B-52 Crash, “Pure Retaliation”: FTC Sues Trans Health Association over Gender-Affirming Care

  • "Journacide: The War on Truth." New Film Investigates Israel's Killing of Reporters in Lebanon

    Israel has killed over 260 journalists and media workers in Gaza and 28 in Lebanon since October 7, 2023. Irish filmmaker Seán Murray investigates Israel’s killings of journalists in his new feature documentary Journacide: The War on Truth. He says the term “journacide” applies to Israel’s military actions because of the “explicit nature of the targeting and killing of journalists” as a way to silence the truth. Murray calls it “the Gaza doctrine that is now being applied in Lebanon.”

  • Has Trump Had Enough of Netanyahu? Israel Defies U.S., Vows to Continue War in Lebanon

    The United States and Iran are set to formally sign an agreement Friday to end military hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin negotiations on a long-term peace accord between the two countries. According to terms of the memorandum of understanding obtained by CNN and other media outlets, there is to be “an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon.” The leaked text also promises sanctions relief for Iran and access to the country’s frozen assets held abroad, as well as a $300 billion fund for reconstruction and development. The memo reiterates Iran’s long-held position that it will never produce nuclear weapons, with the fate of its nuclear program delayed until further negotiations. Israel has vowed to ignore the U.S.-Iran agreement and maintain its occupation of southern Lebanon, with many Israeli leaders and commentators expressing outrage about the apparent terms of the deal for being too conciliatory to Iran. President Trump, meanwhile, has expressed criticism of Israel’s actions in Lebanon. “Trump’s had enough,” says Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg, speaking to Democracy Now! from Tel Aviv. “He hasn’t had enough because he cares about the Palestinians or about Lebanon. He’s had enough of Netanyahu’s disrespect. He’s had enough of the notion that it’s actually Netanyahu who’s calling the shots.”

  • "The Point Is to Spread Fear": DOJ Charges 15 with Conspiracy for Anti-ICE Protests in Minnesota

    Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have announced criminal charges against 15 people in connection with anti-ICE protests in the Twin Cities. The defendants are accused of “conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers” and of allegedly “violently” impeding immigration enforcement in Minneapolis during Trump’s so-called Operation Metro Surge, during which thousands of federal immigration agents were deployed and fatally shot two U.S. citizens. The indictment focuses on Direct Action Minnesota, or DAMN, a broad activist coalition that prosecutors have linked to anti-fascist, or “antifa,” groups. Last fall, President Trump categorized antifa as a “domestic terror organization” even though it is not an actual group. “All 15 of the defendants are members of the community, active in mutual aid, union members, workers, neighbors,” says defense attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents one of the 15. “The point of this is to spread fear to try to divide us.”

  • Headlines for June 17, 2026

    Israel Kills 4 in Lebanon Despite U.S.-Iran Deal to End War, Israeli Drone Hits Journalist in Southern Lebanon, Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Detained Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, U.S. Strikes Another Boat in Pacific; Pentagon Officials Admit Past Strike May Have Killed Victims of Human Trafficking, Federal Conspiracy Charges Filed Against 15 in Minneapolis Who Opposed ICE Crackdown, Police Fatally Shoot 1-Year-Old After Shoplifting Call at a Walmart in Mississippi, DOJ Moves to Block NAACP Suit Against Elon Musk’s Data Center, Citing National Security, FBI Says It Disrupted Extremist Plot to Attack White House During UFC Fight, U.N.: Drone Strikes in Sudan Have Killed Over 1,000 So Far in 2026, Doctors Without Borders Dismisses 18 in Chad Tied to Sexual Abuse of Sudanese Refugees, Guardian: U.S. Military Strike in Somalia Killed 12 Civilians, Including 8 Children, Africa CDC Warns Ebola Outbreak in DRC Could Become Worst on Record, Texas Faces Screwworm Outbreak a Year After DOGE Cut Funding for Key Program, Elections Held in Oklahoma, Alabama and Georgia, Sacramento Gov’t Body Agrees to Fully Fund Access Sacramento TV Station

  • Hands Off the Arts: Fired Kennedy Center Artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph Speaks Out as Trump Name Removed

    President Donald Trump’s name has been removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., after a judge ruled its addition was illegal. The Kennedy Center’s board, which was handpicked by Trump, voted to add Trump’s name to the center late last year. The battle over the Kennedy Center’s name comes during a broader push by Trump to overhaul the institution, which is closed for “renovations” amid mass cancellations by artists. “We, the American people, have rarely been afforded the decency of a public conversation or process,” says Marc Bamuthi Joseph, who was fired from his role as vice president and artistic director of the Kennedy Center’s Social Impact initiative in March 2025. “There were no procedural protocols in the affixing of this person’s name on a national memorial, and so … this does feel like a small victory for the rule of law.” The removal of Trump’s name “really does mean something. We have been fighting for it since it went up in December,” says Mallory Miller, who was fired from her job as assistant manager of dance programming at the Kennedy Center in August 2025. Miller is the co-founder of Hands Off the Arts, which has been rallying outside the Kennedy Center every week. “This is just the first step in rebuilding the trust that has been lost,” says Miller, pointing out that Trump “is still the boss” at the Kennedy Center and that workers at the center are still being fired.

