Democracy Now!

Starvation as a Weapon of War": ICJ Orders Israel to Restore Access to U.N.-Led Aid Agencies, Mass Funeral Held in Gaza for Unidentified Palestinians Whose Bodies Show Signs of Torture, Israeli Lawmakers Advance Bills to Annex West Bank, Drawing Rare U.S. Criticism, U.S. Lawmakers Call on Israel to Release 16-Year-Old Palestinian American Held Months Without Trial, Pentagon Says It Blew Up Two Boats Allegedly Carrying Drugs Near Colombia's Pacific Coast, Trump Administration Announces New Sanctions on Russia's Largest Oil and Gas Companies, Federal Government Shutdown Enters Its 23rd Day, Trump Administration Dispatches More Than 100 Federal Agents to San Francisco Bay Area, Protesters Confront Masked Federal Agents Carrying Out Arrests in Illinois, Protesters in New York March in Solidarity with Street Vendors Detained by Federal Agents, Cuban Man Deported to Eswatini Launches Hunger Strike, North Carolina Lawmakers Approve New Congressional Map, NYT: Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs with Robots, Peru's Interim President Jose Jeri Declares 30-Day State of Emergency, National Trust for Historic Preservation Asks White House to Pause East Wing Demolition for Ballroom

In recent weeks, the United States has conducted several deadly airstrikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, which the Trump administration has claimed, without providing evidence, were being used to traffic drugs. A group of United Nations experts said U.S. strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela amount to extrajudicial executions."There seems to be a much bigger political context behind this than really going after drug traffickers, which seems to be ... not at all the main goal of the U.S. administration," says Guillaume Long, senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and former foreign minister of Ecuador. Long says regime change in Venezuela" and anger over Colombian President Gustavo Petro's pro-Palestinian politics are also motivating factors in the U.S. campaign. Meanwhile, Manuel Rozental, a Colombian physician and activist, says the drug war is about economic control.

Tensions are escalating between Colombia and the United States as President Trump conducts deadly airstrikes on supposed drug boats" in the Caribbean. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. of committing murder for killing a Colombian fisherman in one attack in mid-September and just recalled the country's ambassador, Daniel Garcia-Pena.Even if they were in fact carrying drugs, the procedure is to capture them, to seize them, to arrest them and to find information about who was behind them, and not blowing them up," Garcia-Pena tells Democracy Now! from Bogota.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre's posthumous memoir has just been released, detailing how she was groomed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, whom she met at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort. In Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, she writes that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times, beginning when she was 17, and was beaten and raped by a well-known prime minister." Virginia Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year in Australia at age 41.Democracy Now! speaks with Amy Wallace, Giuffre's ghostwriter, who says Giuffre experienced the depths of hell" with Maxwell and Epstein. It's not just a catalog of horrors. It's a woman who is terribly abused as a child, escapes from that terrible abuse - valiantly - forms a family, which is in itself a triumph, and then becomes an advocate," says Wallace.

Israel Continues Deadly Attacks in Gaza Despite U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, Israeli Forces Detain 45 People in the West Bank as U.N. Warns About Settler Violence, Mahmoud Khalil Files Appeals to Prevent ICE from Detaining Him Again, Federal Government Shutdown Has Entered Its 22nd Day, Jan. 6 Rioter Pardoned by Trump Arrested for Allegedly Threatening to Kill Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Trump Demands DOJ to Pay Him $230 Million in Compensation for Federal Probes Against Him, Arizona Attorney General Sues Speaker Johnson for Refusing to Seat Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva, Trump's Special Counsel Nominee Withdraws Following Backlash over Racist Texts, Federal Agents Shoot U.S. Marshal and Undocumented Immigrant in Los Angeles, WaPo: Secretary of State Rubio Offered MS-13 Informants to Secure El Salvador Prison Deal, Guardian: CIA Played Central Role in Sharing Intel Used for U.S. Strikes in the Caribbean, Trump-Putin Summit in Budapest Is Canceled, Former French President Sarkozy Begins 5-Year Prison Sentence, Court Overturns Conviction of Colombia's Former President Alvaro Uribe, Flotilla Led by Indigenous Activists Heading to Brazil for COP30

Armed Only with a Camera, the documentary chronicling the life of the late filmmaker Brent Renaud, premieres Tuesday on HBO. Renaud was the first Western journalist killed during the war in Ukraine. He was shot by Russian soldiers during the 2022 invasion while filming Ukrainian refugees with another photojournalist, Juan Arredondo, who was wounded in the attack. Armed Only with a Camera, directed by Renaud's brother Craig, also a filmmaker, traces Brent Renaud's long career covering conflict and post-conflict regions around the world. We speak to Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo about Brent's work and memory. He was a very compassionate person," says Renaud, emphasizing that Brent's focus on conflict zones was never about just trying to get to the frontlines ... He wanted to humanize the people that were there."

