Democracy Now!

Zohran Mamdani hailed a new era" for New York on Thursday, promising in his inaugural address to deliver on the ambitious agenda that electrified progressives in the city and saw him defeat the political establishment in both the Democratic primary and the general election last year. Addressing thousands of supporters who braved freezing temperatures to attend the ceremony at City Hall, Mamdani vowed to govern expansively and audaciously" for residents. I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical," he said.Mamdani was sworn in by Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who also spoke during the ceremony.

We have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few," said Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her introduction to the historic inauguration of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor. We feature part of her remarks, along with poet Cornelius Eady, who performed his original poem Proof" during the inauguration ceremony, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who began to cry as he addressed part of his speech to his younger self.

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers braved freezing temperatures and police barricades to be part of Zohran Mamdani's inauguration as mayor on New Year's Day. Democracy Now! spoke with many Mamdani supporters, including a high school student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, about what the day represented to them, their hopes for the new administration and how it could set a model for progressives across the country. Organized people will always be more powerful than organized money," said Diana Moreno, a fellow democratic socialist who is running for Mamdani's vacant seat in the New York State Assembly.

New York City started 2026 with a new mayor, as democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani made history when he was sworn in as the city's first Muslim, first South Asian and first African-born leader, as well as the youngest in over a century. Ahead of a public ceremony on New Year's Day that drew tens of thousands of people in the freezing cold, Mamdani was privately sworn in at midnight by New York Attorney General Tish James in a small ceremony held at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall. He took his oath using two Qur'ans, including one that belonged to his grandfather. Andrew Epstein, one of Mamdani's closest advisers, spoke with Democracy Now! about the significance of the private ceremony and how it connected the new mayor to the history of the city he now leads.

Zohran Mamdani Sworn In as New York's First Muslim and First Democratic Socialist Mayor, U.S. Federal Minimum Wage Remains Flat for 16th Straight Year as Billionaires' Wealth Skyrockets, Trump Hosts Netanyahu as Guest of Honor at Lavish Mar-a-Lago New Year's Party, Winter Storms Batter Tents Housing Displaced Palestinians in Gaza, Killing Two More Children, Israel Demolishes Palestinian Homes in West Bank Refugee Camp, Approves Even More Settlements, Hundreds of Thousands March in Istanbul to Demand End to Israel's Genocide in Palestine, Pentagon Says It Blew Up 5 More Boats in Caribbean and Pacific, Killing at Least 8, Governor of Russian-Occupied Kherson Says Ukrainian Attack Killed 24 and Wounded 50, Trump Says He'll Withdraw National Guard Troops from Chicago, L.A. and Portland, ICE Plans $100 Million Wartime Recruitment" Campaign Targeting Military and Firearms Enthusiasts, Trump Administration Freezes Federal Child Care Funds Nationwide, We Are Locked and Loaded": Trump Threatens to Attack Iran as Protesters Clash with Security Forces

In this holiday special, we revisit our interview with longtime technology reporter Karen Hao, author of the new book Empire of AI, which unveils the accruing political and economic power of AI companies - especially Sam Altman's OpenAI. Her reporting uncovered the exploitation of workers in Kenya, attempts to take massive amounts of freshwater from communities in Chile, along with numerous accounts of the technology's detrimental impact on the environment. This is an extraordinary type of AI development that is causing a lot of social, labor and environmental harms," says Hao, in an extended interview.

A new report from the grassroots organization RootsAction aims to do what a promised autopsy" from the Democratic National Committee ultimately did not: publicly reckon with the failures of the Democrats' 2024 presidential campaign. While the Democratic Party's official postmortem assessment was pulled from public release earlier this month, RootsAction's Democratic Autopsy" looks at how factors like service to corporate power, hostility to the progressive wing of the party, out-of-control militarism [and] disconnection from the base of the working class" contributed to declining support for the party's platform and candidates. If you don't examine real history, then you're in a cycle that repeats the same problems," says Norman Solomon, director of RootsAction, who joins Democracy Now! to discuss his organization's findings.