  • "Land Grab": Trillionaire Elon Musk Sued in South Texas to Block SpaceX's Takeover of Wildlife Refuge

    Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday with the largest initial public offering in stock market history for his rocket and AI company SpaceX. The company is based in South Texas in a city controlled by Musk known as Starbase, which SpaceX has operated from since 2014. Environmental and conservation groups recently filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a land swap approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would give SpaceX more than 700 acres of a national wildlife refuge in South Texas. With Starbase, “SpaceX has already burned down dozens of acres of wildlife habitat, is dumping polluted water on our beach, has sent rocket debris into our communities, into communities in Mexico,” says Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, which is part of the lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Elon Musk is using our impoverished community as his laboratory to blow up dangerous experimental SpaceX rockets.” While groups like the South Texas Environmental Justice Network are organizing opposition to Musk’s operations in South Texas, local officials are ignoring constituents’ complaints that SpaceX is degrading the environment and their quality of life, says Hinojosa. “We’ve seen elected officials take money from SpaceX here and lobby in favor of more bills that benefit SpaceX.”

  • Trita Parsi on What May Be in the U.S.-Iran Peace Deal & Being Threatened with Deportation

    The U.S. and Iran reached a memorandum of understanding on Sunday extending the ceasefire by 60 days. It is set to be formally signed in Geneva on Friday. The text of the agreement has not yet been released, but Iran has agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. will lift its naval blockade. According to Iran, the deal calls for a permanent and immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. But Israel, which is not a party to the agreement, says it plans to keep troops in parts of southern Lebanon. “The Israelis are trying to destroy this deal, and they will continue to try,” says Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “It will require persistent, consistent pressure by Trump on the Israelis in order to hold them back.” We also discuss how The Free Press, founded by Bari Weiss, published an article last week claiming the State Department had opened a probe into Parsi that could lead to his deportation. The State Department issued a statement just hours later claiming that it had “no plans to revoke the green card of Mr. Parsi at this time.” “I do believe that there were elements inside the State Department that wanted to move in this direction,” says Parsi. “They thought that this hit piece would help move things forward, but I think, frankly, it backfired.”

  • Headlines for June 16, 2026

    Israel’s Netanyahu Says He Won’t Withdraw from Lebanon, Defying Terms of U.S. Deal with Iran, Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Four, Including Paramedic and His Son, Israeli Settlers Try to Burn Palestinians Alive in West Bank Arson Spree, Israel Jails Palestinian American Student Sama Safi Without Charges, Ukraine Strikes Moscow Oil Refinery as Kyiv Begins EU Accession Process, Haitian Immigrant’s Death Ruled a Homicide After ICE Abandons Her at Pittsburgh Bus Stop, U.S. Deports Belizean Immigrant Who Led Hunger Strike at Adelanto ICE Jail, Activists Demand Release of Milwaukee Muslim Leader Salah Sarsour from Indiana ICE Jail, NYT: White House Debated Suspending Habeas Corpus and Invoking Insurrection Act, U.K. to Ban Children Under 16 from Accessing Social Media, British Appeals Court Upholds Government Ban on Palestine Action Under Terrorism Act, South African Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, Who Wrote Anti-Apartheid Anthem, Dies at 91

  • DOJ Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Amid Fears Trump Allies Will Tighten Grip on Media

    The Trump administration has approved media conglomerate Paramount’s $111 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros., one year after Paramount and Skydance Media signed a similar merger that placed Paramount’s movie studio, streaming service and broadcast network CBS under the control of the multibillionaire Ellison family, founders of Skydance and close allies of Donald Trump. The Warner Bros. merger, if completed, would bring an even larger slice of the industry’s market share into Ellison control. It’s been contested for months as a likely violation of antitrust laws amid a wider trend of corporate consolidation in the media and entertainment industry. “This has been one of the most shallow and corrupt merger review processes we’ve ever seen,” says Craig Aaron, co-CEO of the advocacy organizations Free Press and Free Press Action (not to be confused with Paramount Skydance’s conservative news outlet The Free Press), about the Justice Department’s greenlighting of the merger. The deal will place two of the largest U.S. broadcast news networks — CBS News and CNN — under the control of a single company that “has shown it is willing to warp and manipulate news coverage to please the president,” Aaron says. He warns that the many violations of press freedom committed by CBS News since its acquisition last year could soon be seen at CNN, including “getting rid of independent journalists asking hard questions [and] spiking stories about crimes being committed by the Trump administration.” In a consolidated media landscape, he adds, “we get fewer and fewer choices, and we get more and more of the same kind of cookie-cutter content produced.”

