Democracy Now!

The British High Court in London has put the extradition of Julian Assange on hold until the United States provides assurances that he would get a fair trial in the U.S. without facing the death penalty. If those assurances are not met, Assange will be granted the right to a full appeal hearing. Speaking outside the court Tuesday, Stella Assange called for the Biden administration to drop this shameful case" against her husband. Julian should never have been imprisoned for a single day," she said. We speak with MP Jeremy Corbyn, who led the U.K. Labour Party from 2015 to 2020 and who has been calling for all charges against Assange to be dropped. The pressure needs to now go on to the Biden administration," Corbyn says. If Julian goes down for this, every serious journalist around the world is going to be slightly more cautious about exposing war crimes, about exposing corporate greed."

U.K. High Court Delays Possible Extradition of Julian Assange Until U.S. Provides Assurances", UNSC Approves Its First Gaza Ceasefire Resolution Ater U.S. Abstains, Israeli Attack on Rafah Home Kills at Least 18 People, Half of Them Children, U.N.-Commissioned Report Lays Out Evidence of Israeli Genocide in Gaza, Baltimore Bridge Collapse Plunges Vehicles into Freezing River; Officials Warn of Mass Casualties", Bassirou Diomaye Faye Clinches Senegalese Presidency, Vows to Fight Corruption and Inequality, Ecuador's Youngest Mayor Brigitte Garcia Killed in Targeted Shooting, NBC News Faces Backlash After Hiring Former RNC Chair, Election Denier Ronna McDaniel, Trump's Bond in Civil Fraud Case Lowered to $175M as Judge Sets April 15 Date for Hush Money Trial, SCOTUS Hearing Arguments in Case That Could Restrict Nationwide Access to Abortion Pill, NYC Home Health Aides End Hunger Strike, Vow to Continue Fighting for an End to 24-Hour Workdays

Sudan is on track to become the world's worst hunger crisis, according to the United Nations. For over a year, fighting between the Sudanese military and the rival Rapid Support Forces has disrupted the country, displacing over 8 million people who experience extreme hunger in the areas with the most intense fighting. The increasing demand comes as the U.N.'s appeal for $2.7 billion for Sudan is less than 5% funded. Funding is also drying up in Chad, where some 1.2 million Sudanese have taken refuge. This is the largest sort of mass mortality crisis that we are facing in the world and the largest that we have probably faced for many decades," says Alex de Waal, the author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine, who laments the shocking" cuts to the World Food Programme that is essential to the global emergency response system. If it doesn't work, we are going to find ourselves facing the kinds of crises of mass mortality that we have simply not seen for half a century or longer."

In Gaza, millions of Palestinians are starving after five months of U.S.-backed attacks by Israel, while Israel continues to prevent the delivery of essential provisions. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on social media, This man-made starvation under our watch is a stain on our collective humanity." The head of the World Health Organization says children in Gaza are already dying of malnutrition. This is fundamentally a political crisis," says Alex de Waal, the author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine, who explains that even with a ceasefire and humanitarian aid, a crisis like this cannot be stopped overnight," and that This will be a calamity that will be felt for generations."

ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State, has claimed responsibility for an attack on a popular concert hall in Moscow that killed at least 137. Authorities say gunmen opened fire inside the Crocus City Hall building during a sold-out rock concert and then set part of the venue on fire. More than 100 people were injured in the attack, and many remain in critical condition. Authorities have detained 11 suspects, four of whom, all reportedly citizens of Tajikistan, are charged with terrorism and face life sentences. As more details emerge about the attack, we speak with professor of international affairs at The New School Nina Khrushcheva about the history of Muslim fundamentalist attacks in Russia and Putin's unfortunate" decision to ignore Western intelligence warnings about terrorist attacks. We're also joined by longtime Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker Joshua Yaffa, who details possible motivations for ISIS-K and how Putin is attempting to fit this attack into his narrative opposing Ukraine and the West. First and foremost, he cares about preserving his own power and the continued stability of his ruling system," says Yaffa, who explains how Putin tries to control political blowback by equating ISIS-K with any group he opposes, including Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption network and the so-called worldwide LGBT movement. This is important to understand both in trying to determine how this attack happened in the first place and also what might Putin's response be moving forward."

At Least 137 People Killed in ISIS-Claimed Attack on Moscow Concert Hall, Israel Continues to Starve Gaza, Blocking Food Aid as It Escalates Attack on Gaza's Ailing Hospitals, Kamala Harris Warns Against Israeli Invasion of Rafah, Does Not Rule Out Consequences" from U.S., China, Russia Veto U.S.'s Ambiguous" Conditional Ceasefire Resolution at U.N. Security Council, Bernie Sanders, AOC Among Lawmakers Who Opposed $1.2 Trillion Spending Bill over Defunding of UNRWA, Gaza Solidarity Protests Fill Streets of Dublin, Santiago and Other Large Cities, Activists Protest Metropolitan Museum's Complicity in Israel's War and Occupation of Palestine, Senegalese Opposition Candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye Leads Early Election Results, Russian and Ukrainian Attacks Hit Energy and Oil Targets, 150+ Kidnapped School Children Rescued in Northwestern Nigeria, Brazilian Police Arrest Suspected Masterminds of Marielle Franco's Assassination, Trump's Assets Could Be Imminently Seized by NY Attorney General Letitia James, Congress: Another GOP Rep. Quits; Tammy Murphy Exits NJ Senate Race; MJT Wants to Oust Mike Johnson

In Mississippi, six former sheriff's deputies have been sentenced to between 10 and 40 years in prison for raiding a home and torturing, shooting and sexually abusing two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, in January 2023. The six former deputies, all of whom are white, called themselves the Goon Squad" and have been linked to at least four violent attacks on Black men since 2019. Two of the men attacked and tortured by the group subsequently died. To discuss the case and the verdict, we're joined by Eddie Parker and attorneys Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker. Never have we seen this many police officers sentenced to this kind of time in one week," says Shabazz, who calls the verdict historic." Jenkins, Parker and Shabazz are currently suing the Rankin County Sheriff's Department over its track record of civil rights violations and racist targeting of Black residents.