We look at the influence of Trump's top budget adviser and the architect of Project 2025, Russell Vought, over the Trump administration's policies and Trump himself. Vought is the driving force behind the [government] shutdown" and basically a second commander-in-chief, a shadow president," says ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll, who spent months researching Vought for an extensive profile on the Office of Management and Budget director. During this second Trump administration, Vought's deeply conservative ideology has been unchallenged by a compliant Congress, Kroll explains, placing unprecedented power into the hands of the executive branch.

We are under attack by our own federal government," says Democratic Congressmember for Illinois Delia Ramirez about Trump's immigration crackdown in Chicago. What we're seeing is an agency that has gone rogue, that has been emboldened and that thinks that they're above the law." She urges Americans to report and record ICE activity to strengthen future legal battles, because what ICE is stating and what we're seeing in the community in the streets is inconsistent." Congressmember Ramirez also comments on the ongoing federal government shutdown, which she calls a clear embodiment of Donald Trump's leadership: starve and let people die while the billionaires and his cronies enrich themselves," the Republican leadership's continued refusal to swear in new Democratic Congressmember-elect Adelita Grijalva, and the Trump-backed Gaza ceasefire.

Top U.S. Officials Travel to Israel for Talks as Netanyahu Threatens to Collapse Gaza Ceasefire, Palestinian Woman Beaten Unconscious as Israeli Settlers Attack West Bank Olive Farmers, Federal Court Gives Trump Green Light to Deploy Troops to Portland, Blatantly Immoral": DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Draws Fire for $170M Purchase of Luxury Private Jets, Colombia Recalls Ambassador to U.S. over Strikes in Caribbean as Trump Issues Threats, Sanae Takaichi, Opponent of Gender Equality, Becomes Japan's First Female Prime Minister, Trump Admin Fires Two Prosecutors Who Opposed Criminal Case Against Letitia James, DOJ Whistleblower Says He Received Illegal Orders from Trump Appointee Emil Bove, Politico: Trump Nominee Texts Group of Republicans He Has a Nazi Streak", Seven Universities Decline to Sign Trump Administration's Compact", White House Begins Demolishing Part of East Wing to Make Way for Trump's Ballroom

Immigrant rights and labor icon Dolores Huerta, now 95 years old, is continuing her lifelong activism as immigration raids intensify across the country. She addressed the No Kings rally in Watsonville, California, this weekend to speak out against the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. This is ethnic cleansing," Huerta tells Democracy Now! We have never seen such horrific, horrific attacks on our people."Huerta is president and founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation; she co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with Cesar Chavez in the 1960s. Amid intensifying immigration raids, she describes how she has joined with People for the American Way and the Dolores Huerta Foundation to release a short dramatized film that shows neighbors joining together in nonviolent civil disobedience to protect an immigrant elder from being disappeared by ICE.

An estimated 7 million people took part in No Kings rallies Saturday to protest President Trump's authoritarian policies. Organizers say protests were held at about 2,600 sites across all 50 states in what was one of the largest days of protest in U.S. history, surpassing the first No Kings day of action in June. One of the biggest mobilizations was in Washington, D.C., where Trump has fired thousands of federal workers and sent in National Guard troops to patrol the streets. Democracy Now! covered the action and spoke to people about what brought them out to protest. We need to make it clear that we can't have an authoritarian government, a government that's turned into nothing but a weapon," says Paul Osadebe, who says he was fired from his job as a HUD civil rights lawyer for challenging Trump's refusal to enforce the Fair Housing Act.

Even after having released almost 2,000 people last week, the Israeli military is still holding about 9,000 Palestinians, in what it calls security prisoners or detainees," says Sari Bashi, an Israeli American human rights lawyer and former program director at Human Rights Watch. Only about a thousand of them have actually been convicted of any crime. The vast majority of people being held are being held without trial."Bashi also says the genocide has been hell" for her Palestinian husband, whose family is based in Gaza. Their relationship is chronicled in Bashi's forthcoming memoir, Upside-Down Love.