  • Major Antiracist Rally Held in Belfast to Condemn Anti-Immigrant Riots Egged On by Elon Musk

    Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman is in Belfast, where several days of racist riots have targeted immigrants and ethnic minorities with violence, threats and property destruction. It is the third consecutive summer of organized mob violence against immigrants in Northern Ireland, with roots in the extant paramilitary structures that remain there after decades of sectarian warfare. Our broadcast from the Northern Ireland capital features guests Sinéad Marmion, an immigration lawyer, and Patrick Corrigan, the Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International UK. Both were among the tens of thousands who attended a recent rally in Belfast condemning racism and standing in solidarity with immigrants. “The vast majority of people in Belfast, as across Northern Ireland, are antiracist and very welcoming to the people who have come here to make their lives from around the world,” says Corrigan. “We wanted to send, most importantly, a message to them, to say, 'You are welcome. This is your city. This is your home, just as much as it is ours.'” As mob violence drives residents from their homes and leaves many fearing for their lives, “it’s the community that has picked up the pieces. It’s women in the community, it’s migrant women in the community, that have organized and mobilized the response. And our authorities have been left wanting,” says Marmion. “We have political parties that are stoking the flames and encouraging what they call a 'legitimate concern on immigration,' … and the conversation, resultingly, is always toxic.”

  • Will Israel Blow Up Trump's Deal? Jeremy Scahill on Iran Talks, Strait of Hormuz, Nukes & More

    More than 100 days into hostilities, Iran and the United States say they have reached a preliminary deal to end the war. Israel, however, is not a party to the tentative deal and says it plans to keep occupying areas of southern Lebanon — a position still contested by Iran and the key sticking point to the partial ceasefire deal agreed to by the U.S. and Iran in April. Although the new agreement is set to be signed Friday, Israel’s unrelenting assault on Lebanon could once again spoil any deal. “This is going to become the center of whether any actual agreement takes place,” says Drop Site News's Jeremy Scahill, who joins Democracy Now! to break down what we know about this latest round of diplomacy. As the U.S. now intends to end the war without accomplishing its initial goals of regime change and nuclear capitulation, it appears that Trump has “finally accepted some version of his manufactured and almost entirely false victory narrative.” Scahill, who has spoken extensively to Iranian officials about the negotiations, says it remains to be seen if Iran can successfully “decouple” the U.S.-Israeli alliance from Israel's expansionary front in Lebanon, or whether it has relinquished too much of its own “strategic leverage” by agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

  • Headlines for June 15, 2026

    U.S. and Iranian Negotiators Say They’ll Sign a Deal on Friday to End the War, Israel Strikes Lebanon After Trump Touts Emerging Peace Deal with Iran, Gaza Death Toll Tops 73,000 as Israel Continues Daily Ceasefire Violations, Four Activists Sentenced as “Terrorists” for Sabotage at Israeli Arms Factory, Russian Attacks Kill 11 in Ukraine, Set Fire to Centuries-Old Monastery, Afghan Police Open Fire on Protesters Opposing Gender Apartheid, Killing Two, Lawmakers Demand U.S. Halt Plans to Deport Afghan Refugees to DRC, Trump Claims U.S. Strike Inside Venezuela Killed Gang Leader, Cuba’s Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as U.S. Blocks Delivery of Desperately Needed Fuel, Thousands March in Albania’s Capital to Oppose Jared Kushner’s Luxury Resort, Trump Celebrates 80th Birthday with UFC Cage Fights on White House Lawn, DOJ Clears Paramount’s Acquisition of Warner Bros., Claiming It Will “Increase Competition”, Donald Trump’s Name Removed from Facade of Kennedy Center

  • "Hell's Army": New Film Tracks Russia's Wagner Group & Rise of Mercenary Armies

    We speak with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rick Rowley about his new documentary, Hell’s Army. The film tracks the Wagner Group, the notorious Russian mercenary army that has fought in Ukraine and other parts of the world. The group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was a confidant to Putin until a failed 2023 mutiny against the government. He died in a suspicious plane crash two months later. “We realized that he could be killed, the leader of this army could be killed, but its model continues,” says Rowley. “Around the world, oligarchs are turning to mercenary armies, and it’s a scourge that needs to be stopped.” Hell’s Army has its North American premiere Friday in Washington, D.C.

  • Palestinian Activist Mohsen Mahdawi: Trump Admin "Weaponizing Immigration Laws" to Deport Me

    Palestinian activist and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi, who was targeted by the Trump administration last year as part of a crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism, faces a new deportation threat. A federal immigration judge has sided with the administration and renewed removal proceedings against him, reviving a case that had been dismissed by an earlier immigration judge. Now he is taking his case directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, telling Democracy Now! that he is “technically without a backup plan” and relying on the federal courts for justice “because I believe that what the Trump administration has done is unconstitutional.”