As Israel continues its relentless assault on Gaza, causing mass famine, injury and death, we get an update on the malnutrition and mental health crises in Gaza from Dr. Nahreen Ahmed, a pulmonary and critical care doctor and the medical director of the humanitarian aid group MedGlobal. She is recently back from a two-week volunteer trip to Gaza, where she says these crises are growing so rapidly that even if aid was increased tomorrow, we would still be in a severe situation where the amount of food would not be enough in the immediate term." It is a horrific experience for all involved," she concludes.

At the U.N. Security Council, China and Russia have vetoed a U.S. draft resolution on the war in Gaza. The U.S. resolution appeared to call for a ceasefire, but it was written in a way to make the resolution unenforceable. Our guest Phyllis Bennis says this was mere wordplay" and a convoluted" attempt by the Biden administration to play both sides, as it comes under increasing internal and external criticism over its close relationship with Israel. Bennis is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and an international adviser to Jewish Voice for Peace. She has written several books on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East. When it comes to dissent over U.S. support of Israel, the pressure is mounting in ways that I've certainly never seen," she says, adding that it's imperative for the public to continue pushing for more action, as it's crucial that the weapons sales be cut" and a real ceasefire be reached immediately.

Al-Shifa Evacuees Describe Terror of Israeli Attack on Besieged Hospital, Video Shows Israeli Forces Targeting and Killing Group of Unarmed Gazans, Antony Blinken Meets Netanyahu in Tel Aviv as He Acknowledges Severe Hunger Crisis in Gaza, Dozens of Ex-U.S. Officials Warn Biden Against Enabling Israeli Abuses in Occupied West Bank, Sudan Could Soon Become the World's Worst Hunger Crisis, Biden Admin Urged to Halt Haiti Deportations as Deadly Unrest Continues, 70+ Rohingya Refugees Could Be Dead After Boat Capsizes Off Aceh Coast, France Pushes Law to Curb Devastating Impacts of Fast Fashion, Russian Strikes Kill 3 People, Cut Off Power for 1 Million Ukrainians, DOJ Files Major Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple, New Florida Law Bans Unhoused People from Sleeping in Public Spaces, Home Health Aides in NYC Go on Hunger Strike to Demand End to 24-Hour Workdays, Georgia GOP Moves to Punish Employers Who Voluntarily Recognize Unions, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reintroduce Green New Deal for Public Housing Act

A new report by the research group Forensic Architecture counters Israel's argument at the International Court of Justice that it followed humanitarian policies to safeguard civilian life in Gaza. South Africa argued in January before the ICJ that Israel was guilty of genocide during its war on Gaza. The report argues that what Israel says are humanitarian evacuations in Gaza actually amount to the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime. It found that since October 7, Israel has issued imprecise and sometimes contradictory evacuation orders, attacked people even in so-called safe zones and evacuation routes, and failed to provide the necessities of life for those civilians, all while pushing the population further and further south into areas that are then also attacked or evacuated at a later time. We cannot see it as anything else but part of the genocidal campaign," says Forensic Architecture director Eyal Weizman, who accuses Israel of using humanitarian principles as yet another weapon against Palestinians in Gaza. He says Israel's objective is to exercise pain on the civilian population" in order to deter ongoing resistance to the Israeli occupation."

We speak with British surgeon Dr. Nick Maynard, who recently led an emergency medical team at Gaza's Al-Aqsa Hospital, about Israel's ongoing attacks on healthcare infrastructure and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where Israel's brutal assault has killed about 32,000 Palestinians since October 7. Maynard is part of a group of international doctors with experience in Gaza who met with officials at the United Nations and in Washington, D.C., this week to express alarm over civilian suffering. Medical workers in Gaza are working under extremely challenging conditions with a huge lack of resources and working in a healthcare system that is being systematically dismantled by the attacks on it," he tells Democracy Now! It's very, very clear to all of us who have been on the ground in Gaza that the only way to try and stop this humanitarian catastrophe is for an immediate ceasefire."