New York City is preparing to welcome Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, into office as mayor. Ahead of the highly anticipated inauguration, we sit down with NYC-DSA's co-chair Grace Mausser to discuss the goals of the incoming administration and next steps for the volunteer-powered campaign apparatus that helped propel Mamdani to City Hall. Just getting a mayor into office, while impressive and very exciting, is not enough," says Mausser. The reason we rallied behind Zohran is because he is committed to building our project."

Israel is set to suspend the operating licenses of Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and dozens of other humanitarian aid groups in Gaza and the West Bank over alleged ties to Hamas, preventing international aid workers from entering Gaza and carrying out critical, lifesaving operations. Israel's licensing process is arbitrary and highly politicized," explains Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the impacted groups. This is just one more step to push out principled humanitarian actors, particularly those that speak out on behalf of the people who we're there to serve, call for accountability for rights violations and violations of international law."

As the Trump administration escalates its military campaign against Venezuela, we speak to Venezuelan journalist Andreina Chavez about the latest developments. Responding to the U.S. military's drone strikes on small boats and seizures of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, Chavez says U.S. claims of pursuing fentanyl traffickers lack evidence and are pretext" for an attempt to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy" and wrest control of the country's state-owned oil reserves. In the face of U.S. aggression, says Chavez, Venezuelan communes and Venezuelan popular organizations in general have responded to Trump's claims that he owns the Venezuelan oil with a very strong response, saying that they're going to defend sovereignty, that they're going to defend Venezuela's self-determination."

Israel Bans More Than Two Dozen Aid Agencies from Operating in Gaza, Saudi Arabia Carries Out Strikes on Yemen's Port City of Mukalla, Russia Launches Overnight Drone Attack in the Ukrainian Port City of Odesa, Mass Protests in Iran Spread to Universities, Two Oil Tankers Reportedly Arrive in Venezuela Despite the Trump Administration's Blockade, U.S. Sanctions 10 People and Firms from Iran and Venezuela, Protests Led by Bolivian Miners Enter Second Week, Honduran Presidential Runner-Up Salvador Nasralla Challenges Results of Election, Florida Executes Record 19 People on Death Row in 2025, Unsealed Court Order Reveals DOJ Officials Pushed for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Indictment, Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin from Ending Deportation Protections for Immigrants from South Sudan, Trump Admin Announced It's Freezing Child Care Payments to Minnesota, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani to Be Sworn In as Mayor by New York Attorney General Letitia James

Tens of millions of Americans are set to see their health insurance costs soar when subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire at the end of this year. Health insurance premiums are expected to more than double or even triple for some 20 million people, pricing many out of healthcare coverage entirely. We've done nothing as a country to control healthcare costs," says Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and member of New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's transition team. She discusses how premiums will work, how to seek help, what to watch for in alternative plans, and more.

Starting in January, the Trump administration says it will garnish the wages of student loan borrowers who haven't been able to make their payments for at least nine months. It's cruel and hostile to working people to turn the system on before we're sure that we can run it in a compliant manner," says Julia Barnard, higher education team lead at the Debt Collective and former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. To student debtors facing financial hardship, Barnard suggests immediately [contesting] when they get a notice of wage seizure." She lays out what is at stake, options for those facing default, and more.

Journalists Gideon Levy and Rami Khouri discuss the work of acclaimed Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri, who died at the age of 72 on Christmas Eve. He appeared in more than 40 films and directed documentaries highlighting the experiences of Palestinians living under occupation. On a personal level, I can't tell you how much I loved him," says Levy. On one hand, Levy describes him as a brave Palestinian patriot." On the other hand, he was a victim of Israeli machinery, which totally crushed his life and his career." Bakri was best known for his 2002 documentary Jenin, Jenin, featuring the voices of Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp following a devastating Israeli military operation that killed 52 Palestinians. The film is banned in Israel. Literature, poetry, cinema, art, cooking - any creative work that Palestinians do that reflects their humanity and their attachment to their ancient land, the Israelis and the Zionist movement want to crush this," adds Khouri.