  • "Cautionary Tale": NYC's The New School Guts Faculty & Staff as Colleges Intensify Austerity

    The Trump administration is continuing its assault on higher education, but in a departure from its earlier high-profile fights with individual institutions like Harvard, it is now rewriting the federal rules that govern all universities and colleges. Rules are being proposed by the Education Department and other agencies to impose the administration’s preferred policies on thousands of schools — including on racial equity, transgender rights, immigration and antisemitism — or face funding cuts and possible disaccreditation. The pressure from the federal government comes at a time of intensifying austerity at many schools. Last week, one of New York’s most iconic universities, The New School, laid off 19 full-time faculty and 68 staff members. Along with coerced “voluntary” separations and early retirements since December 2025, these mass firings constitute a major gutting of The New School’s full-time faculty. “It’s a chilling message to all of academia,” says Jeremy Varon, professor of history at The New School and president of the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “We fear that the number will grow as universities act more and more like corporations, concerned above all with the bottom line.”

  • U.S. Attacks Iranian Water Reservoirs Amid "Normalization" of Targeting Civilian Infrastructure

    We continue our conversation with acclaimed Iranian environmental scientist Kaveh Madani, who comments on U.S. strikes targeting Iranian water reservoirs, which have exacerbated the country’s water shortage. He criticizes the “normalization of targeting civil infrastructure as a part of a war.” “Who suffers from the consequences of this? The poor community, the vulnerable communities,” says Madani.

  • "New Form of Imperialism": Renowned U.N. Scientist on AI Boom's Huge Water, Carbon & Land Footprint

    The environmental toll of the artificial intelligence boom continues to mount as tech companies use ever more power to run their data centers and enormous amounts of water for cooling. A new investigation by U.N. scientists warns that AI’s water use in 2030 will match the needs of 1.3 billion people, while its power use will be triple that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria combined — countries with a total population of 650 million. “Most people understand AI as a digital technology, as a virtual thing, as something that is in the clouds,” says Iranian environmental scientist Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. “What we tried to do in this report was to remind people that there’s some physics to all of this.”

  • Headlines for June 12, 2026

    Trump Claims “Great Settlement” Has Been Reached to End War, But Iran Says Nothing Has Been Finalized, India Condemns Deadly U.S. Strikes on Boats After 3 Sailors Killed Near Oman, Musk Poised to Become World’s First Trillionaire as SpaceX Goes Public, Trump Taps Jay Clayton to Head National Intelligence After Bipartisan Opposition to Bill Pulte, Detained Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Appears in Israeli Court with Signs of Torture, Family Says, U.S. Issues New Sanctions on Cuba’s Oil & Gas Company, Two Top U.K. Military Officials Resign in Row with Starmer over Military Spending, “Albania Is Not For Sale”: Protests Mount over Proposed Jared Kushner Luxury Development, “Dignity Has No Passport”: Pope Leo Visits Canary Island to Show Solidarity with Migrants, Detained Women Join Hunger and Labor Strike at Delaney Hall ICE Jail in NJ, Report: State Dept. Opens Probe of Iranian-Born Trita Parsi, Critic of Trump’s War, Protests Held as World Cup Opens in Mexico, Landlord Waives Back Rent for Tenants After Being Targeted by NYC Mayor Mamdani

  • Will Congress Renew Controversial Surveillance Law? Electronic Frontier Foundation's Cindy Cohn

    A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire Friday unless it is reauthorized by Congress. Section 702 allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals believed to be outside of the U.S., yet, in practice, it also sweeps up and stores vast amounts of data from people inside the country, including their emails, texts and cellphone data. The FISA provision was enacted in 2008 to legalize George W. Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program that was developed after 9/11. A bipartisan group of senators is opposing the reauthorization of Section 702 due to President Trump’s naming of MAGA loyalist Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation in May. Pulte has no known background in intelligence. He currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he has used his position to carry out Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political enemies. “It took this nomination of a completely unqualified guy to get enough members of Congress to really stop [Section 702],” says Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s time to take a look and listen hard about the privacy protections that are needed, at a minimum, for this program to go forward.” Cohn notes that the “massive national security surveillance state that was built after 9/11 has always been a threat to freedom.”

  • "Keep the Game Beautiful": Why ICE Crackdown & FIFA Greed Could Spoil the World Cup

    “People are really, really afraid … that ICE will go and raid communities where people are watching and gathering together” to watch the FIFA World Cup, says Nelini Stamp. She is an organizer with the Our Copa campaign, a grassroots initiative that aims to protect immigrant fans, center the sport’s working-class roots, and host accessible local watch parties during the World Cup. “We will keep each other safe as much as possible during these games,” says Stamp.

  • World Cup Kicks Off in Mexico Amid Protests Against Austerity and Forced Disappearances

    We continue our World Cup coverage in Mexico City, where local protesters are using the global event to bring attention to their causes. A sit-in by a teachers’ union is targeting World Cup festivities. And “the mothers of disappeared people have been protesting, trying to reach the stadium in the far south of the city,” says José Luis Granados Ceja, who covers Latin America for Drop Site News. Meanwhile, due to high ticket prices, “the people who love this sport are not going to be able to attend the games. They have been extraordinarily inaccessible to the population,” adds Granados Cejas.