Israel's Assault on Al-Shifa Hospital Enters 4th Day, Attacks Continue Throughout Gaza Strip, U.S. Submits Ceasefire Resolution to UNSC; Netanyahu Tells GOP Israel Will Continue Attacking Gaza, Lawmakers Pushing to Cut Off U.S. Funding for UNRWA for Another Year Amid Soaring Hunger in Gaza, Completely Contrary to Human Rights": AMLO Blasts Texas's SB4, Says Mexico Will not Accept Deportees, Georgia Executes Prisoner Willie Pye After 4-Year Pause in Capital Punishment, Two More Goon Squad" Officers Sentenced to 40 and 17.5 Years for Torture of Two Black Men, Assange's Lawyers Say No Deal on the Table After WSJ Reports DOJ Could Offer Plea Agreement, Irish Leader Leo Varadkar Resigns: The Time Has Come to Pass on the Baton", Hong Kong Passes New Hard-Line National Security Law, Further Aligning Territory with Beijing, Indonesian Election Authority Confirms Presidential Election Victory for Prabowo Subianto, EPA Announces New Limits on Tailpipe Emissions in Push to Transition to Electric Vehicles, Biden Administration Cancels Another $6 Billion in Federal Student loans, GOP Impeachment Campaign Against Biden Losing Steam as Even Conservative Support Wanes

Building on an unprecedented wave of settler violence in 2023, Israeli attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have intensified since October 7, with over 400 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers over the past five months. Last week, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on three Israeli settlers and two Israeli outposts in the occupied West Bank for assaulting, harassing and threatening Palestinians, and violently expelling many from their land. Investigative journalist Shane Bauer traveled to the territory to map out the violence against Palestinians that has escalated since October 7, and visited the illegal outposts of two very dangerous men" targeted by the sanctions: Neria Ben-Pazi and Moshe Sharvit. The elephant in the room here is that [Moshe Sharvit], along with Neria Ben-Pazi, is supported by the state of Israel directly," says Bauer. According to the language of the sanctions, that would mean that the State of Israel itself and all the various organizations that are supporting him should themselves be sanctioned, but of course they haven't been." Bauer describes how the line between settlers and the army virtually disappeared after October 7," as far-right Israeli cabinet members push for a formalization of apartheid," in the West Bank.

We speak with Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland about the U.S. response to Israel's brutal offensive on Gaza, which has killed over 32,000 Palestinians. Van Hollen expresses strong frustration with the Biden administration," which needs to do a lot more" to hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accountable. Defying Biden's warnings against a full-scale ground operation in Rafah, Netanyahu continues to promise an invasion of the city, where 1.4 million forcibly displaced people from across Gaza are sheltering. At the end of the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu simply ignores the president of the United States, and so we need to do more to make Netanyahu accountable for our requests," says Van Hollen, who warns Biden against getting dragged into the planning of a Rafah invasion" and becoming complicit in Netanyahu's actions." The senator also discusses U.S. funding of UNRWA and Israeli leaders blocking aid for Gaza. For goodness' sakes, lift the restrictions that are in place that are creating this humanitarian disaster in Gaza."

Appeals Court Puts Texas Anti-Immigrant SB4 on Hold for Now, WHO Warns Infants in Gaza on the Brink of Death" as Israel Keeps Limiting Aid Deliveries, Israel Kills Dozens in Ongoing Raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, Canada to Halt Weapons Shipments to Gaza, Trump-Backed Bernie Moreno Wins GOP Senate Primary in Ohio, Democratic Voters Voice Dismay over Biden's Support for Israeli Assault on Gaza, Trump: Jewish Democrats Should Be Ashamed of Themselves", Kushner Praises Gaza's Valuable" Waterfront Property, Says Israel Should Force Palestinians Out, Doctors Without Borders Says EU-Funded Libyan Coast Guard Disrupt Attempts to Aid Migrants at Sea, Cuba Blasts U.S. Embargo as Protesters Decry Power Blackouts & Food Shortages, U.N. Weather Agency Issues Red Alert" After 2023 Shattered Heat Records, Two Members of Mississippi Police Goon Squad" Sentenced for Torturing Black Men, Arizona State Lawmaker Goes Public with Plan to Have an Abortion

As presidential front-runners Donald Trump and Joe Biden scapegoat and attack immigrants on the campaign trail, stoking racist and xenophobic fears for votes, we speak to the director of a groundbreaking new film, unseen, that aims to reframe the narrative. Using experimental cinematography to promote accessibility for blind and low-vision audiences, unseen follows Pedro, who is blind and undocumented, as he works toward a degree in social work. Director Set Hernandez, themself an undocumented immigrant and a co-founder of the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, discusses the film's uplifting of the undocumented and disabled perspective," in opposition to political narratives that exclude and dehumanize immigrant communities.

Haiti is being gripped by escalating violence and turmoil as armed groups battle for control in the streets. Last week, unelected Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced he would resign, after a coalition of armed groups opposing the de facto leader declared an uprising. Negotiations to establish a transitional presidential council are being led by the U.S.-backed Caribbean political alliance CARICOM as a refugee crisis brews, with the Biden administration floating the idea of housing Haitian asylum seekers in Guantanamo Bay. We speak to Dan Foote, who resigned from his post as U.S. special envoy for Haiti in September 2021 over the Biden administration's inhumane" treatment of Haitian asylum seekers and U.S. interference in Haitian politics. We're holding Haiti hostage through this CARICOM political process," says Foote, who says Haitian sovereignty must be respected in order to break the cycle of intervention, unrest and violence. Everybody has an answer for Haiti. Unfortunately, historically, none of those answers have worked."

A new U.N.-backed report has found that famine is imminent in northern Gaza with nearly a third of Gaza's population experiencing the highest levels of catastrophic hunger. This comes as Israel launches another major raid at Al-Shifa Hospital, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken shelter since the start of the conflict. In the south, daily bombing continues while the Israeli government threatens a full-scale ground invasion on the border city of Rafah. The world should impose sanctions on Israel," says the Palestinian National Initiative's Mustafa Barghouti, who joins us from the occupied West Bank. Barghouti responds to Israel's latest military actions and claims, gives an update on the status of ceasefire negotiations, addresses conditions in Israeli prisons and more. It's a massacre. It's a huge genocide," he says. The ultimate goal of Israel is ethnic cleansing."

Famine in Northern Gaza Imminent; U.N., EU Blast Man-Made" Hunger Crisis by Israel and U.S., Gazans Say Israel's Assault on Rafah Has Already Started as Biden Warns Netanyahu Against Invasion, Journalist Ismail al-Ghoul Released After Al-Shifa Raid; Officer Who Secured Food Aid Is Among Dead, Israel Arrests West Bank Reporter Rula Hassanein; 13th Palestinian Dies in Israeli Prison Since Oct. 7, Gang Violence in Haiti Spills Over into Previously Shielded Upscale Areas of Capital, Armed Groups in Nigeria Kidnap 100+ People in Kaduna, Gambian Lawmakers Advance Repeal of Female Genital Mutilation Ban, South Sudan Schools Close Due to Extreme Heat, Two Dozen Civilians Reportedly Killed in Burmese Military Strikes in Rakhine, 30,000 Children and Women Held in Abusive Camps in Northern Syria, Protesters Condemn Javier Milei's Austerity Regime Amid Social and Economic Crises, Trump Unable to Secure $454M Bond in NY Civil Case; Peter Navarro to Begin Sentence for Contempt, SCOTUS Considers Free Speech Cases Involving Guns, Government's Authority Over Social Media, EPA Announces Total Ban on Asbestos

We mark the 21st anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old U.S. peace activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli soldier driving a military bulldozer on March 16, 2003. Corrie was in Rafah with the International Solidarity Movement to monitor human rights abuses and protect Palestinian homes from destruction when she was killed. To this day, nobody has been held accountable for her death, with the Israeli military ruling it an accident" and the Supreme Court of Israel rejecting an appeal from her parents in 2015. Rachel Corrie has since become a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and her legacy must be used to direct attention back to Rafah" and prevent an escalation in the war, says her friend and fellow activist Tom Dale, who witnessed her final moments. We also speak with Corrie's parents, Cindy and Craig, who say they have met many Palestinians over the years who continue to honor their daughter's memory. For Palestinians everywhere, Rachel's story has been very important," says Cindy Corrie. They tell us over and over again how much it meant." After Corrie was killed, they devoted their lives to her cause and founded the nonprofit Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.

We get an update from Rafah as the World Food Programme warns of worsening catastrophic hunger in the Gaza Strip and Israel continues to block most aid from entering the territory. Despite growing international criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he plans for a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are penned in after repeated forced evacuations from elsewhere in Gaza since October 7. I'm hoping from the U.S. government to put a serious pressure on the Israeli government in order to prevent such a catastrophe," says Mohammed Abu Lebda, a poet and translator from Rafah, who says an Israeli ground invasion could kill up to 100,000 more Palestinians. Abu Lebda describes the daily hardships in Rafah, including the severe mental toll, Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza has unleashed. I'm not sure that I'm going to be the person that I used to be before the war," he says. I'm 100% sure that I was changed, and I was changed forever."(Mohammed Abu Lebda is currently fundraising to leave Gaza with his family. Find details on his GoFundMe page.)

Israel Attacks Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital Again as Hunger Grips the Besieged Territory, Totally Inappropriate": Netanyahu Responds to Schumer's Call for New Israeli Elections, We See Our History in Their Eyes" Irish Leader Calls for Gaza Ceasefire in White House Address, Basque Demonstrators Evoke Picasso's Guernica" in Tribute to Gaza's Victims, Putin Wins Fifth Term as President as Yulia Navalnaya, Volodymyr Zelensky Condemn Election, Donald Trump Warns of Bloodbath" If He Loses Election to Biden Again, Special Prosecutor Quits Trump's Election Subversion Case in Georgia; DA Fani Willis Stays On, U.S. Nationals Leave Haiti as Political and Humanitarian Crises Spiral, Niger Orders Departure of U.S. Troops, Senegal Releases Opposition Leaders Ousmane Sonko and Bassirou Diomaye Faye Ahead of Elections, U.N. Warns 18 Million People in Sudan Face Acute Food Insecurity, U.N. Considers AI Resolution as Rights Groups Condemn EU's AI Act" for Empowering Law Enforcement, NYC Preserves Right to Shelter" Policy But Excludes Migrant Adults from Its Protections, U.S. Court Halts New SEC Rule Requiring Climate Risk Disclosures from Fossil Fuel Industry

Israeli scholar Maya Wind's new book, Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom, documents how Israeli universities directly constrain Palestinian rights by supporting and even developing the policies of occupation and apartheid used by the Israeli state. In the West, Israeli universities are considered bastions of pluralism and democracy. But in fact ... they are a central pillar of Israel's regime of oppression against Palestinians," says Wind, who also discusses Israel's scholasticide, [or] the intentional destruction of Palestinian education," and the movement of conscientious objectors to Israel's mandatory conscription, in which she took part when she refused to enlist in the army at age 18 and served 40 days in a military prison.

Hebrew University in Jerusalem has suspended an internationally renowned Palestinian professor for saying that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian is a feminist scholar whose work focuses on the impacts of militarization, surveillance and violence on the lives of Palestinian women and children. She made the remarks in an interview on Israel's Channel 12 on Monday, where she also said it was time to abolish Zionism." Shalhoub-Kevorkian has been under pressure to resign from her position at Hebrew University's Faculty of Law Institute of Criminology and at the School of Social Work and Public Welfare since October, when she signed a petition of over 1,000 academics calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This comes as no universities have been left standing in the Gaza Strip, and nearly 5,000 university students and staff have been killed during Israel's assault. I am calling for abolishing Zionism because I see it as very violent towards the people and as causing criminality," says Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who discusses the atmosphere of silencing and reprisals against those who criticize Israel's policies toward Palestinians. Anti-Zionism is to refuse to accept continued dispossession, is to refuse to accept this ideology of supremacy, is to refuse to accept the securitized ideas of one group against the other."

In what is believed to be the first time a president or vice president has publicly toured an abortion clinic, Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood location in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday. The visit was the latest in a nationwide tour by Harris to highlight reproductive rights. In her remarks outside the clinic, she lauded Minnesota's efforts to protect abortion rights in the face of what she describes as a very serious health crisis," with restrictive laws and outright abortion bans in more than a dozen states. Clinics in Minnesota have seen a drastic rise in appointments for reproductive healthcare as one of the last remaining access states in the region, says our guest Megan Peterson, who adds that it is really important" that the Biden team not take pro-abortion voters for granted." Peterson is the executive director of Gender Justice Action, a reproductive rights group working in Minnesota and North Dakota. We also speak to professor Michele Goodwin, who calls the consequences of state-level abortion bans since Dobbs v. Jackson a trail of horrors" that are antithetical" to science, health and human rights.

Israeli Soldiers Kill at Least 29 More Palestinians Seeking Aid, Hamas Offers New Ceasefire and Hostage Exchange Plan; Abbas Appoints New Palestinian PM, Schumer Calls for Elections in Israel, Warns U.S. Could Have More Active Role" in Israeli Politics, 100 Activists Arrested After Occupying NYT Building, McGill Students Are on Hunger Strike to Demand University Divest from Israel, Prominent Authors Turn Down Prestigious PEN World Voices Festival over Org's Response to Gaza, Dozens Feared Dead in Mediterranean After Europe-Bound Migrant Vessel Broke Down at Sea, 300+ Detained Immigrants and Allies Are on Hunger Strike in Washington State, Kamala Harris Decries Healthcare Crisis" as She Visits Minnesota Abortion Clinic, Jury Convicts James Crumbley of Involuntary Manslaughter for Son's Mass Shooting, Why Did You Shoot My Baby?": Bodycam Footage Shows CA Deputy Killing Autistic Teen Ryan Gainer, Bernie Sanders Introduces Legislation to Reduce Workweek to 32 Hours

In a rare bipartisan effort, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday requiring TikTok to be sold by its China-based owner, ByteDance, or face a ban throughout the United States. Backers claim the popular social media app could give the Chinese government access to U.S. residents' personal data and potentially affect the 2024 elections. The fight over TikTok comes at a time of rising anti-China rhetoric in both major parties, as well as alarm among conservatives that content supportive of Palestinian rights and critical of Israel is popular with many young users of the app. The fate of the TikTok legislation now rests in the Senate, and President Joe Biden says he will sign it into law if it reaches his desk. Former President Donald Trump, who tried to crack down on TikTok while in office, now opposes the effort. It is singling out TikTok and China without any evidence whatsoever that they are engaging in any nefarious or spying activity," Ramesh Srinivasan, professor of information studies at UCLA, says of the legislation. What we need is expansive, comprehensive digital rights legislation that really applies to every social media company and gives Americans power over their own data."

Journalist Mehdi Hasan warns U.S. media coverage of the 2024 election is largely unable to capture the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump and the modern Republican Party. We need to speak very clearly about what that fascist threat is," says Hasan, who warns media outlets cannot normalize his extremism and racism and bigotry," because the right to free press itself could be under threat if he regains power. One of our two major parties has been fully radicalized and is now in bed with white supremacists. ... Let's be plain about that."

Acclaimed journalist Mehdi Hasan joins us to discuss U.S. media coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza and how the war is a genocide being abetted by the United States. Hasan says U.S. media is overwhelmingly pro-Israel and fails to convey the truth to audiences. Palestinian voices not being on American television or in American print is one of the biggest problems when it comes to our coverage of this conflict," he says. Hasan has just launched a new media company, Zeteo, which he started after the end of his weekly news program on MSNBC and Peacock earlier this year. Hasan's interviews routinely led to viral segments, including his tough questioning of Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev, but the cable network announced it was canceling his show in November. The move drew considerable outrage, with critics slamming MSNBC for effectively silencing one of the most prominent Muslim voices in U.S. media. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to threaten a ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, which human rights groups warn would be a massacre. President Biden has said such an escalation is a red line" for him, but Netanyahu has vowed to push ahead anyway. Where is the outcry here in the West?" asks Hasan of reports of Israeli war crimes, including the killing of over 100 journalists in the past five months in Gaza and the blockade of aid from the region. It's a stain on [Biden's] record, on America's conscience."

At Least 5 People Killed, Including U.N. Staffer, as Israel Bombs UNRWA Gaza Aid Site, 27 Gazans Have Died of Hunger, Including 23 Babies and Children, as Israel Continues to Block Aid, U.N.: Israel Violated International Law When It Killed Reuters Reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon, Activists from San Francisco to New York Disrupt Business as Usual to Shine Light on Gaza Genocide, Jewish Voice for Peace Occupies Hakeem Jeffries's Office as 20+ Orgs Launch Reject AIPAC" Coalition, U.S. House Votes in Favor of TikTok Ban Bill Amid First Amendment and Other Questions, Reports: Biden Weighs Detaining Haitians in Guantanamo If Crisis Leads to Increase in Migration, Sudan: 230,000 Children and People Recovering from Birth Are at Risk of Death by Starvation, Torrential Rains in La Paz, Bolivia, Kill at Least One Person, Destroy Homes, Methane Emissions Remain Far Above Levels Needed to Curb Climate Catastrophe, You Are Not an Ally. You Are a Murderer": Climate Defiance Confronts Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, Boeing Deleted Footage of Work on Alaska Airlines Door That Blew Off 737 MAX, U.S. Court Upholds Texas Law Barring Minors from Getting Birth Control Without Parental Consent, Georgia Judge Throws Out 6 Charges in Trump Election Subversion Case, Autopsy Finds Nex Benedict Died of Suicide the Day After Being Attacked in High School Bathroom, David Mixner, LGBTQ+ Rights Leader Who Pushed Politicians to Reject Homophobia, Dies at 77

It's official: Following Tuesday's primaries, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump appear set for a rematch in November after both candidates secured enough delegates to win their parties' nominations. This past weekend, Republican front-runner Donald Trump hosted Hungary's authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Mar-a-Lago and openly praised Orban's autocratic style of rule. To talk more about Orban and Trump, we spoke Tuesday with Gabor Scheiring, a former Green Party member of parliament in Hungary, who has a new essay titled I watched Hungary's democracy dissolve into authoritarianism as a member of parliament - and I see troubling parallels in Trumpism and its appeal to workers." He explains that strongmen" like Orban and Trump are subverting democracy from the inside, gradually," using tactics like gerrymandering and control of the courts to seize and consolidate power.

Author and civil rights advocate Michelle Alexander's new piece in The Nation reflects on Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s April 4, 1967, speech in New York opposing the war in Vietnam and its lasting lessons for American society today. She describes revolutionary love" as the transnational connections between liberation struggles" around the world, and calls for anti-oppression movements in the U.S. to continue working to end the occupation of Palestine and commit to the thriving of all of the people who have been subjected to endless war and occupation." Revolutionary love, argues Alexander, is the only thing that can save us now."

The European Union's foreign policy chief has accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war by blocking aid from entering Gaza. The World Food Programme managed to deliver aid to Gaza City for the first time Tuesday in three weeks, but the agency said famine is imminent in northern Gaza unless aid deliveries increase exponentially. Meanwhile, as the United States proposes building a seaport off Gaza and airdrops for food aid, Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri calls the proposals sheer entertainment" that is designed primarily to make Americans feel better about themselves."

Israel is expanding its attacks in Lebanon for the third day in a row, with Israeli warplanes striking deep in the country amid growing concern about a regional escalation, and Hamas ally Hezbollah launching a barrage of over 100 rockets at Israel in response. Tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel and southern Lebanon have fled their homes as attacks rise. Israel expects the Americans will come in and help them ... knock down Hezbollah's power," says Rami Khouri, a Palestinian American journalist and senior public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut. This is not something that we should celebrate," adds Khouri, who also discusses the historical context of decades of conflict in the Arab region, and Hezbollah's role in Lebanese politics.

Biden & Trump Set for Rematch in November, EU Foreign Policy Chief Accuses Israel of Using Starvation as Weapon of War, Senators Urge Biden to Cut Military Aid to Israel for Blocking U.S. Aid from Entering Gaza, U.N.: More Children Have Been Killed in Gaza Than in All Other Wars over Past Four Years, Israel Kills Four in Occupied West Bank, Israel Expands Attacks on Lebanon; Hezbollah Launches 100 Rockets Over Border, Kenya Halts Plan to Deploy Police to Haiti Until New Government Is in Place, Ukraine Drones Attack Russian Oil Refineries as Putin Says Russia Is Ready to Use Nukes, Top Aide to Alexei Navalny Attacked in Lithuania, Democratic and Republican Lawmakers Criticize Special Counsel Robert Hur, House to Vote on Banning TikTok, Rep. Ken Buck to Leave Congress Next Week in Blow to GOP, Florida Settles Don't Say Gay" Lawsuit, Columbia Sued for Banning Students for Justice in Palestine & Jewish Voice for Peace

At one of the largest for-profit immigrant detention centers in the country, human rights advocates report, there were two suicide attempts Monday, just hours apart. The privately run Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, the site of multiple hunger strikes to protest inhumane conditions over the years, also reported 61-year-old Charles Leo Daniel from Trinidad and Tobago died at the facility last week. He had been detained for about four years and was in solitary confinement at NWDC when he was found unresponsive Thursday in what is suspected to be another suicide. This all comes as a federal judge blocked Washington state from fully enforcing a law intended to increase oversight at the for-profit immigrant jail, run by GEO Group. This recent string of events reveals the importance and the urgency to shut down the detention center now," says La Resistencia's Maru Mora Villalpando, who explains why immigrants are vulnerable and used for votes, for political gain and as scapegoats. We are in this midst of horrible, horrible situations in detention centers, at the border, in the countries where people need to flee, because it's working for corporations and for governments. ... That's why we're not waiting for the government to solve this. We have to save ourselves."

We speak with Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, who says the monstrosity" of Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, including attacks on civilians and restrictions on aid, shows that the International Court of Justice's provisional orders to protect civilians are being ignored. What should be done is an arms embargo right now and sanctions, because Israel is not in compliance with the critical measures ordered by the ICJ," says Albanese.

Palestinians in Gaza marked the first day of Ramadan on Monday amid rising hunger and desperation, with Israel continuing to restrict aid shipments into the besieged territory. United Nations officials have complained that even basic items like medical scissors have resulted in trucks being stopped by Israeli forces at the border. This comes as countries such as the United States conduct dangerous airdrops of essential supplies and have announced plans to build a pier off the coast of Gaza to deliver aid. It's going to be more simple, more realistic and more efficient if the United States has pushed the Israelis to allow the aid truck to go into the north of Gaza and Gaza City," says Yousef Hammash, advocacy officer with the Norwegian Refugee Council, speaking to us from Rafah. The only issue that we are facing on delivering the aid on the ground is the restrictions the Israelis put on it." Hammash also describes living day by day" amid madness, violence [and] bombardment."

Unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced he plans to resign amid rising opposition in Haiti, where a coalition of armed groups opposing the de facto leader have declared an uprising, led mass jailbreaks and taken over the country's airport. At an emergency meeting with international actors in Jamaica, the regional bloc CARICOM has reportedly proposed a plan to set up a seven-member presidential panel that would appoint a new interim prime minister. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the panel would only include Haitians who support the deployment of a U.N.-backed security force, a policy supported by Henry, while large swaths of Haitians voiced opposition to another hand-selected leader. I'm not sure this solves the problem that's been going on in Haiti," says Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre, who explains why Henry's resignation and transition announcement attempts to put a veneer of legality on this situation," while the country continues to operate under occupation by foreign interests. There's going to be more flare-ups in the next few months ... if we don't stop this problem by its root, which is the constant U.S. imposition of its terms on Haitian people and the denial of Haitian sovereignty."

Haiti's PM Ariel Henry to Resign After Losing Support of Washington, Gaza Health Officials: Israeli Forces Have Killed 400 Aid Seekers, Israel Blocks Aid Truck Bound for Gaza Because It Contained Medical Scissors, U.S. Intelligence Head: Gaza War Will Have Generational Impact on Terrorism", Israeli Groups Accuse Netanyahu Gov't of Failing to Abide by ICJ Ruling on Aid, UNRWA Says Israel Tortured & Waterboarded Staffers, Leading to False Confessions, India Enacts Anti-Muslim Citizenship Law Ahead of Election, Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead After Giving Evidence in Lawsuit, Trump Suggests He Supports Social Security and Medicare Cuts, Sen. Katie Britt Blasted for Sharing Misleading Story About Survivor of Sex Trafficking in Mexico, Police in California Fatally Shoot 15-Year-Old Black Teenager with Autism, Swedish Police Remove Greta Thunberg & Other Climate Activists Blocking Parliament

Palestinian novelist, poet and activist Susan Abulhawa recently returned from two weeks in the Gaza Strip, where she witnessed firsthand the destruction and misery wrought upon the territory and its people by Israel's relentless assault. Abulhawa spoke with Democracy Now! last Wednesday from Cairo and said the trauma is immeasurable" for the Palestinians in Gaza. Abulhawa describes hearing stories of abuse, humiliation and torture at the hands of Israeli soldiers as people struggle to find basic necessities to survive. The degradation is total," says Abulhawa. And on top of that, they're bombed, day in and out."

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was found guilty of cocaine trafficking Friday after a two-week trial in a New York federal court, where prosecutors accused Hernandez of ruling the Central American country as a narco-state and accepting millions of dollars in bribes from cocaine traffickers in exchange for protection. He faces a possible life sentence. Hernandez served as president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022 and was a close U.S. ally despite mounting reports of human rights violations and accusations of corruption and involvement with drug smuggling during his tenure. Hernandez was arrested less than a month after his term ended and was extradited to the United States in April 2022. The majority feeling is satisfaction, a feeling of progress in achieving justice," says activist Camilo Bermudez from Tegucigalpa. He is a member of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, the organization founded by Berta Caceres, the Lenca Indigenous environmental defender who was assassinated in 2016 while Juan Orlando Hernandez was president. We also speak with Dana Frank, professor of history emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who says the 2009 U.S.-backed coup against President Manuel Zelaya set the stage for the corrupt governments that followed. While U.S. prosecutors may have convicted Hernandez, Frank stresses that multiple U.S. administrations legitimated and celebrated him."

Caribbean leaders are holding an emergency meeting in Jamaica today to discuss the crisis in Haiti, where armed groups are calling for the resignation of unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Haiti is under a state of emergency, with tens of thousands displaced amid the fighting, and United Nations officials warn the country's health system is nearing collapse. Ariel Henry was appointed prime minister after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, but he is currently stranded outside the country after a trip to Kenya, where he was seeking a U.N.-backed security force to help him maintain power. For more, we speak with Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre, who says the unrest in Haiti today can be traced to decisions made two decades ago by the United States and other outside powers. The root of this crisis is not last week, it's not this week, it's not even Ariel Henry. But we have to go back to 2004 with the coup-d'etat," says Pierre. She adds that because successive security plans have been sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, the whole world is participating in the occupation of Haiti unwittingly."

Death Toll in Gaza Tops 31,000; Israel Continues Assault as Ramadan Begins, Biden Vows to Keep Supporting Israel But Says Netanyahu Is Hurting Israel More Than Helping", Haiti: CARICOM Holds Emergency Meeting as Calls Grow for Ariel Henry to Resign, Pope Francis Urges Ukraine to Negotiate and Have Courage of the White Flag", Jury Convicts Ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Drug Trafficking Charges, U.N. Security Council Pushes for Ramadan Ceasefire in Sudan, Biden: I Regret Describing Immigrant as Illegal" During State of the Union, Trump Meets & Praises Hungary's Authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, U.N.: Iran Responsible for Death of Mahsa Amini, 180,000 Protest in Mexico City Against Femicide on International Women's Day, Protesters Calling for Ceasefire in Gaza Block Traffic & Delay Start of Oscars, Oscars: Director of The Zone of Interest" Condemns Israeli Occupation, 20 Days in Mariupol" Wins Oscar for Best Documentary

In his State of the Union address, President Biden addressed Israel's assault on Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen amid a relentless bombing campaign and siege. We're joined by two guests: Eman Abdelhadi, a Chicago-based Palestinian Egyptian American professor, artist and activist, who on Thursday delivered an alternate State of the Union address called The State of Genocide," and Neta Heiman Mina, a member of the Israeli chapter of Women Wage Peace, whose 84-year-old mother, Ditza Heiman, was one of the hostages released during the temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas in November. Abdelhadi says that by arming Israel while offering limited aid to the starving population of Gaza, the Biden administration is effectively holding a gun to Palestinians' heads, shooting at them with one hand and throwing crumbs at them with the other." Meanwhile, Mina calls on the Israeli government to do everything we can" to return the remaining hostages, including an immediate ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners. This genocide has been going on for 152 days, and it is 100% an American project," Abdelhadi says, adding that campaigners plan to hold Biden electorally accountable for his continued support for Israel. We are going to make sure that the DNC knows where we stand on this issue."

President Biden delivered his State of the Union address Thursday night. In it, he made his case for a second term ahead of this year's presidential election, criticizing Republican front-runner Donald Trump without mentioning him by name, and highlighting his administration's policies to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, reinstate reproductive rights and provide support to Ukraine. Our guest Katrina vanden Heuvel, the publisher of The Nation, describes current U.S. foreign policy as a Cold War redux moment" that threatens the success of populist economic policies that have recently taken hold in the Democratic Party after decades of trickle-down, neoliberal economics. She calls for ending the policing and the global policing which the establishment believes is their right," warning that if you don't have a transformative foreign policy, you will end up with military Keynesianism."

Biden Talks Taxing the Rich, Abortion Rights, Immigration Crackdown and Gaza in Election Year SOTU, Hundreds of Activists Block D.C. Streets, Deliver People's SOTU Calling for End to Genocide, We Don't Need Aid. We Need Them to Stop the Killing": Gazans Respond to Biden Aid Port Plan, Palestinian Women Prisoners Share Accounts of Inhumane Treatment, Sexual Assault, Israel Hastens Illegal Construction in Occupied West Bank as It Decimates Gaza, At Least 275 Students Abducted in Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso Team Up for Security Force Days After 170 People Killed in Burkina Faso, Senegal Sets New Election for March 24 After Protesters and Court Push Back on Macky Sall's Delay, Haiti Extends State of Emergency as PM Ariel Henry Remains Stranded Outside of Country, Narendra Modi Visits Kashmir for First Time Since 2019 Crackdown, Hong Kong Introduces New Draft National Security Law, Expanding Its Control on Dissent, U.S. Court Rejects Case Against Big Tech for Its Complicity in Child Labor in DRC, Google Fires Dozens of Contract Workers After They Unionized, Autopsy Shows Lewiston, Maine, Mass Shooter May Have Suffered from Traumatic Brain Injury, Biden Wins Hawaii Democratic Primary; Uncommitted" Takes Nearly 30% of Votes, FDA Issues Warning for 6 Brands of Ground Cinnamon, After Oct. 7, There Are No Longer Any Women": Gazan Women Struggle to Survive on IWD

In Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in Monday as prime minister for a second time, days after newly elected members of Parliament were seated amid protests by lawmakers from the party of ousted and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Sharif will lead a coalition government after none of the major parties won a majority of parliamentary seats in February's election, when Khan supporters accused the military of election tampering. Regardless of actual policy, Khan's enduring popularity as an anti-establishment figure comes from a young, disaffected population, a set of regimes that historically does not deliver, and underlying structural crises that just get worse," says Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, associate professor of political economy at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. That's why I think you have this groundswell of opinion which is both anti-domestic elite and also anti-foreign elite."

While the Biden administration has been publicly voicing reservations over the mounting death toll in Gaza, a Washington Post investigation revealed the administration has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate weapons sales to Israel over the last five months, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters and other lethal aid. Only two approved foreign military sales to Israel have been made public since the launch of Israel's assault on October 7, which the Biden administration approved using emergency authority to bypass Congress. It is actually illegal to provide military assistance to a country that is restricting U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance, and we know that this is the case with Israel," says Josh Paul, a veteran State Department official who worked on arms deals and resigned in protest of a push to increase arms sales to Israel amid its assault on Gaza. Paul describes the production line"-style sale of weapons to Israel and says increasing internal dissent is putting pressure on Biden to change his dead-end" policy of unconditional support for Israel. We have a president and a set of policies ... that remain set on this course regardless of the harm it is doing to Israeli security, to American global interests and, of course, to so many Palestinians."