We speak with Al Jazeera reporter Ibrahim al-Khalili in Gaza, where the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding despite sporadic violence. Gaza officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly violated the agreement, including when they opened fire on a civilian bus, killing 11 members of a Palestinian family attempting to return home in Gaza City. Israel killed dozens more over the weekend when it unleashed a wave of airstrikes after it said militants attacked some of its soldiers, although there are reports the soldiers died when their bulldozer ran over unexploded ordnance. Israel also continues to restrict humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite its commitments in the ceasefire agreement.Israel is breaching the ceasefire," says al-Khalili. The war has not really ended for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are still struggling to survive the next day with the lack of basic necessities."Al-Khalili, who has reported from Gaza since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, lost several family members in a deadly Israeli attack on their apartment building. His brother Mohammed was also taken captive by Israeli forces for 19 months and only released last week as part of the prisoner exchange.

No Kings: An Estimated 7 Million People Participate in Nationwide Anti-Trump Rallies, Israel Kills Dozens in Gaza and Temporarily Halts Aid Deliveries, President Trump Threatens to Send National Guard Troops to San Francisco, Federal Government Shutdown Enters 20th Day, Trump Threatens to Cut Off Foreign Aid to Colombia and Launch Attacks Inside Venezuela, Rodrigo Paz Wins Bolivian Presidential Election, Trump Urges Ukrainian President Zelensky to Accept Putin's Terms to End the War, Prince Andrew Announces He's Giving Up Royal Titles Ahead of the Publication of Virginia Giuffre's Memoir, Vermont Republican Legislator Resigns over Racist and Antisemitic Group Chat, Trump Commutes Sentence of Former Republican Congressman George Santos, Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Workers End Five-Day Strike

Even as President Trump has cracked down on dissent and sent troops into multiple cities, organizers of Saturday's anti-authoritarian No Kings" protests expect millions to join at least 2,500 rallies across all 50 states and several U.S. territories. The turnout could surpass the 5 million protesters who turned out for No Kings Day" events in June.We are engaging in the most American activity in the world, which is coming together in peaceful protest of our government," says Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director of the progressive organization Indivisible. Trump's threats against the protests are a classic exercise of the authoritarian playbook, to try to create fear, to try to threaten, to try to make people back off preemptively," she adds.There will be no fear, but the fear of what will happen to us if we don't mobilize," says Byron Sigcho-Lopez, alderperson of the 25th Ward in Chicago, where mass protests are expected.

There are growing questions over the legality of U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. These are sitting ducks, and we are simply engaged in cold-blooded murder of individuals who may or may not be drug smugglers," says David Cole, professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. Cole says that President Trump is committing homicide" by killing people without trial. These individuals who have now been sent to the bottom of the sea by this president, if they were tried, at most, would face a sentence of some period of years," says Cole. There would be no death penalty authorized under the Constitution for these individuals, even assuming they're guilty."This comes as Trump has authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela aimed at regime change, raising fears of a military confrontation between the two countries.

Just days after the U.S.-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, President Trump has issued new threats against Hamas, saying Thursday the United States would back a military intervention against the group if it fails to uphold the ceasefire agreement.There is the fear all the time that the war will be renewed," says Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who joins us from Ramallah. Hass is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and is the only Israeli Jewish journalist to have spent 30 years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinians in Gaza Attempt to Identify Bodies Released by Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Calls on Military to Prepare a Comprehensive Plan" to Defeat Hamas If Ceasefire Fails, Jewish Voice for Peace Protesters Occupy Senator Cory Booker's Office Building Lobby, Trump's Former National Security Adviser John Bolton Indicted by a Grand Jury, U.S. Launches Another Strike on a Suspected Drug Boat Off the Coast of Venezuela, U.S. Admiral Overseeing Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats in the Caribbean to Step Down, Ukrainian President Zelensky to Meet with Trump Today and Request Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, Federal Judge Orders ICE Agents to Wear Body Cameras in Chicago, ProPublica: More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Detained by ICE Agents, Federal Judge Lifts Travel Restrictions for Mahmoud Khalil, Federal Government Shutdown Enters 17th Day, WSJ: Trump Admin to Overhaul IRS to Pursue Left-Leaning Groups and Major Democratic Donors, Organizers of No Kings" Protests Expect Millions of People to Join at Least 2,500 Rallies Nationwide, New York City Mayoral Candidates Face Off in First Debate Ahead of Nov. 4 Election

The Department of Defense has introduced a new press policy requiring the Pentagon to authorize any reporting on itself. Top TV news outlets have rejected the pledge; only the far-right outlet One America News has agreed to sign on. Dozens of reporters with the Pentagon Press Association turned in their government-issued press badges and left the building Wednesday rather than agree to the rules. The Trump administration has made the suppression of speech that it doesn't like a governing principle since it took office," says David Schulz, who advised the Pentagon Press Association on their response. He warns the desire of the Pentagon officials to control what is said about them" is alarming" and signals a major rupture in U.S. press freedoms.

The Supreme Court appears ready to strike down Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, threatening the equal representation of Black voters, and potentially greenlighting Republican gerrymandering ahead of the 2026 midterm election. The case concerns Louisiana's six congressional districts, two of which are majority-Black, in approximate proportion to the Black population of the state. A previous map that gave Black voters only one district in which they were a majority was ruled to have violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act last year. Now a group of conservative activists have brought the battle to the Supreme Court, challenging Section 2 itself. The stakes of this case are enormous. This is a case about whether districts that represent all Americans fairly will remain possible in this country," says ACLU lawyer Megan Keenan, who is part of the legal team defending Louisiana's current congressional map. We have a wretched history of racial discrimination in voting in this country," and for 40 uninterrupted years, we have applied this rigorous, data-driven test to figure out when discrimination exists and how to stop it. That's the test that's at stake in this case."

We speak to Argentine journalist Pablo Calvi about the U.S. government's multibillion-dollar bailout for Argentina, which could grow from $20 billion to $40 billion as Argentina is rocked by an ongoing economic crisis. I don't see that the bailout would benefit the Argentine people or the American people, for that matter," says Calvi. Instead, he believes the tech industry will reap the financial rewards from its ties to U.S. President Trump and his ally, far-right Argentine President Javier Milei, who attended the conservative CPAC conference in the U.S., where he gifted billionaire Elon Musk a chain saw.

Palestinians who have been released from Israeli prisons as part of the hostage exchange with Hamas are describing physical and psychological torture, medical neglect, deprivation and more. Moureen Kaki, a Palestinian American aid worker with Glia International who has been interviewing the returnees, joins us from Khan Younis to share some of their stories. Most were captured and imprisoned without charge by the Israeli military in the past two years. They were being illegally imprisoned as captives by the Israeli military and then the Israeli government," Kaki explains. Some of them were held captive for as little as three months, and some of them for several years."

We get an update from Gaza as the ceasefire there concludes its first week. Despite the agreed-upon cessation of hostilities, the Israeli military has continued its deadly attacks on Palestinians. Israel's pledge to let in the 600 aid trucks needed daily to fill the dire need among the starving population has likewise fallen short. We do not have enough supplies entering Gaza," says Rachael Cummings, who is with Save the Children International in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Israel Delays Reopening Gaza Border Crossing, Continues Deadly Attacks Despite Ceasefire, Palestinian Political Prisoners' Group Says Israeli Guards Brutally Beat Marwan Barghouti, Spanish Unions and Students Hold Nationwide Strike Demanding Government Sever Ties with Israel, Greta Thunberg Describes Israeli Guards' Torture of Gaza Aid Flotilla Activists, Maduro Says No to Regime Change" as Trump Says He's Ordered Covert CIA Operations in Venezuela, Reporters Turn In Badges and Vacate Pentagon En Masse Rather Than Sign Restrictive Press Policy, Supreme Court Appears Poised to Strike Down Key Provision of Voting Rights Act, Judge Puts Temporary Hold on Trump's Mass Firing of Federal Workers During Government Shutdown, U.S. to Deport Exonerated Prisoner Held 43 Years for Crime He Did Not Commit, Trump Admin Plans to Limit Refugee Admissions, Giving Preference to English Speakers, Democratic Women's Caucus Marches Through Capitol Demanding Rep.-Elect Grijalva Be Sworn In, WSJ: Ghislaine Maxwell Receiving Preferential Treatment at Minimum-Security Prison

There are just weeks to go before the November 4 New York City mayoral election, a virtual rematch of the Democratic primary from earlier this year, when democratic socialist state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the party nomination. Cuomo is now running for mayor as an independent, but former aide Lindsey Boylan says New Yorkers must not forget why he was forced out of the governor's mansion four years ago. She was the first of about a dozen women to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment, setting in motion events that would lead to his fall from power - even as he continues to claim innocence.He resigned because he did these things," says Boylan, who backs Mamdani in the mayoral race. People powerful within his own party forced that resignation because they knew he did these things. So he's lying. ... We have to repeat it, because people have to know what an abuser he is."

As Israel and Hamas exchange living and dead captives as part of a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement, questions are growing about how sustainable the truce is and whether the two sides will progress to the second and third stages of the plan.My family is very happy that the families of other hostages that have been returned, dead and alive, are reaching some degree of closure," says Middle East historian Joel Beinin, whose Israeli niece, Liat Beinin Atzili, was held captive in Gaza for 54 days after she was taken by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, while her husband Aviv was killed. The family's story is the focus of a new documentary, Holding Liat.All of the rest of the 20-point plan is very dubious, and I have grave doubts about whether any of the rest of it will actually be implemented," says Beinin, who also discusses one-sided Western media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how he came to abandon Zionism" despite having family in Israel.

We speak with Rutgers University professor Mark Bray, who fled from the U.S. to Spain with his family after receiving death threats over his scholarship. He is the author of the 2017 book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, which explores the history and tactics of anti-fascist movements in Europe, the United States and beyond. Turning Point USA, the conservative campus group founded by Charlie Kirk, had called for Bray's firing and branded him Dr. Antifa." This comes as the Trump administration has dramatically escalated its war on dissent following Kirk's assassination, using his death as pretext to launch an assault on activists, organizations and speech it disagrees with.What we're seeing today in the U.S. is increasingly fascist. MAGA, I believe - and I study fascism, I don't say this lightly - is a fascist movement," says Bray, referring to Trump's political movement.President Trump signed an executive order designating antifa as a terrorist organization, but Bray stresses there is no such organization; anti-fascism is a loose political movement or ideology akin to feminism, but Trump is using the label to demonize resistance" to his policies.

Pressure Grows on Israel to Allow More Aid into Gaza, Amazon Fires Software Engineer Who Criticized Cloud Computing Project with Israel, Pro-Palestinian Protesters Clash with Authorities During Soccer Match Between Israel and Italy, ICE Agents Disperse Protesters with Tear Gas After High-Speed Chase in Chicago, State Department Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals over Charlie Kirk Comments, I Love Hitler": Racist Messages by Young Republican Leaders Exposed in New Leak, Speaker Johnson Continues to Delay Swearing-In of Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva, Senate Fails to Pass Funding Bill as Federal Government Shutdown Enters Its 15th Day, Trump Conditions $20 Billion Bailout to Argentina on Milei's Party Winning Elections, Reuters: China Buying Argentine Soybeans Amid U.S. Tariffs, U.S. Strikes Another Boat Off Coast of Venezuela, Killing 6 People, Five Major Broadcast Outlets Refuse to Sign Pentagon's New Press Policy, Elite Military Unit Seizes Power After Ouster of Madagascar President, Reuters: Assad Regime Moved Mass Graves to Cover Up Killings, Tens of Thousands of Kaiser Permanente Frontline Medical Staff Go on Strike, Transgender Activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Dies at 78

As Trump threatens to send more federal troops to Chicago, grassroots movements have mobilized to protect immigrants from ICE raids. Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez, who is based in Chicago, reports that there have been meetings all around the city, at college campuses and in neighborhoods, to build this self-defense group."

As President Trump celebrates his Gaza ceasefire deal, major questions remain over what happens next. Democracy Now! speaks with Khaled Elgindy, visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, who breaks down the U.S.-backed peace plan. Though the document includes vague statements" on how the peace process will unfold, Elgindy says it's wise for Palestinians to rebuild their national movement" at this time. At the same time, Israel has refused to release political leader Marwan Barghouti, who has spent decades in Israeli prison and is widely seen as a unifying leader" who could bring all Palestinian factions together.

Pressure is mounting for Israel to release many more detainees as part of the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire deal, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been held under harsh conditions without charge since December, when Israeli troops stormed the hospital - claiming without evidence it was a Hamas command center. Soldiers forced Dr. Abu Safiya out at gunpoint along with patients he had refused to abandon. Famous footage shows him wearing his white medical coat as he climbed over rubble to walk toward an Israeli tank before he was detained.Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, says that Abu Safiya is one of at least 19 doctors held in Israeli detention without charge. They are facing a very serious risk for their health and for their lives," says Abbas. They are being tortured. They are facing violence daily."

As President Trump addressed the Israeli Knesset on Monday, he was briefly interrupted by two lawmakers who waved signs reading Recognize Palestine." The two Knesset members, Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif with the Hadash-Ta'al alliance, were expelled from the chamber. Yesterday, there was a disgusting display of flattery and personality cult by two megalomaniacs who are hungry for power and blood," says Cassif. This was a minimum protest against the policy of the genocidal government of Israel."

Israeli Military Forces Kill at Least 5 Palestinians Despite Ceasefire Agreement, Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank Celebrate Return of Nearly 2,000 Prisoners, Families Demand Hamas Return Bodies of 24 Israeli Hostages, Trump Co-Chairs Summit in Egypt for Ceasefire Signing Ceremony; Netanyahu Does Not Attend, Journalist Abducted by Israel Says She Was Tortured in Israeli Custody, Afghan Taliban Claims Its Forces Killed Dozens of Pakistani Soldiers, Russian Forces Attack Ukraine's Second-Largest City Kharkiv, Speaker Johnson Warns Government Shutdown Could Be the Longest in U.S. History, Several News Outlets Announce They Will Not Sign Pentagon's New Press Policy, 2003 CIA Cable Details Torture Methods Against a Detainee at a Black Site, Madagascar's President Flees the Country Following Gen Z" Protests, United Nations: 300,000 People Have Fled South Sudan in 2025, Economists Demand Relief for Poorer Countries Facing Unsustainable Debt Burdens, 64 Are Dead and Dozens Missing in Mexico After Heavy Rains Bring Flooding to Five States, New York AG Letitia James Campaigns for Zohran Mamdani, Warning of Trump's Retribution Campaign

To mark Indigenous Peoples' Day, we sit down with the award-winning Indigenous writer, journalist and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat, member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq'escen and a descendant of the Lil'Wat Nation of Mount Currie. His debut book, We Survived the Night, is part-memoir, part-investigative journalism, telling both his family story and the story of Indigenous erasure and resistance in what is now called North America. I often think about what it must have meant for my ancestors to greet one another in the day by saying something as simple and profound as that they had 'survived the night,'" says NoiseCat. What did that mean in the winter of 1863, for example, when over two-thirds of our nation died of smallpox? What did it mean in the days after the children were taken away to Indian residential schools?"

Renowned Israeli historian, author and professor Ilan Pappe discusses the postwar prospects of Palestinian statehood and of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under investigation for corruption in Israel and subject to an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Despite the newly implemented Gaza ceasefire, says Pappe, Israeli political leaders have not changed their policy aim to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their remaining territory. Nothing has changed in the dehumanization and the attitude of this particular Israeli government and its belief that it has the power to wipe out Palestine as a nation, as a people and as a country," he explains. Pappe's latest book is titled Israel on the Brink: And the Eight Revolutions That Could Lead to Decolonization and Coexistence.

War is over," declared Donald Trump Sunday night, as the first phase of the U.S.-backed 20-point Gaza peace plan got underway. Hamas has returned the remaining 20 living hostages back to Israel, while Israel has released around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. We get a reaction to the ceasefire from the Palestinian writer and human rights activist Ahmed Abu Artema. He recently evacuated Gaza, nearly two years after multiple family members, including his son, were killed in an Israeli military attack. We cannot say we are happy, because we lost everything," he says.

Trump Addresses Knesset as Israel and Hamas Exchange Captives, Israel Threatens to Arrest Palestinians Caught Celebrating Release of Prisoners, Israel Releases Remaining Gaza Flotilla Participants It Abducted on High Seas, Tens of Thousands Rally in London to Demand Justice for Palestinians, Trump Warns of More Layoffs as Mass Firings Target CDC and Education Dept., Appeals Court Blocks Deployment of National Guard to Chicago But Rules Federalization Can Continue, Chicago TV Producer Released Without Charge After Arrest by Federal Agents, Funds Not Feds": Chicago Protesters Demand ICE Funds Be Redirected to Social Programs, Anti-ICE Protesters in Portland Don Inflatable Costumes to Mock Trump's War Zone" Rhetoric, At Least 60 Killed by Paramilitary Attacks on Besieged City in Sudan's North Darfur, Kremlin Warns of Dramatic" Escalalation as Trump Mulls Long-Range Missiles for Ukraine, Madagascar's President Says He's Resisting a Coup as Soldiers Join Anti-Government Protests, Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on China After Beijing Restricts Rare-Earth Minerals, Venezuelan Ambassador Warns U.S. Is Preparing an Invasion, 8 Charged with Felonies in Texas for Allegedly Assisting in Outlawed Abortions, 16 Killed as Explosion Destroys Tennessee Explosives Factory

Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across various aspects of modern life.Enshittification is the collapse of discipline," says Doctorow. America's ruling class has managed to neutralize all the discipline that it ever faced. Their weirdest, worst ideas are the ones that we're all stuck with."Doctorow also elaborates on a point he makes in his book: Donald Trump's election represents the ultimate triumph of enshittification in the political realm."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado, a leading Venezuelan opposition figure. Machado was set to run for president last year, but she was disqualified by the government of President Nicolas Maduro, with fellow opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez standing in for her. Venezuela's National Electoral Council ultimately declared Maduro the winner of the contested election, and he was sworn in for his third term in January.Machado has voiced support for U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and other efforts to topple the government; she aims to privatize the country's state oil industry and has praised right-wing Latin American leaders, including Argentina's Javier Milei and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele.Friday's Nobel announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has openly campaigned for the award.It's a perplexing choice," says Greg Grandin, a historian of Latin America. They've given it to somebody who's completely aligned with the most militarist and darkest face of U.S. imperialism."

A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Friday after the Israeli government approved the first phase of the U.S.-backed plan to end two years of war in the Palestinian territory. The deal calls for a pause in Israeli attacks, the release of the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, as well as an influx of badly needed humanitarian aid for the starving population of Gaza. Israeli forces have pulled back but continue to control roughly half the territory, with the ceasefire agreement calling for further withdrawals in later phases.This is a deal that really should have been made long, long ago," says Amjad Iraqi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. We've known that the parameters of this truce have been on the table for well over a year, if not since the very beginning of the war."Palestinian human rights attorney Diana Buttu says while people are happy for a pause in the slaughter, she finds it repulsive" that Palestinians had to bargain with their own oppressors. It should have been that the world put sanctions on Israel to stop the genocide, rather than forcing Palestinians to negotiate an end to it."

Israeli Government Approves First Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Grand Jury Indicts New York Attorney General Letitia James, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado, Colombia's President Petro Claims Colombians Killed in Boat Struck by U.S., Peruvian Lawmakers Swear In New President, U.S. Begins Implementation of $20 Billion Bailout for Argentina, Federal Government Shutdown Enters 10th Day, Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Deployment of National Guard Troops in Illinois, National Guard Troops Set to Begin Patrols of Memphis, Oklahoma's Republican Governor Criticizes Trump's Deployment of Texas Troops to Illinois, Texas Court Halts Execution of Robert Roberson, Convicted over Shaken Baby Syndrome"

Israeli forces have abducted over 500 peace activists over the past week who were sailing to Gaza in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged territory. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say most of the participants were sent to Ktzi'ot Prison, notorious for harsh and abusive conditions. Some have reported physical abuse, humiliation and inhumane treatment by Israeli soldiers.Jewish American activist David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, says he faced additional abuse because of his background.They reached down and saw my passport, which had my full name, David Rashi Kremen Adler, and asked if I was Jewish. I said I was Jewish. They ripped me by the ear and forced me to bend down and stare at the flag of the state of Israel," says Adler, who also describes being confronted in prison by the far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called Adler a terrorist."

President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase" of a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal for Gaza. The 20-point roadmap includes a swap of captives and a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, though details on many of the planks remain sketchy. Democracy Now! spoke with Palestinian and Israeli analysts on how to interpret the peace plan.We're now at a fork in the road," says Mouin Rabbani, a Palestinian Middle East analyst. While it's very welcome, of course, that the genocide may be coming to an end ... this is a renewed Oslo process with an even lower political ceiling." He says there are calls around the globe for a different paradigm ... in which Israeli accountability for its actions replaces these meaningless, endless negotiations about nothing."Muhammad Shehada, a writer and analyst from Gaza, is critical of the deal, saying that as soon as a ceasefire deal is signed, nobody bothers with the details. Gaza disappears, and it's back to this slow, latent, invisible violence of starvation and engaging people in a permanent state of nonlife."Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political analyst and scholar, says that the deal was politically advantageous for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu can now be the complete package," says Goldberg. Netanyahu was the fearless leader who fought the difficult, inevitable war, but he is now the fearless leader who brings the difficult, inevitable deal."

Celebrations broke out in Gaza and Israel overnight after President Trump announced Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first phase of a hostage-ceasefire deal. Trump said the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza would likely be released on Monday. Israel has also agreed to release hundreds of Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons, but a final list of prisoners has not been released. Eyad Amawi, an aid coordinator who joins us from Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, has mixed feelings, happiness, worries and hopes" about the deal. He is cautious due to Israeli habits" during ceasefire agreements to grant themselves more time to punish our people, to increase the suffering."During the first phase of the deal, Israel will withdraw forces from parts of Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged territory. A ceasefire is expected to begin after the Israeli government formally approves the deal.

Trump Says Israel and Hamas Have Agreed to Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Israel Continues Attacks on Gaza Even as Palestinians Celebrate News of Ceasefire, Spanish Parliament Approves Israel Arms Embargo as Dutch Protesters Hold Sit-Ins for Gaza, GOP Defeats Senate War Powers Resolution to Limit Trump's Strikes on Alleged Drug Traffickers, IRS to Furlough Nearly Half Its Workers as Government Shutdown Enters Second Week, 500 National Guard Troops Arrive in Chicago as Trump Calls for Mayor and Governor to Be Jailed, Pastor Shot in Head by Less Lethal" Round at Chicago-Area ICE Protest Joins Lawsuit, Trump Holds Roundtable on Antifa, Claims to Go After Its Funders", Antifa Expert to Flee with Family to Spain Following Death Threats, Former FBI Director Comey Pleads Not Guilty to Charges He Lied to Congress, WaPo: One-Quarter of FBI's Agents Assigned to Immigration Enforcement, Tennessee Lawmaker Justin Pearson Launches Primary Challenge to Incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen, 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded to Hungarian Novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Jordanian American Omar Yaghi, Son of Palestinian Refugees, Wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The new documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink looks at how hedge funds have gutted newsrooms across the country. The hedge fund strategy of distressed asset investing" involves buying up industries that are struggling to turn a profit, and then selling off their assets and laying off workers. You have people who are interested solely in making money off of the newspapers and not in serving the community and doing good journalism," says director Rick Goldsmith. This is happening all over the country, and more than half the daily newspapers are either owned or controlled by hedge funds."Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is now streaming and airing on PBS.

We speak to journalist David Klion about the Trump-affiliated right wing's increasing grip on mainstream news media, as anti-woke" pundit Bari Weiss takes the helm as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. The former New York Times opinion writer, who left the paper over what she alleged was a climate of censorship, brands herself as a champion of free speech, but in reality has a 20-year history of suppressing speech that she finds objectionable, especially when it's speech championing the rights of Palestinians and criticizing the state of Israel," says Klion. Weiss's ascension comes just after CBS's parent company, Paramount, completed a merger with Skydance, the media company founded by the son of billionaire Larry Ellison. Ellison, the founder of the tech company Oracle and soon-to-be part owner of social media platform TikTok in the U.S., is also a staunch supporter of Israel and has close ties to Donald Trump. Weiss's appointment by the Ellisons is an ideological power play," says Klion. It's about elevating her political ideology over the most important and storied news brands in the United States."

Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election for a House seat in Arizona two weeks ago, has still not been sworn in to Congress. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is blaming the government shutdown for the delay, even though he previously expedited the swearing-in of multiple Republicans who won their special elections before election results were even in. It's more likely, say supporters, that Grijalva is being held up to prevent what she has pledged will be her first act in Congress: adding her name to and thus triggering a vote on California Congressmember Ro Khanna's bill for the public release of files related to the federal investigation of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. She needs to get sworn in today," says Khanna, adding that every day Grijalva is not seated in the House is breaking precedent and depriving people of who they voted for." Grijalva says, This is an incredibly scary precedent to set. If you don't agree with the politics of the speaker, then they can keep you out of your duly elected office."Khanna and Grijalva also discuss the legacy of Grijalva's late father, the longtime Arizona Congressmember Raul Grijalva; the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration; right-wing attacks on freedom of the press; and more.

As the government shutdown enters its second week, Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of California says the Republicans could open government today." The two parties are at a standoff over provisions in the Republican spending bill that would cut health insurance benefits for millions of Americans. President Donald Trump said Tuesday furloughed government workers may not be paid, breaking with precedent and a 2019 law. In a shutdown, we always pay our troops, we always pay essential workers, and Trump is threatening both to lay them off illegally and not to pay them," says Khanna.

Israeli Forces Kill 8 Palestinians Across Gaza in the Past 24 Hours, Israeli Far-Right National Security Minister Ben-Gvir Prays at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, Mideast Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner Set to Attend Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Egypt Today, Israeli Forces Intercept Another Gaza-Bound Humanitarian Aid Flotilla, Draft White House Memo States Furloughed Workers Could Be Prevented from Receiving Back Pay, FAA Warns of Staffing Shortages at Airports in Major Cities Amid Shutdown, National Guard Troops from Texas Arrive in Chicago, ACLU Accuses Trump Admin of Subjecting Immigrants to Inhumane Conditions at Angola Prison, Wired: ICE Bolstering Social Media Surveillance Nationwide, Attorney General Bondi Evades Questions on Epstein Files in Contentious Senate Hearing, Former FBI Director James Comey Set to Appear in Federal Court Today, SCOTUS Appears to Favor Removing Colorado's Ban on LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy" for Minors, Politico: Trump Admin Looking to Privatize $1.6 Trillion in Federal Student Loan Debt, California Governor Newsom Signs Law Aimed at Combating Antisemitism in Schools, Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $996 Million in Talc Baby Powder Cancer Case, Missouri Attorney General Subpoenas Planned Parenthood for Records of Abortion Patients