  • "World Cup of Exclusion": Games Begin Amid U.S. Visa Restrictions, High Ticket Costs & Iran War

    The FIFA World Cup kicks off today with two games in Mexico. This will be the biggest World Cup in history, with teams from 48 countries playing over 100 games in 16 host cities across Canada, Mexico and the United States. With a new FIFA pricing system in place, tickets are significantly more expensive for this World Cup than for previous tournaments. And Trump’s harsh immigration policies are having another chilling effect on the games. Out of the 39 countries under either a full or partial U.S. travel ban, four — Iran, Haiti, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal — are expected to play in the World Cup. Players from the latter three countries received visa exemptions, while the Iranian team must train in Tijuana, Mexico. “This World Cup is shaping up to be one of extreme exclusion,” says author and former professional soccer player Jules Boykoff. “Working-class fans basically have no chance of buying a ticket to these games … and you have people who have chosen not to come to the United States because they fear getting scooped up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

  • "They Have Never Faced an Adversary Like Iran": Rami Khouri on Latest U.S.-Iran Strikes

    The U.S. struck Iran on Wednesday for a second day in a row, and President Trump is threatening more strikes. Iran has claimed it launched retaliatory missiles at a U.S. Navy fleet in Bahrain, as well as at U.S. air bases in Kuwait and Jordan. Iran has also declared the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, despite claims by the U.S. that it now effectively controls the strait. Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the U.S. strikes have rendered the ceasefire “practically meaningless.” The last time that the U.S. and Iran spoke directly was in April, but talks have been continuing through intermediaries. It is Israel, not the U.S. and Iran, that doesn’t want the war to end, argues journalist Rami Khouri. “Israel has made it clear that it’s not going to do what the U.S. tells it,” says Khouri. He adds that the U.S. doesn’t know how to get out of the war or how to “rein in” Israel. “So, I expect we’re going to see a continuation of these tit-for-tat military strikes.”

  • Headlines for June 11, 2026

    U.S. Continues to Strike Iran for a Second Day in a Row, U.S. Attacks Tanker Off the Coast of Oman, Killing 3 Indian Sailors, Amnesty International Accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank, FBI Conducts Raids of Pro-Palestinian Activists in Michigan, Anti-Immigrant Riots Continue in Belfast as Police Deploy Water Cannons to Quell Second Night of Unrest, U.S. Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years Driven by Increasing Gas Prices, New Jersey Health Inspectors Find Unsafe and Unsanitary Food Prep at Delaney Hall, GAO Report Finds Sweeping Failures at ICE Jail in Fort Bliss, Texas, U.S. Measles Cases Top 2,000 for Second Straight Year, NYT: RFK Jr. Disengaged in Running Health and Human Services Department

  • "I Was Just Forced to Resign from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory": Climate Scientist Peter Kalmus

    We continue to follow the impact of the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on scientific research in the United States with an update from climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who says he has been forced to resign from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) after 15 years at his “dream job.” In an immense loss to the government’s capacity to monitor and assess atmospheric conditions, the JPL has lost about 30% of its staff since President Trump took office for the second time, says Kalmus, who warns that the dismantling of federally funded scientific infrastructure comes as rising global temperatures put the Earth in “extreme danger.” “We’re on this escalator towards warmer and warmer and warmer temperatures, and world leaders are not doing anything about it.”

  • Trump Admin Guts Vital Sea Monitoring, "Tears Out the Eyes and Ears of Science": David Helvarg

    We’re joined by ocean policy expert David Helvarg to discuss the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, the “cutting-edge eyes [and] ears” of the ocean. The program’s closure, proposed in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook for Trump’s second administration, involves the decommissioning of a vast network of ocean floor sensors that collect data on marine ecosystems, ocean currents and global climate data, protecting the world’s oceans and providing critical information about extreme weather. In their place is the increasingly unregulated expansion of resource extraction driven by the fossil fuel industry, “essentially developing the ocean for offshore oil drilling and mining — basically, as a gas station and a garbage dump.” Helvarg, the author of Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp, also discusses “the world’s other forest crisis”: the loss of over half of kelp forests to warming ocean temperatures, throwing coastal ecosystems deeply out of balance. “We have an ocean,” adds Helvarg. “It’s full of life. It’s at risk. And we need to better understand the other 71% of our blue marble planet to protect it — and not to let a few individuals and corporations destroy it.”