We speak to journalists Gideon Levy and Rami Khouri about President Trump's meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump supported Israel's threats to launch new attacks on Iran and warned Hamas to disarm during the second stage of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement. Khouri, a Palestinian American journalist, called the meeting a continuation of the American-Israeli drive, that's been going on for some years now, to reconfigure the Middle East ... into a new colonial arrangement, whereby the U.S. and Israel dominate what goes on in the region." Levy, Israeli journalist for Haaretz, called the meeting an embarrassment," noting that Donald Trump presents himself as someone who promises the sky, who has no demands from Israel whatsoever."

U.S. Strikes Another Boat in the Pacific as the CIA Reports a Drone Strike in Venezuela, Trump Expresses Support for Israel's Threats to Strike Iran, Trump: Hamas Will Have Hell to Pay" If It Refuses to Disarm, Trump Claims to Have Spoken to Israeli President Herzog About Pardoning Netanyahu, Hamas Confirms Deaths of Spokesman Abu Obeida and Former Gaza Leader Mohammed Sinwar, Somalia Condemns Israel's Recognition of Somaliland, Protests Erupt in Iran over Currency's Collapse and Dire Economic Conditions, Russia Accuses Ukraine of Launching a Drone Attack on Putin's Presidential Residence, Chinese Military Encircles Taiwan to Send Stern Warning" to U.S. over Arms Shipments, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti Wins Mandate in Snap Parliamentary Elections, Poll Finds Nearly Half of U.S. Residents Report Diminishing Financial Security Under Trump, Judge Tosses Charges Against TikTok Streamer Shot by ICE as Video Refutes Agents' Claims, Trump Administration Invokes Public Health Regulation to Deny Asylum Claims, Bangladesh's Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia Dies at 80

An HBO documentary, Critical Incident: Death at the Border, premieres tonight that examines the alleged cover-up of the murder of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in U.S. custody at the border. His 2010 death occurred under the watch of Rodney Scott, the man who now heads Customs and Border Protection under President Trump. At the time, Scott was deputy chief of the San Diego sector of the Border Patrol.Anastasio was tortured and beaten to death in public," says director Rick Rowley. It was a killing and a cover-up that went absolutely to the top of the organization and implicated the entire chain of command."

Alarm is growing over the treatment and deteriorating health of eight pro-Palestinian activists jailed in the United Kingdom who are on hunger strike to protest their detention. The activists remain imprisoned as they await trial over charges linked to their work with Palestine Action, which the British government has banned under its Terrorism Act over direct action protests against Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Several of the activists who began their hunger strike in early November are now in a critical stage" and facing grave health risks or death, according to Dr. James Smith, a doctor supporting the hunger strikers. This is an extremely critical moment, and, frankly speaking, it defies comprehension that members of the government have refused even to meet with the hunger strikers in an attempt to resolve this situation."We also speak with Francesca Nadin, a spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, which is supporting the jailed activists. She says the harsh treatment of the hunger strikers is part of a coordinated witch hunt that reflects the wider repression of the pro-Palestine movement" in the U.K. and around the world. The people that have taken part in this hunger strike feel like they have no other choice left to them but to take this into their own hands," Nadin says.

President Trump says the U.S. strikes in Nigeria on Christmas Day were aimed at ISIS fighters and part of a campaign to stop a supposed anti-Christian genocide" in the country. But residents of the area say there is no recorded history of anti-Christian terrorism, and organizations monitoring violence in the region say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are killed more than Muslims and other religious groups in Nigeria. This comes as a suicide bomber detonated an explosive inside a mosque in Nigeria's Borno state on Christmas Day, killing five worshipers and injuring 35 more.Nigeria has a very serious problem of insecurity that affects a wide range of Nigerians, especially those who live in the more remote parts of the country," but violence impacts Muslims more so than Christians," says Yinka Adegoke, Africa editor of Semafor. Adegoke says Trump's religious framing has more to do with U.S. culture wars and appeasing his base of evangelicals than seriously reckoning with issues of poverty and violence in Nigeria, which he notes were exacerbated by U.S. cuts to foreign aid.

It'll Be a Christmas Present": Trump Orders Military Strikes on Northern Nigeria, Ahead of Talks with Ukraine's Zelensky, Trump Claims Russia Wants to See Ukraine Succeed", Winter Storm Brings Added Misery to Gaza's Displaced Palestinians, Rights Groups Demand Israel Release Dr. Abu Safiya and Other Health Workers Abducted from Gaza, Attacker Kills 2 in Northern Israel After Reservist Uses Vehicle to Ram Praying Palestinian, Netanyahu Arrives in Florida for Meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Israel Becomes First and Only Nation to Recognize Somaliland as Sovereign State, United Nations: Violence in Sudan Has Displaced More Than 10,000 People in Three Days, Burma's Ruling Junta Holds First Round of Elections Since Toppling Democratically Elected Government, Thailand and Cambodia Firm Up Ceasefire in China, British Egyptian Activist and Longtime Political Prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah Arrives in the U.K., Virginia Man Confesses to Placing Pipe Bombs Outside RNC and DNC Before Jan. 6 Insurrection, Trump Blasts DOJ Release of 1 Million More Epstein Files, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Secures Recognition from the Federal Government, Palestinian Actor and Filmmaker Mohammad Bakri Dies at 72

The legendary journalist Bill Moyers died in June at the age of 91. Moyers, whose long career included helping found the Peace Corps and serving as press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson, was an award-winning champion of public television and independent media. We feature one of his numerous interviews on Democracy Now!, where we discussed the history of public broadcasting in the United States and the powerful role of money in corporate media. The power of money trumps the power of democracy today, and I'm very worried about it," he said in a 2011 interview.

In this holiday special, we speak to the acclaimed Indian writer Arundhati Roy on her new memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me. The book focuses on her mother Mary Roy and how Arundhati was shaped by her, both as a source of terror and of inspiration. We also talk to Arundhati about Gaza and the rise of authoritarianism from India to the United States.

His name might not be familiar to many, but his songs are sung by millions around the world. Today, we take a journey through the life and work of Yip Harburg, the Broadway lyricist who wrote such hits as Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and who put the music into The Wizard of Oz, the movie that inspired the hit Broadway musical and now Hollywood blockbuster, Wicked. Born into poverty on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Harburg always included a strong social and political component to his work, fighting racism and poverty. A lifelong socialist, Harburg was blacklisted and hounded throughout much of his life. We speak with Harburg's son, Ernie Harburg, about the music and politics of his father. Then we take an in-depth look at The Wizard of Oz, and hear a medley of Harburg's Broadway songs and the politics of the times in which they were created.

Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who was arrested at a 2024 Columbia University Gaza solidarity protest. The charges were dismissed, but when she went to her ICE check-in this past March, she was arrested and immediately sent to the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, where she has been held ever since. Although Columbia University student protesters like Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil have been freed from ICE detention, her case sort of fell between the cracks," says Laila El-Haddad, Palestinian writer and journalist from Gaza, who just visited Kordia. El-Haddad also criticizes the Trump administration's effort to crack down on any dissent and use immigration law, to weaponize immigration law to silence dissent and to criminalize free speech, especially when that speech relates to Palestine."

Democracy Now! speaks with longtime immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra, who was just released Monday from ICE jail after nearly 10 months in a Colorado detention center. Vizguerra was ambushed by ICE agents during her work break in March. A judge ordered her detention was unconstitutional, and she was released on bond Monday. Vizguerra describes her time in detention and says she is very emotional" and glad to be reunited with her children, and plans to keep fighting for her rights and for others. Her detention was intentional to try and silence people across the country, not only immigrant leaders, but also citizens," says Jennifer Piper, a supporter and program director for American Friends Service Committee Colorado.

As the DOJ releases the largest batch of files yet on the federal investigation into Epstein, we look at some of the most significant revelations with investigative journalist Vicky Ward, who has spent decades reporting on the deceased sexual predator, his powerful associates and the impact of his crimes. Survivors have condemned the Department of Justice for not complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required all files to be released last Friday. I mean, that was the first indication of the contemptuous, cavalier attitude that has gone on inside this Justice Department," says Ward. It's heartbreaking, frankly, to see these files being dribbled out."

Russia and China Strongly Condemn U.S. Pressure Against Venezuela at the U.N. Security Council, Israeli Defense Minister Vows Israel Will Build Settlements in Gaza, Greta Thunberg Arrested in London for Protesting in Solidarity with Palestine Action, Epstein Files Mention 10 Possible Co-Conspirators", SCOTUS Blocks Trump's Deployment of National Guard Troops to Chicago, DOJ Sues Illinois Governor Pritzker over State Law Restricting Immigration Arrests, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Must Restore Disaster Aid to Democratic States, Trump Admin Bans Abortion Care for Veterans, Trump Admin to Start Garnishing Wages of Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers, Sudan's Prime Minister Presents Peace Plan to the United Nations Security Council, Longtime Immigrant Rights Activist Jeanette Vizguerra Released from ICE Custody, Betty Reid Soskin, the Oldest U.S. Park Ranger, Dies at 104

We speak to independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who has recently returned from documenting Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Nathaniel describes being ambushed by settlers in October, on the first day of the olive harvest, in an attack that left one middle-aged Palestinian woman with a brain hemorrhage. It was clear that this was a planned ambush," says Nathaniel. They were out for blood." Earlier this week, the Israeli Cabinet approved 19 more settlements in the occupied West Bank. What's happening right now is these really violent settlers are going out into the fields. They're stealing land from Palestinians," explains Nathaniel. [Then the government will] retroactively legalize the land that was stolen, and basically reward the violent settlers by giving them the stamp of state legitimacy."

The new head of CBS News, Bari Weiss, is facing accusations of censorship after she abruptly canceled a segment from Sunday's episode of 60 Minutes just three hours before broadcast. The segment centered on the stories of Venezuelan immigrants sent to El Salvador's brutal CECOT prison by the Trump administration. When so much of our ability to communicate out facts to the world is concentrated in a small number of people, and there's a squeezing of independent media and the ability to get independent perspectives and voices out more broadly, I think we're working with an information ecosystem that is highly dangerous," says Alexa Koenig of the Human Rights Center at University of California, Berkeley. The center's research on torture and other human rights violations at CECOT was to be featured in the segment.

House Democrats Demand DOJ Investigate Double Tap" Boat Strike as War Crime or Murder, Trump Says U.S. Navy WIll Begin Building Trump-Class Battleships" for Golden Fleet", Israel Kills Palestinians in Gaza City in Latest Violations of October 10 Ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Vows to Build Settlements in Northern Gaza, U.S. Lawmakers Call for Maximum Diplomatic Pressure" on Israel over Gaza Ceasefire Violations, Israeli Strike on Lebanon Kills 3 in Latest Violation of Ceasefire Deal with Hezbollah, Denmark to Summon U.S. Ambassador After Trump Appoints Special Envoy to Greenland, Trump Admin Recalls Nearly 30 U.S. Ambassadors and Other Senior Diplomats, Trump Admin Announces Pause of Leases for All Large Offshore Wind Farms, Federal Judge Says ICE Agents Violated Constitutional Rights in Raid of a Nutritional Bar Plant, Federal Judge Says U.S. Must Give Due Process to Venezuelans Deported to CECOT, DOJ Posts Thousands of Additional Documents from the Epstein Files on Website, Then Removes Them, Larry Ellison Offers $40 Billion Guarantee in Paramount's Hostile Bid for Warner Bros.

Climate scientists and meteorologists are sounding the alarm after White House budget director Russell Vought announced the Trump administration will break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, known as NCAR. He is executing the playbook of Project 2025," says Michael Mann, scientist and co-author of Science Under Siege. Without NCAR, we will not have the sorts of observational data and climate models that we need to inform climate policy."

There's been a sharp rise of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank under Israel's current far-right government. Israel's Cabinet approved a proposal for the construction of 19 new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank on Sunday. Amnesty International researcher Budour Hassan says the move entrenches the apartheid system we're seeing in the West Bank." Experts warn that the settlements further threaten the possibility of creating a Palestinian state.

Democracy Now! speaks with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna on the latest developments in Congress and about escalating U.S. attacks on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. Why are we going into a regime change war when the president promised no endless wars?" he asks.Khanna also defends New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after Congress passed a resolution condemning the horrors of socialism." I call myself a progressive capitalist, but democratic socialism does not mean that you're going to seize the means of production," Khanna says. What they're talking about is taxing billionaires more, which I agree with."

The Justice Department failed to publish thousands of documents by last Friday's congressionally imposed deadline to release all of its files related to the serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The delay drew criticism from Epstein's survivors and members of Congress. Democracy Now! speaks with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna, who is leading an effort to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt for failing to release the files. What are they hiding, and who are they protecting?" asks Khanna.

U.S. Pursues Two Oil Tankers Near Venezuela, Ramping Up Pressure on Maduro, Trump Appoints Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland, WHO Declares Gaza No Longer Faces Famine, But Progress Remains Extremely Fragile, Israel's Security Cabinet Approves 19 New Jewish Settlements in the Occupied West Bank, U.S. Military Launches Airstrikes Against ISIS in Syria, Russian Missile Strike on Odesa Kills 8 People as a Russian General Dies in Car Bomb Explosion, Justice Department Under Fire over Incomplete and Heavily Redacted Release of Epstein Files, GOP Congressmember Stefanik Drops Out of New York Governor's Race, CBS News Cancels Segment from 60 Minutes" on Deportations to El Salvador's CECOT Prison, ACLU Sounds Alarm over Surge of Deaths of Immigrants Jailed by ICE, Pakistani Court Sentences Ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan and Wife to 17 Years in Corruption Case, Tens of Thousands Join State Funeral of Assassinated Bangladeshi Student Leader, Australian Prime Minister Booed at Memorial Service for Victims of Bondi Beach Massacre

The Trump administration is ramping up efforts to strip more naturalized immigrants of their U.S. citizenship, with The New York Times reporting that officials are seeking 100 to 200 cases per month. The news comes less than two weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case to decide the constitutionality of President Trump's executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship.During the first Trump administration, they had 25 [denaturalization] cases per year, and ... for the 15 years before the first Trump administration, they had fewer than 15 cases per year," says Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American studies and history at Columbia University. So this is an incredible escalation."

We get an update on the extraordinary case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who first made headlines in March when he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and held in the notorious CECOT mega-prison. Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States after months of public outrage, but his ordeal continued as the Trump administration has threatened to deport him to Uganda, Eswatini and Liberia, despite having no ties to those African countries. Last week, a federal judge ordered him released from an ICE jail in Pennsylvania and blocked further arrests as a denial of due process.Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia's attorneys, says the administration's actions are primarily meant to punish him" for standing up for his rights. It's also about the government using him, more or less at random, to stand for the principle that they get to do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want - and, specifically, courts can't stop them."

The Trump administration on Thursday announced new measures to target hospitals and doctors providing care to trans youth. Under the new rules unveiled by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads Medicaid and Medicare, the government would strip federal funding for any hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care. The new rules were announced a day after the House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill that aims to criminalize providing gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18 and subject providers to hefty fines and prison time.This is a drastic departure from any concern about science, concern about parents and their rights," says Chase Strangio, co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBTQ & HIV Project. It is putting hospitals in an impossible situation, and just another example of this administration undermining and threatening all of our health and welfare."We also speak with Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist who works with transgender youth in New York City. He says the families he works with are terrified right now," but vows to continue his work. I refuse to stop providing this care, knowing that I could potentially face 10 years in prison and a felony charge. I'm willing to go down that route, if necessary."

Mexico's President Calls for Dialogue and Peace as Pentagon Strikes More Alleged Drug Boats, Suspect in Brown University Shooting Found Dead as Investigators Link Him to MIT Murder, Another Infant Freezes to Death in Gaza as Israel Continues to Violate Oct. 10 Ceasefire, Steve Witkoff Hosts Gaza Talks in Miami as U.S. Further Sanctions ICC over Israel War Crimes Probe, Palestine Action Members Hospitalized While on Hunger Strike to Protest Indefinite Detention in U.K., DOJ Races to Redact Documents Ahead of Deadline to Release Epstein Files, ICE Entered NYC Shelters Without Judicial Warrants and Despite Sanctuary City Laws, Milwaukee Judge Found Guilty of Felony Obstruction for Helping Immigrant Evade ICE, HHS Moves to Slash Federal Funds to Hospitals That Provide Gender-Affirming Care to Minors, Trump Signs Executive Order Speeding Reclassification of Cannabis, Trump Appears to Fall Asleep Again in Public, Further Fueling Speculation About His Health, Trump's Presidential Walk of Fame" Now Features Bronze Plaques with Hyperpartisan Captions, Trump's Hand-Picked Board Adds Trump's Name to John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Trump Media Company Announces Merger with Nuclear Fusion Firm Amid AI Data Center Boom, Protests Erupt in Bangladesh After Student Leader Is Murdered by Masked Assailants

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, backed by the United Arab Emirates, is accused of attempting to cover up its mass killings of civilians by burning and burying bodies, according to a new report by Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab. This comes as drone strikes have plunged several cities into darkness, including Khartoum and the coastal city of Port Sudan. We have the expansion of the war through Darfur, El Fasher, now Western Kordofan, which is an extremely important region economically. ... And now we have this potential of the expansion of this war to South Sudan," says Sudanese scholar Khalid Mustafa Medani. We have a humanitarian crisis that has expanded, but we also have a military stalemate."

Former immigration judge Tania Nemer, who was fired in February, is now suing the Trump administration, alleging that she was discriminated against despite strong performance reviews. Nemer is one of about 100 immigration judges who have been fired or reassigned since Trump took office. The system is notoriously backlogged, with more than 3 million cases pending. I was pulled away in the middle of the hearing," she says.Nemer filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Justice, which officials dismissed, citing Article II of the Constitution on presidential powers. I've been practicing employment law and representing federal employees for almost 30 years, and I have never seen a federal agency dismiss a complaint for this reason," says Nemer's attorney, James Eisenmann.

President Trump praised the state of the U.S. economy in a primetime address Wednesday evening, even though new government statistics show the nation's unemployment rate is at a new four-year high of 4.6%. Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says Trump's aides should be wondering about the man's sanity" after Wednesday's speech. This is utterly divorced from reality." Though Trump blames former President Biden for the poor economy, Baker notes that Trump had inherited an incredibly strong economy by almost every measure imaginable."

House Rejects Resolutions Seeking Congressional Approval for Boat Strikes or Attack on Venezuela, Senate Overwhelmingly Approves Record $901 Billion Military Spending Bill, Israeli Army Shells Gaza Residential Area in Latest Violation of U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, House Passes Healthcare Bill That Does Not Address Skyrocketing Insurance Premiums, House Advances Bill That Would Criminalize Gender-Affirming Care for Minors, Trump Touts Economic Record in Primetime Address as U.S. Unemployment Ticks Higher, Dan Bongino Announces Resignation as FBI's Second-in-Command, Pentagon Opens Formal Inquiry into Sen. Mark Kelly, Who Told Service Members to Defy Illegal Orders, Jack Smith Had Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" Trump Conspired to Overturn 2020 Election, Trump Attempts to Pardon Colorado Clerk Who Tampered with Voting Machines After 2020 Election, White House Says It's Breaking Up National Center for Atmospheric Research, Senate Confirms Billionaire Private Astronaut Jared Isaacman as NASA Chief, NYT: Trump Admin Ramping Up Efforts to Denaturalize Immigrants, Minneapolis Police Chief Criticizes Federal Immigration Agents for Dragging Woman Down Street, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Broke Law by Limiting Congressmembers from Visiting ICE Jails, Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Human Rights Activist Jeanette Vizguerra, FCC Chair Brendan Carr Says Agency Is Not Independent

As the Trump administration is expected to release investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein later this week, a recent New York Times investigation delves into one of the biggest mysteries about the deceased sexual predator: how the college dropout with no financial training rose through the world of finance and amassed his wealth, which enabled his abuse and insulated him from scrutiny for decades.David Enrich, deputy investigations editor at The New York Times and lead author of the report, headlined Scams, Schemes, Ruthless Cons: The Untold Story of How Jeffrey Epstein Got Rich," says Epstein's early success in business was due to a series of lucky breaks, lies and scams that nevertheless convinced sophisticated investors and business titans to give him their money.

Jose Antonio Kast has won Chile's presidential election, with the far-right leader getting about 58% of the vote in Sunday's runoff against Jeannette Jara, a member of the Communist Party who served as labor minister under outgoing President Gabriel Boric. Kast has openly praised former U.S.-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet and is the son of a Nazi who fled Germany after World War II. Kast campaigned on fighting crime and carrying out mass deportations of immigrants.It is a political and ethical earthquake," says acclaimed Chilean American writer Ariel Dorfman, who served as a cultural adviser to socialist President Salvador Allende from 1970 to 1973. He pins much of the blame for Kast's rise on an uninspired left" that has lost its way since the end of dictatorship and turned its back on the troubles of the people."

President Trump has ordered what he called a total and complete blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, as the United States escalates pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro. The move comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the region and days after U.S. forces seized an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan oil. Since September, the U.S. military has carried out at least 25 airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific near Venezuela, killing at least 95 people.The administration's actions against Venezuela signal the total renunciation of liberal internationalism" and further abandonment of a world governed by common laws," says Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Yale University professor Greg Grandin. This comes as Latin America is on a knife's edge between the left and the right," with the Trump administration eager to boost its authoritarian allies across the region, says Grandin.

Trump Orders Blockade on Sanctioned Oil Tankers Entering and Leaving Venezuela, ICC Rejects Israel's Bid to Block War Crimes Probe in Gaza, First Funerals Held Today for Victims of Bondi Beach Massacre, Manhunt Still Underway for Brown University Shooting Suspect, MIT Professor Fatally Shot in His Home, Trump's Chief of Staff Wiles Says He Has an Alcoholic's Personality" in Explosive Vanity Fair Interview, Speaker Johnson Says He Will Not Call for a Vote to Extend Healthcare Subsidies, Trump Expands Travel Ban to 20 More Countries, NYT: Trump Admin Transfers 22 Cuban Immigrants to Guantanamo, Drone Attacks Killed Over 100 Civilians in Sudan This Month, M23 Rebel Group Announces Exit from Key Town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Toxic Air Pollution Forces Schools in India to Cancel In-Person Classes and Employees to Work from Home, Greeks Protest Against Low Wages as Parliament Approves New Budget, Warner Bros Rejects Paramount's $108 Billion Hostile Takeover Bid

At least a dozen people have died in Gaza as winter storms batter displaced Palestinians forced to shelter in makeshift tents among the rubble of collapsing buildings severely damaged by Israeli bombing. That rubble is being eyed by U.S.-based contractors, who are already vying for lucrative contracts to rebuild Gaza under the Trump-backed ceasefire deal. People are lining up and treating this the way they they treated reconstruction in Iraq," says Aram Roston, whose latest investigation for The Guardian US looks at how the company behind the notorious Florida immigration detention jail nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz" has been involved in rebuilding plans spearheaded by Trump's so-called Board of Peace.Roston also discusses his reporting on the CIA's involvement in U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean. It plays this key role in picking the targets that are chosen by the military for destruction."

New York City housing advocate Patrick Markee's new book, Placeless: Homelessness in the New Gilded Age, looks at homelessness through the lens of housing affordability. Homelessness, which affects millions across the United States, has roots in structural economic changes, right-wing economic policies and systemic racism," explains Markee. There's a reason that other advanced capitalist countries in this world ... don't have the levels of homelessness that we have, and that's because, there, government plays a much larger role in creating and even owning affordable housing."

The two victims in Saturday's mass shooting at Brown University have been identified: freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and sophomore Ella Cook. We speak to another sophomore, Zoe Weissman, who came to Brown from Parkland, Florida, where she was a student at the middle school adjacent to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the mass shooting that occurred there in 2018. Because I've already processed all the grief and the sadness before," says Weissman about surviving a second school shooting in her young life, my most predominant emotion right now is, honestly, anger ... because we are the only country where this happens, and ... the only country that has more guns than people."