  • The Shocking Secrets of MSG's Surveillance Machine: Noah Shachtman on Knicks' Owner James Dolan

    James Dolan, the billionaire owner of New York City’s Madison Square Garden and its affiliated sports teams, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, is under fire after a bombshell investigation by Wired magazine revealed the inner workings of the arena’s extensive surveillance network. Dolan employs facial recognition technology to track and profile arena attendees. This reportedly included a trans woman who, according to a former security staffer, was targeted solely due to her gender identity, as well as lawyers who have been banned because their firms are involved in lawsuits against him. Dolan’s “spy machine” feeds information to Madison Square Garden’s sizable security forces, who operate beyond the arena itself, “acting as a kind of second ersatz police force in Midtown Manhattan,” explains Noah Shachtman, one of the authors of the Wired investigation. “It captures everyone, and some people get labeled as threats, even when they’re clearly not.” Dolan’s blacklist also extends to his other venues, including Radio City Music Hall, also in New York City, and Sphere, in Las Vegas. Even for those who never step foot in Madison Square Garden, Shachtman says, the system there “isn’t an outlier. It’s a model.”

  • Report from Tehran: Amid More U.S./Iran Bombing, Trump Warns Iran Is "DEAD...Will Pay the Price"

    After the downing of an Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, the United States and Iran have begun trading missile and drone strikes in the most serious escalation of hostilities since the April ceasefire agreement. President Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning that Iran has taken “too long to negotiate a deal” and would now have to “pay the price!!!” For more, we speak to Mohammad Eslami at Tehran University, who says Trump’s “lies and broken promises” have shattered Iranians’ trust in a diplomatic solution. “Every night, there are lots of peoples chanting all around the street against Trump. And also, … unfortunately, many of them are chanting against negotiation with Donald Trump,” he says. “Right now they are asking the Iranian [forces] to retaliate.”

  • Headlines for June 10, 2026

    Trump Says Iran Is Taking Too Long to Negotiate a Ceasefire Deal and Will Now Have to “Pay the Price”, Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 13 People in Southern Lebanon, U.N. Report: Armed Groups in Gaza Have Beaten, Maimed and Executed Dozens of Palestinians, Kenyan Police Forces Fatally Shoot a Man During Protest Against U.S. Ebola Facility, World Cup Referee from Somalia Returns Home After U.S. Denies Him Entry, Anti-Immigration Riots Roil Belfast as Firefighters Escort Immigrant Families from Their Homes, Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Alabama from Executing Inmate by Nitrogen Gas, House GOP Approves $70 Billion to Fund Trump’s Immigration Crackdown, AP: Trump Admin Separated Dozens of Immigrant Children from Their Parents for a Second Time, Epstein’s Former Assistant Groff Testifies Before House Oversight Committee, Trump Family Promotes Commemorative Coins for White House UFC Fight, Progressive Candidate Platner Overwhelmingly Wins Maine’s Democratic Primary for Senate, GOP Congressmember Nancy Mace Loses GOP Primary for Governor of South Carolina, Republican Steve Hilton Advances to General Election in California’s Gubernatorial Race

  • Why New Yorkers "Thunderously Booed" Trump at Knicks-Spurs Game: Sportswriter David Zirin

    President Trump on Monday attended the third game of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks, who hadn’t lost a game since late April. The crowd booed when Trump was shown on the jumbotron. “This was supposed to be a day about the Knicks. It was supposed to be a celebration of New York,” says Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast. “And instead it was about one authoritarian, malignant narcissist.” Anticipation for the FIFA World Cup is “joyless,” adds Zirin. “This is the first time that travel warnings are being issued to fans coming here. Even warnings are being issued to people who live in the United States by immigration groups because of the threats of ICE being at the stadiums.”

  • "Tech-Driven Prosperity & Right-Wing Racist Politics": Quinn Slobodian on Elon Musk and SpaceX IPO

    Ahead of the initial public offering for SpaceX, we speak with historian Quinn Slobodian, author of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. He says Elon Musk is “creating a situation where he becomes deeply reliant on state contracts” as the U.S. government then becomes reliant on Musk. “It’s not about demolishing the government,” Slobodian says of his work with DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that Musk led for the Trump administration. “It’s about making the government more compatible, ready for the kind of products that Musk offers, and to make him then an indispensable part of the infrastructure.” Slobodian goes on to warn that Musk’s wealth is helping to fuel his anti-immigrant, racist political ideology. “We really should be worried about the possibility of those things to live together: tech-driven prosperity and radical right-wing racist politics.”

  • SpaceX IPO Could Make Musk a Trillionaire at Your Expense in "Massive Wealth Transfer": Eric Gardner

    Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX is set to go public this week targeting a $1.8 trillion valuation, potentially making it the largest initial public offering in history. It is also projected to make Elon Musk, already the world’s richest man, the world’s first trillionaire. The nonprofit newsroom More Perfect Union has released a new report from business reporter Eric Gardner called “We Uncovered a Hidden Wealth Transfer in the SpaceX IPO. You’re Holding the Bag.” It details how Musk convinced Nasdaq to forgo the usual waiting period to include SpaceX in its index fund, potentially exposing retirement savers to what many professional investors believe will be an overinflated stock price. While Musk and early investors are positioned to see their wealth skyrocket, the SpaceX IPO could hurt these regular investors, says Gardner. “He has essentially financially engineered the IPO as a massive wealth transfer from everyday investors to insiders,” Gardner says of Musk.

  • "The Word 'Ceasefire' Has Lost Its Meaning": Lylla Younes on Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of South Lebanon

    Israel is continuing to carry out attacks on Lebanon amid ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. Iran is maintaining its demand that Lebanon be included in a ceasefire deal. Lylla Younes, an investigative journalist based in Beirut, says President Trump’s claims that he wants peace with Iran are “absurd” because the United States continues to support “Israel’s aggression in southern Lebanon.” She argues that “an angry phone call between Netanyahu and Donald Trump is ultimately meaningless” as long as Israel is granted “impunity and arms.” Younes also talks about reporting she did for Drop Site News on the ethnic cleansing in Ain Arab, a village in southern Lebanon.

  • Headlines for June 9, 2026

    Trump Again Claims He’s Nearing a Deal with Iran, as Tehran Says U.S. and Israel Broke Ceasefire, Israel Bombs Lebanese City of Tyre After Ordering All Residents to Flee, Israeli Strike on Gaza Refugee Camp Kills 8-Year-Old Palestinian Leaving School, Nigeria’s Military Says It Has Freed 360 People Abducted by Boko Haram, Progressive L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman Advances to November Runoff Against Incumbent Mayor Bass, Trump Formally Nominates Former Personal Lawyer Todd Blanche as Attorney General, Immigrant from Republic of Georgia Dies in Louisiana ICE Jail, New Jersey Gov. Sherrill Says ICE Strictly Limited Her Inspection of Delaney Hall, Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan Threatens Surge of Immigration Agents to New York, NYC Mayor Mamdani Pushes Back Against Border Czar Homan’s Threats, Federal Judge Rules Against Trump’s $100,000 Annual Fee on H-1B Visa Applications, Trump Loudly Booed During Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden

  • Peru Votes for President Amid Trump's "Unprecedented Program of Aggression" Against Leftists in Region

    Peru’s presidential runoff is too close to call as ballots continue to be counted from Sunday’s election between Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, and leftist lawmaker Roberto Sánchez. Peruvian election officials say final results could take up to a month to confirm. Peruvian economist and public policy expert Gustavo Guerra-García Picasso says “democracy has been undermined” by Fujimori and her right-wing coalition, and that “reforms must be implemented quickly to restore a presidential system with checks and balances.” We also speak with historian Greg Grandin, who situates the Peru election in a wider battle between right and left across Latin America — with the Trump administration conducting “an unprecedented program of aggression” against leftists.

  • Graham Platner's Billionaire-Bashing Message Resonates in Maine Senate Race, Despite Controversies

    Voters are casting ballots in primary elections Tuesday in Maine, one of a handful of states that could decide which party controls the Senate after this year’s midterm elections. Democrats believe they have their best shot in years to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins, but their presumptive nominee has been mired in controversy. Graham Platner is a 41-year-old oyster farmer and Marine veteran who entered the race as a populist progressive. Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who was urged to run by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, suspended her campaign in April amid polls predicting Platner would easily beat her — though she remains on the ballot. Platner’s past, however, has cast a shadow on his campaign. The initial controversies focused on offensive posts Platner made on Reddit years ago and on a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, which he has since apologized for and covered up. In recent weeks, sexually explicit text messages came to light that Platner had sent to women after getting married in 2023. The New York Times then reported that several women who had dated Platner recalled “unsettling” and abusive behavior by him, which he has denied. For more, we speak with Kim Villanueva, national president of the National Organization for Women PAC, which supports Mills in the primary, and Maine resident Shay Stewart-Bouley, executive director of Community Change, Inc., who says Platner is speaking to people’s material concerns and that voters may be “forgiving” for his “messy” personal life.

  • Iran Warns Israel over Escalating Attacks on Lebanon After Iran, Israel Exchange Strikes: Trita Parsi

    Iran and Israel exchanged fire overnight in the most serious escalation since a U.S.-Iranian truce was reached in April. Iran launched a wave of missiles at northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli attacks near Beirut on Sunday. Israel responded with attacks on Iran, with explosions reported in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan. This comes as peace talks appear stalled between the United States and Iran, largely over Iran’s insistence that any agreement must include Lebanon and halt Israel’s attacks on that country. President Donald Trump has also repeatedly expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and reports from NBC News and The New York Times indicate the Pentagon is growing increasingly concerned over Israel spying on U.S. officials. “I was not surprised by the Iranian attack on Israel,” says analyst Trita Parsi, who notes that Iran’s leaders want to “extend their deterrence” to Lebanon. “What is perhaps a bit surprising is … that the Israelis defied Trump’s expressed wishes.”

  • Headlines for June 8, 2026

    Iran Says It’s Halting Attacks on Israel After Both Countries Exchange Fire, Israeli Strikes Hit Beirut Despite a U.S.-Brokered So-Called Ceasefire, Israeli Strikes Kill at Least Seven Palestinians in Gaza, Russian Drone Hits Nuclear Fuel Facility Near Chernobyl, Killing 3 People, Hegseth Uses D-Day Anniversary to Attack European Immigration Policies, Saying Continent Facing New “Invasion”, Federal Lawsuit Seeks to Block White House UFC Event Set for Trump’s 80th Birthday, Trump Storms Out of Interview with NBC News’s Welker After She Questions Him About Slush Fund, Ex-“60 MInutes” Anchor Pelley Claims Bari Weiss Wanted to Push False Narratives on Renee Good’s Killing, New Jersey Boosts Legal Funding for Immigrants Held at Delaney Hall ICE Jail, Hunger Strikers at Adelanto ICE Jail Moved to Solitary Confinement After Talking to Lawmakers, 12 Injured as Gunfire Erupts at Toledo, Ohio, Street Festival, Brussels Warns Albania That Jared Kushner’s Luxury Resort Could Violate EU Environmental Rules

  • Hasan Piker on Being Banned from U.K., Traveling to Cuba & Supporting Candidates Critical of Israel

    The British government earlier this week barred left-wing political commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur from entering the U.K. ahead of several speaking events. The Home Office said it was canceling their travel permits because “their presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good.” Piker and Uygur, who are related, are both outspoken in their criticism of Israel. While the government did not cite a specific reason for the ban, some lawmakers and pro-Israel groups had accused the two of promoting antisemitism, which they reject. “I find what the British government did here to be objectionable. I find it to be disgusting. I also find it to be terrifying,” Piker tells Democracy Now! “I think it’s a sign that we’re … headed down a very different — dare I say, fascist — direction in the Western world.” Piker also discusses his participation in a recent humanitarian mission to Cuba, for which he is reportedly under investigation by the Trump administration, and his support for progressive and antiwar candidates in this year’s midterm elections. “We don’t have a lot of time. Fascism is here,” Piker says.

  • Adam Hamawy, Ex-Volunteer Doctor in Gaza, Wins NJ House Primary Calling for End to Israeli Aid

    We speak with Dr. Adam Hamawy, the former U.S. Army combat surgeon who just won the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. He is now the heavy favorite to win the Democratic-leaning district in November and, if elected, would become New Jersey’s first Muslim member of Congress. Hamawy is an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights and volunteered in Gaza during Israel’s genocidal assault on the territory. He has been endorsed by prominent progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who credits Hamawy with saving her life after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004. “I was running on something very simple: that we should be spending on healthcare, not bombs,” Hamawy tells Democracy Now!, criticizing the $1 trillion Pentagon budget. “We need to be spending some of that right here at home to restore our nation, to fund universal healthcare like Medicare for All, to fund tuition-free public college, to rebuild our roads and bridges, to address the housing crisis.”

  • Headlines for June 5, 2026

    Senate Approves $70 Billion in Additional ICE and Border Patrol Funding, Hezbollah Rejects Extension of U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire Between Israel and Lebanon, WFP Warns Strait of Hormuz Closure Has Pushed Millions More into Hunger, Israeli Strike on Gaza Leaves Family of Five Burned Alive in Their Home, Trump Administration Scraps Ocean Sensors That Track Climate Change and Predict Storms, Trump Administration Seeks More Control Over Scientific Research Grants, White House Announces $700 Million in Federal Funds for Coal Industry, Lawmaker Grills Marco Rubio over Trump’s Apparent Naps at Public Events, Kalshi Reports Disgraced Former Congressman George Santos for Insider Trading, Democrats Oppose Rule Change Allowing Crypto and Private Equity Investments in Pension Funds, Residents of Monterey Park, California, Vote to Ban Data Centers, GOP Congressman Wins Uncontested New Jersey Primary Even Though He Hasn’t Been Seen in Months, Pam Bondi Testified Todd Blanche “Was in Charge” of “Entire Release” of Epstein Files, Peruvians March Against Keiko Fujimori Ahead of Presidential Vote, Warning of Return to Dictatorship, Colorado Appeals Court Reverses Homicide Convictions of Paramedics in Elijah McClain’s Death, Marjane Satrapi, Author of Comic Memoir “Persepolis” About Life in Iran, Dies at 56

  • Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian Ada Ferrer on Cuba's Crisis, U.S. Sanctions and Family Separation

    The Trump administration five months ago launched an energy blockade against Cuba, coming on top of the over six-decade-long embargo, the longest in U.S. history. The expanded U.S. sanctions have exacerbated the island’s economic crisis, forcing Cubans to live with rolling blackouts, inflation and shortages of basic goods. “The situation there is dire,” says Cuban American historian Ada Ferrer. “It has been for quite some time, and it’s gotten worse and worse over the last five months.” Acknowledging the devastating effects the U.S. embargo has on the island, Ferrer says the Cuban government’s priority “is not the well-being of the Cuban people.” She points out that despite the current deterioration of the industry, Cuba continues to invest in tourism, “ignoring sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, education, health — all of which are in horrible decline.” Ferrer also discusses her new book, Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter.