Democracy Now!

Mass protests are intensifying in Peru following the ouster and jailing of President Pedro Castillo, who was impeached on December 7 after attempting to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. At least 17 protesters have been killed in the unrest as police have attacked crowds with tear gas and live ammunition. On Thursday, a judicial panel ruled that Castillo should remain locked up for 18 months of pretrial detention, and Castillo’s successor, his former vice president, Dina Boluarte, has declared a state of emergency across the country, suspending some civil rights. Peruvian sociologist Eduardo González Cueva calls the government’s heavy-handed response “a coup within a coup” and says dissatisfaction with the entire political establishment is driving the protests. “This is no longer about Castillo personally,” he says. “This is about the people of Peru who do not see themselves represented in this political system and are calling for a very radical change.”

House Passes Bill to Decolonize Puerto Rico, China COVID Surge Could Infect Hundreds of Millions and Lead to 500,000+ Deaths, Biden Adds More Chinese Semiconductor Chip Makers to Trade Blacklist, Biden Wraps Up U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit with $55 Billion Pledge , Congress Approves $858 Billion Military Budget, $45 Billion More Than Requested by Biden, Senate Rejects Permitting Reform Amendment Despite Biden Support for Manchin’s “Dirty Side Deal”, Thousands Rally in Support of Istanbul Mayor Convicted of “Insulting Public Officials”, Spanish Lawmakers Approve Landmark Sexual and Reproductive Health Law, GOP Senators Block Bill Requiring Workplace Accommodations for Pregnant People, U.S. Government Sues Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey over Makeshift Border Wall, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders Probe of NGOs for “Orchestrating” Border Crossings, Michigan Judge Sentences 3 Men Over Role in Plot to Kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Twitter Suspends Journalist Accounts in Mounting Crackdown by Elon Musk, Families of Uvalde Massacre Victims Blast Botched Police Response in House Testimony, 5 Louisiana Officers Charged in Killing of Black Motorist Ronald Greene, Texas Jury Finds White Ex-Officer Committed Manslaughter When He Fatally Shot Atatiana Jefferson, Rep. Ilhan Omar Urges Biden to Pardon Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale

As the world’s attention turns to the World Cup final on Sunday between Argentina and France, we look at the case of imprisoned World Cup whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais, a former communications director for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organizers, who has been imprisoned since November 2019. Ibhais, a Jordanian national, was given a five-year sentence in Qatar on what his family says are trumped-up charges after he raised concern over working conditions for migrant workers who’d gone on strike over months of unpaid wages — including workers building stadiums for the games. Ibhais’s sentence was later reduced to three years, but his family recently said in an open letter that he was subjected to torture after he contributed footage to the ITV documentary “Qatar: State of Fear?” Ibhais’s family has also blasted FIFA, calling it complicit in his imprisonment. For more, we speak with Abdullah’s brother Ziad Ibhais and Nick McGeehan, co-director and co-founder of the human rights organization FairSquare, where he advocates for migrant workers.

Human rights groups say over 14,000 people have been arrested across Iran since protests began in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. At least 400 people have reportedly been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, and multiple people have been executed. The protests are “the longest sustained protests since the start of the revolution,” says Sussan Tahmasebi, a women’s rights activist and feminist from Iran joining us from Brussels, Belgium, who says women and youth are sick of the status quo and are seeking fundamental freedoms. “Iranians voted multiple times for over two decades for some process of reform … but the state has not given in to those demands,” she says. “What we’re seeing now is the result.” Tahmasebi is the director of FEMENA, an organization that promotes gender equality and supports women human rights defenders, and co-founder of the Iran Civil Society Training and Research Center, as well as the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grassroots effort working to end gender-biased laws in Iran.

Peru Declares Month-Long State of Emergency Amid Protests over Ouster of Pedro Castillo, U.S. Federal Reserve Further Raises Interest Rates by 0.5%, As COVID Surges, White House Resumes Program Making Free Tests Available by USPS, Russia Rules Out Christmas Ceasefire in Ukraine as Fierce Fighting Continues, U.S. Citizen Released as Part of Russia-Ukraine Prisoner Swap, Ukraine and Mexico Were Deadliest Countries for Journalists in 2022, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton Blocks Bill to Protect Journalists, Israeli Lawmakers Advance Bill to Allow Recently Convicted Criminals in Government, Reuters: Nigerian Military Slaughtered Children in Campaign Against Boko Haram, WHO Head Tedros Ghebreyesus Says His Uncle Was Killed by Eritrean Soldiers in Tigray, Facebook Faces New Lawsuit, Accused of Inflaming Tigrayan War, Twitter Disbands Trust and Safety Council, Formed to Fight Harassment & Protect Children, Paul Pelosi Attacker Was Also Planning to Go After Gov. Newsom, Hunter Biden and Tom Hanks

This Friday, Mumia Abu-Jamal faces what could be his last chance for a new trial to consider newly discovered evidence that casts doubt on his 1982 conviction for murder. The journalist and former Black Panther has spent 41 years in prison for the death of police officer Daniel Faulkner, for which he has always maintained his innocence. His lawyers say evidence in boxes discovered in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in 2019 shows his trial was tainted by judicial bias, as well as police and prosecutorial misconduct, like withholding evidence, and bribing or coercing witnesses to lie. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Lucretia Clemons indicated she intends to dismiss Mumia’s request for a new trial, but said she would announce her final decision this Friday, December 16. For more on this closely watched case, we speak with Wendell Griffen, Arkansas circuit judge, who is calling for Abu-Jamal’s release and says Judge Clemons should take into account how the irregularities in Abu-Jamal’s case should have already secured his freedom, suggesting a drive for vengeance is the main reason that hasn’t happened. “The prosecution messed up, the investigation messed up, and Mumia Abu-Jamal was wrongfully prosecuted, wrongfully convicted, wrongfully sentenced and is now wrongfully incarcerated,” says Griffen. “But our bloodlust prevents us from acknowledging that.”

As tension rises between the United States and Russia over Ukraine, we speak with Daniel Ellsberg, the famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower, who worked for years during the Cold War on nuclear war strategy within the U.S. national security establishment. He says the threat of a catastrophic nuclear war is intolerable, with intercontinental ballistic missiles posing the highest risk. “The defense budget should be cut more than in half rather than being increased right now, but starting with the most dangerous weapons, the ICBMs,” says Ellsberg, who also calls for the U.S. to commit to a no-first-use policy on nuclear arms.

As supporters of Julian Assange fear his extradition to the United States could be just weeks away, and President Biden faces growing pressure to drop espionage charges against Assange, we are joined for an exclusive joint interview with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and John Young, the founder of Cryptome.org, who have both asked the Department of Justice to indict them for possessing or publishing the same documents as the WikiLeaks founder. The Biden administration is asking the U.K. government to extradite Assange to the U.S., where he faces up to 175 years in prison on espionage and hacking charges for the release of documents that exposed war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now Ellsberg has revealed that he was in possession of confidential documents leaked by former military analyst Chelsea Manning and given to him as backup by WikiLeaks, and Young says he published some of the same documents days before WikiLeaks did. “If they succeed with Julian Assange, … we will not have a First Amendment,” says Ellsberg. “This accusation against Assange would be illegal against an American citizen, so we think it’s selective prosecution and it should cease,” adds Young.

Activists and Lawmakers Gather to Celebrate as Biden Signs Marriage Equality Bill, Iran: At Least 400 Sentenced Up to 10 Years for Anti-Gov’t Protest; Soccer Player Reportedly Faces Execution, Somalia at Precipice of Famine as Hundreds of Thousands Suffer Catastrophic Hunger, DRC Flood Victims Blame Poor Infrastructure, Gov’t Inaction as 120 People Killed in Heavy Rains, South African Parliament Votes Against Impeaching Ramaphosa over Hidden Money Scandal, Bernie Sanders Puts Brake on Yemen War Powers Vote as UNICEF Report Details War’s Impact on Children, U.S. Could Soon Supply Patriot Missiles to Ukraine; Bakhmut Residents Face Utter Destruction, France Convicts 8 People over 2016 Nice Terror Attack That Killed 86 People, At Least 4 Asylum Seekers Drown After Boat Capsizes in British Channel, New Zealand Passes Cigarette Ban for Younger Generations in Hopes of Achieving “Smoke-Free” Future, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Commutes Death Sentences of 17 Prisoners Before Leaving Office, Louisville Settles with Breonna Taylor’s Partner Kenneth Walker, Coterra Energy Given Green Light to Resume Fracking in Dimock After Admitting It Contaminated Water, Breakthrough Nuclear Fusion Experiment Could Contribute to Clean Energy Future, Dec. 14 Marks 10th Anniversary of Sandy Hook Massacre

What does Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s defection from the Democrats mean for the party, control of the Senate and President Biden’s policy agenda? Sinema said last week that she is registering as an independent, though she will keep her committee assignments. Her announcement came just as Democrats were celebrating Senator Raphael Warnock’s reelection in Georgia, which gave Democrats 51 seats in the upper chamber. Ryan Grim of The Intercept says that while Sinema’s change in party affiliation will have “no practical effect” in the Senate, it will head off a primary challenge in 2024. Alejandra Gomez, the executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA Arizona, says Sinema has betrayed the Democratic base that helped propel her to office in 2018. “She has sold her vote to the highest bidder, cozying up to special interests and Big Pharma,” says Gomez.

Outgoing Republican Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona is spending nearly $100 million in his final weeks in office to erect a makeshift border wall along the state’s southern boundary with Mexico made of shipping containers and razor wire. Ducey has described it as an effort to complete former President Donald Trump’s border wall, but the shipping containers are being placed on federal and tribal lands without permission. Protesters who have tried to block construction warn the wall is destroying precious desert biodiversity and forcing asylum seekers to take even more dangerous routes along the border to seek refuge in the United States. Meanwhile, it is unclear what Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs will do with the container wall once she is sworn in. “It’s quite amazing that there’s simply been no [federal] law enforcement response,” says Myles Traphagen with Wildlands Network, who coordinates the group’s borderlands program. “Why aren’t they mobilizing a federal law enforcement response when this is a blatant disregard of the law?” We also speak with Alejandra Gomez, executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA Arizona, who says immigrant communities in Arizona are responding with aid and compassion despite “the fueling of hate against migrants” by Ducey and other Republicans.

Leaders from 49 African nations are in Washington, D.C., this week for a three-day summit organized by the Biden administration. The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit comes as the United States is trying to counter the growing influence of China and Russia in Africa. On Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced a pledge of $55 billion in economic, health and security support for Africa over the next three years. President Biden is also expected to express support for the African Union to join the G20 and to push for the United Nations Security Council to include a permanent member from Africa. The summit in Washington comes as parts of Africa grapple with crises including the climate emergency and political instability, with the past two years seeing coups in Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Guinea. “China is definitely looming in the background” of the summit, says Lina Benabdallah, an assistant professor of politics at Wake Forest University. We also speak with anthropologist Samar Al-Bulushi with the University of California, Irvine, who notes that Biden’s summit comes “at a time when Africa’s geostrategic significance is on the rise and at a time when U.S. influence on the continent is on the decline.”

G7 Leaders Pledge More Aid to Ukraine as Zelensky Appeals for Weapons and Fuel, Viktor Bout Joins Russian Ultranationalist Party; Brittney Griner Resumes Playing Basketball, Disgraced Cryptocurrency Executive Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested in Bahamas, Iranian Protester Publicly Hanged from Crane After Secretive Trial, Attack on Kabul Hotel Kills 3; Taliban Resumes Public Executions and Floggings, Israeli Troops Fatally Shoot 16-Year-Old Palestinian Girl on Roof of Her Own Home, EU Parliament Officials Accused of Accepting Bribes from Qatar, Protests Erupt in Tunisia Ahead of Parliamentary Elections, Protests Spread in Peru as Anger Mounts over Impeachment and Arrest of Pedro Castillo, 300+ People on Oath Keepers Membership Rolls Took Jobs with Homeland Security Dept., Nevada Prisoners’ Hunger Strike Demands End to Abuses and Solitary Confinement, Three Democratic U.S. Congressmembers Meet with Cuban President in Havana , Richmond, Virginia, Removes Last Public Confederate Monument, “Gate of the Exonerated”: NYC to Honor Central Park Five, Wrongfully Convicted of 1989 Crime

We look at “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power,” a remarkable new documentary that shows how a small rural community in Alabama organized during the civil rights movement to challenge white supremacy and systematic disenfranchisement of Black residents, and would become, in some ways, the first iteration of the Black Panther Party. Lowndes County went from having no registered Black voters in 1960 — despite being 80% Black — to being the birthplace in 1965 of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, a radical political party that brought together grassroots activists and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Co-directors Sam Pollard and Geeta Gandbhir tell Democracy Now! the Lowndes County story has not gotten the attention it deserves compared to other chapters of the civil rights movement, in part because its lessons are “more threatening” to the political establishment. “It seems like it has been deliberately left out of the narrative of history,” says Gandbhir. We also speak with Reverend Wendell Paris, a former SNCC field secretary featured in the film, who says the organizing in Lowndes County reflected an understanding by residents that “they needed to band together to defend themselves.”

We feature excerpts from activists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus who were honored Saturday at the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just days earlier vowed that his war in Ukraine would be a “long process” with no clear end in sight. Jan Rachinsky accepted on behalf of the Russian civil rights group Memorial, which was shuttered by the government last year. Oleksandra Matviichuk accepted the award on behalf of the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, and Natallia Pinchuk attended the ceremony in place of her husband, the jailed Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski.

G7 Leaders Renew Support for Ukraine Amid Continued Fighting, Power Outages, Moscow Court Imprisons Kremlin Critic Ilya Yashin for Condemning Russian Violence in Ukraine, Removal of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo Sparks Deadly Unrest; Elections Called for 2024, Keystone Pipeline Ruptures in Kansas, Causing Its Worst-Ever Oil Spill, Indigenous Activists Rally to Demand Strong COP15 Commitment, FBI Arrests Libyan Accused of Making Bomb That Brought Down Pan Am Flight 103 Over Lockerbie, U.S. Regulators Approve Bivalent COVID Boosters for Children as Young as 6 Months, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey Uses Shipping Containers to Build Makeshift Border Wall, Part-Time Faculty at New School End Strike After Winning First Raises in 4 Years, Video Shows Physical Altercation Between L.A. Councilmember Kevin de León and Protester, Karen Bass Sworn In as L.A. Mayor, Declares State of Emergency over Housing Crisis, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Black Feminist Who Co-Founded Ms. Magazine, Dies at 84

We speak with Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, about the campaign to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This week a U.S. federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Prince Mohammed filed by DAWN and Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz, ruling that the crown prince has sovereign immunity from prosecution after being named prime minister of Saudi Arabia earlier this year. “We believe, as a matter of law and a matter of fact, this was a fake, manipulative ploy to title-wash himself with a bogus title and bogus powers as head of government,” says Whitson.

Brittney Griner’s release from Russia has brought renewed attention to the notorious Russian arms dealer whom the U.S. exchanged for the basketball star in a prisoner swap. Viktor Bout, the former Soviet military officer who became known as the “Merchant of Death,” was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States for conspiracy to commit terrorism. Authorities say Viktor Bout was involved in trafficking arms to dictators and stoking conflicts in Africa, South America and the Middle East. He has also been accused of furnishing weapons to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and achieved particular notoriety for selling arms in Rwanda in 1998, just four years after the Rwandan genocide. Kathi Lynn Austin, a former U.N. arms trafficking investigator, says that while Griner’s release is cause for celebration, “it is such a difficult time for those of us who are aware of how Viktor Bout can be easily deployed” in conflict zones. “He is a personified weapon of mass destruction, and he has always proven himself ready, willing and able,” says Austin.

Basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States early Friday after nearly 10 months of detention in Russia. Griner was freed Thursday in a dramatic prisoner swap between the United States and Russia, with the Biden administration agreeing to free Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence. Griner had been held in Russia since February, when she was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing a small amount of cannabis oil, and her status as an openly gay Black woman made freeing her from a country with anti-LGBT laws a pressing concern for supporters. But journalist Dave Zirin says the sports world was still slow to rally to Griner’s cause due to sexism, racism and homophobia. “The amount of erasure and deliberate ignoring of Brittney Griner’s case was apparent to anybody who listens to sports radio or watches sports television,” says Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of the Edge of Sports podcast. “If it was Steph Curry or Tom Brady imprisoned overseas … the cacophony would have been so loud. Yet with Brittney Griner there was silence.”

Brittney Griner Lands in Texas After Prisoner Swap for Russian Arms Dealer Viktor Bout, Congress Passes Landmark Bill Protecting Marriage Equality, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Leaves Democratic Party to Register as an Independent, Whistleblower Describes Campaign by Far-Right Groups to Infiltrate Supreme Court, House Votes Overwhelmingly to Approve $858 Billion Military Spending Bill, Iranian Forces Target Women Protesters with Shotgun Fire to Faces, Breasts and Genitals, “Death Is a Natural Part of Life”: Qatar World Cup CEO Dismisses Deadly Workplace Accident, Qatar World Cup Whistleblower Was Tortured in Prison, Says Family, Honduras Suspends Constitutional Rights in Crackdown on Organized Crime, HRW Blasts El Salvador’s Violent Crackdown on Poor People as Part of Anti-Gang Policy, New School Students Occupy University in Solidarity with Striking Faculty , Striking Workers Call Out New York Times for Hypocrisy on Labor Rights

The Supreme Court is considering a North Carolina redistricting case that could have far-reaching implications for voting rights in the 2024 election and beyond. At stake in Moore v. Harper is whether North Carolina Republican lawmakers had the authority to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling that redrew the state’s congressional map due to partisan gerrymandering. The plaintiffs want the Supreme Court to embrace the notion of “independent state legislature theory,” a radical conservative reading of the Constitution that claims state lawmakers have sweeping authority to override courts, governors and state constitutions. “The stakes are really, really high,” says law professor Franita Tolson, who teaches at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged this week that the war in Ukraine has taken longer than expected, and predicted the conflict could be a “long process.” He also warned the risk of nuclear war is increasing, but vowed not to use nuclear weapons first. Putin’s comments come as Russia continues pounding civilian targets across Ukraine, including energy infrastructure, leaving much of the country in the dark and cold with winter approaching. The United Nations reports more than 17,000 civilians have been killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, including 419 children. For more, we go to Moscow and speak with Russian dissident Boris Kagarlitsky, who says war fatigue is sweeping Russian society. “It will end badly for us in Russia,” says Kagarlitsky, who adds that Russian elites are increasingly uncomfortable. “Russia is losing the war, and Russia is going to lose the war inevitably.”

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was ousted from power Wednesday and arrested hours after he moved to dissolve the country’s Congress, with Vice President Dina Boluarte sworn in to replace him. Castillo is a left-leaning former teacher and union leader who was in office for less than a year and a half, during which time he faced sustained attacks from his political opponents for corruption. His announcement Wednesday that he would dissolve Congress came as lawmakers were preparing for a third time to impeach him. Peruvian scholar Javier Puente, associate professor and chair of Latin American and Latino studies at Smith College, says this week’s dramatic events are just the latest in an “enduring crisis” in Peru that started with dictator Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s. “This is yet another manifestation of the lack of institutional stability that the country has experienced for at least three decades as a result of the legacy of Fujimorismo,” says Puente.

Supreme Court Hears Case That Could Upend Federal Election Rules, Peruvian Lawmakers Remove President Pedro Castillo from Office and Arrest Him, U.N. Says Over 17,000 Civilians Have Been Killed Since Russia Invaded Ukraine, Mohammed bin Salman Welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Capital, Israeli Forces Kill 3 Palestinians in Jenin Raid , 2 Killed as Iraqi Forces Open Fire on Protesters Demanding Freedom for Jailed Activist, Iran Announces First Execution of Person Arrested in Recent Protests, Ex-Guatemalan President and VP Found Guilty of Fraud & Conspiracy, Sentenced to 16 Years, 1,100 NYT Workers Walk Out in Biggest Labor Action at Newspaper in 40 Years, Daniel Ellsberg Says Assange Gave Him Chelsea Manning War Logs , Brittney Griner Freed by Moscow in Exchange for Russian Arms Dealer Viktor Bout

In “Death by Policy,” the newly launched investigative unit of Pulitzer Prize-winning Futuro Media reveals how the U.S. Border Patrol’s policies push migrants attempting to cross from Mexico to the U.S. into dangerous areas, especially the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The longstanding “prevention through deterrence” approach, which funnels people into unsafe migration routes, has contributed to thousands of deaths since the 1990s. For more, we speak to Futuro Media’s Maria Hinojosa, who hosts the new podcast on Latino USA and draws connections to the new bipartisan immigration Senate reform bill. We also speak with Peniley Ramírez, co-host of the unit’s new five-part podcast series ”USA v. García Luna,” which looks at Mexico’s former secretary of public security, García Luna, who will soon become the highest-ranking Mexican official ever to face trial in the United States for his alleged role in drug trafficking. “This person was at the same time, according to the accusation, working for the Mexican government, working for the Sinaloa Cartel and cooperating with U.S. agencies, especially the DEA,” says Ramírez.

Senator Raphael Warnock makes history defeating Republican Herschel Walker in Georgia’s closely watched Senate runoff, becoming the first Black senator to be elected to a six-year term in Georgia. His victory in Tuesday’s special election will give Democrats control of 51 seats in the Senate. It also marks a major defeat for former President Donald Trump, who had handpicked Walker, a former football star who had no political experience, to be the standard-bearer in Georgia. Walker is the eighth Trump-backed Senate candidate to lose this year, despite earlier predictions that Republicans would regain control of the Senate. Warnock received 51.4% of the vote compared to Walker’s 48.6%. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, says intense on-the-ground organizing was able to put Warnock over the top, but she warns that the tight result is a “red flag” signaling the continued threat from Trump. “We’re still fighting voter suppression. We’re still fighting fascism,” says Brown.

Raphael Warnock Wins Reelection, Makes History as First Full-Term Black GA Senator, Trump Org Guilty of Tax Fraud and Other Charges After 3-Year Manhattan DA Probe, House Jan. 6 Cmte. to Make Criminal Referrals to DOJ; Lawmakers Honor Responding Officers, Special Counsel Investigating Trump Subpoenas AZ, MI, PA and WI Officials, SCOTUS Hears Pivotal Election Case with Far-Reaching Implications, Judge Sentences Michael Avenatti to 14 Years for Stealing Money from Clients, Germany Arrests 25 People from Far-Right Group for Plotting to Overthrow Gov’t, China Eases Zero-COVID Policy After Mounting Public Anger, Argentinian Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Sentenced to 6 Years for Corruption, Indonesia Passes New Criminal Code Cracking Down on Free Speech, LGBTQ Community, U.S. Judge Dismisses Suit Against MBS over Jamal Khashoggi Murder, Prosecutors Charge Club Q Mass Shooter with Hate Crimes, San Francisco Reverses Decision to Allow Police to Use Killer Robots, Washington, D.C., Poised to Offer Free Bus Service, Indigenous Activists Interrupt Speech by Canadian PM Trudeau at U.N. Biodiversity Conference

Voters in Georgia cast their ballots Tuesday in the closely watched runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker. A victory for Warnock would give Democrats a 51st seat in the Senate. The election has seen a record number of early votes, especially in communities of color, but Black Voters Matter co-founder and executive director Cliff Albright says that is “partially a function of the voter suppression” in the state. A new voting law passed by Georgia last year, known as SB 202, reduced the early voting period from three weeks to one and introduced a range of other restrictions.

The New York Times and four major European newspapers — The Guardian in Britain, Le Monde in France, Der Spiegel in Germany and El País in Spain — recently urged the Biden administration to drop all charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In a joint letter, the newspapers said, “This indictment sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press.” The letter ends with the words “Publishing is not a crime.” Assange, who is jailed in Britain, faces up to 175 years in a U.S. prison on espionage and hacking charges for exposing U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. The five publications had partnered with WikiLeaks in 2010 to report on documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. “The prosecution of Assange … would set a clear and devastating precedent in the United States that could be applied to any of these organizations’ journalists, going forward,” says Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

A group of journalists working for the award-winning Central American independent news outlet El Faro have filed a lawsuit in U.S. court against NSO Group, the Israeli company that operates the Pegasus spyware used to monitor and track journalists, human rights activists and dissidents across the globe. The journalists of El Faro, which is based in El Salvador, allege that Pegasus software was used to infiltrate their iPhones and track their communications and movements. “We’re of course of the belief that it was the government of El Salvador who engaged in these attacks. This is weapons-grade software that is sold exclusively to governments,” says Roman Gressier, a French American staff reporter with El Faro English and one of 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. We also speak with Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the lead lawyer in the lawsuit, who says part of the goal is to force the courts to confirm who NSO Group’s client was. “That would send a signal to other government clients around the world that they can no longer rely on NSO Group’s assurances of secrecy when they … intimidate and persecute journalists, civil rights activists, human rights activists around the world,” says DeCell.

With the war in Ukraine now in its 10th month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden have both expressed openness to peace talks to end the fighting, as have leaders in France, Germany and elsewhere. This comes as millions of Ukrainians brace for a winter without heat or electricity due to Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. “This war needs to end because it’s a disaster for everybody, a threat to the whole world,” says economist and foreign policy scholar Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He says four major issues need to be addressed to end the war: Ukraine’s sovereignty and security, NATO enlargement, the fate of Crimea and the future of the Donbas region.

Russian Missiles Fall Across Ukraine After Drones Strike Air Bases Deep Inside Russia, Vladimir Putin Signs Bill Expanding Russia’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws, Supreme Court Hears Case Pitting Religious Freedom Against LGBTQ+ Protections, Biden Administration Expands Temporary Protected Status for Haitian Refugees, U.S. Senators Reportedly Nearing Deal on Immigration Bill, CDC Encourages People Wear Masks Amid Surge of Flu, RSV and COVID-19, Ethiopian Troops Accused of Massacring Tigrayan Prisoners of War, Congolese Protesters Demand Peace as M23 Rebels Are Accused of Massacring 272 Civilians, Al Jazeera Asks International Criminal Court to Prosecute Shireen Abu Akleh’s Killers, Protesters in Mongolia’s Capital Decry Coal Industry and Government Corruption, Georgia Holds Runoff Election Pitting Sen. Raphael Warnock Against Herschel Walker, Judge Dismisses Murder Charge Against Domestic Abuse Survivor Tracy McCarter, 17 Arrested as Striking University of California Academic Workers Stage Sit-In Protest

Residents of New York’s Chinatown are speaking out against the construction of a new megajail in the neighborhood that would be a third as high as the Empire State Building, which would likely make it the tallest jail in the world, if finished. The so-called jailscraper is part of an $8 billion plan to build new jails across the city in order to retire the infamous Rikers Island facility, but opponents say that money would be better spent on social services, harm reduction and other initiatives that would better serve the community. Jan Lee, co-founder of the community group Neighbors United Below Canal, says Chinatown residents are interested in “creating a more humane environment for those who are incarcerated.” We also speak with Christopher Marte, who represents the area on New York City Council, and Jon Alpert, co-founder of the community media center DCTV, based in Chinatown for half a century, who has been documenting the struggle.

A group of current and former Yale students is suing the Ivy League university over what they say is “systemic discrimination” against students struggling with mental health issues. In a lawsuit filed last week, they say school administrators routinely pressure students to withdraw from Yale rather than accommodating their mental health needs, a practice that disproportionately hurts students of color, those from poor or rural backgrounds and international students. For more, we speak with Alicia Abramson, a current Yale student and one of the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who says she was pushed to withdraw while dealing with an eating disorder, depression and insomnia, which led her to lose her health insurance and most of her tuition. “It certainly felt like Yale was abandoning me when I was in need of the most help,” says Abramson. We also speak with attorney Monica Porter, with the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and Miriam Heyman, a researcher at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University.

Early Voting Breaks Records Ahead of Georgia’s Crucial Senate Runoff, DNC Agrees to New Presidential Primary Calendar, Making South Carolina First State to Vote, G7 Price Cap on Russian Oil Goes into Effect as European Countries Grapple with Energy Crisis, Intense Fighting Continues in Eastern Ukraine; Global Arms Sales Continue to Rise, Targeted Shooting at North Carolina Power Stations Triggers Curfew, Cuts Power to 45,000 Customers, Biden Signs Law Thwarting Rail Strike, Depriving Workers of Paid Sick Leave, South Korean Trade Unions Rally in Solidarity with Striking Truckers, Iran’s Morality Police Could Be Suspended Following 3 Months of Anti-Government Protests, U.N. Envoy Calls for Probe After Video Captures Israeli Soldier Killing Palestinian Man, Syrian Troops Open Fire on Rare Anti-Government Protest, Killing 2, Sudan’s Military Rulers Sign Deal to Gradually Transition to Civilian Rule, Tens of Thousands of Congolese March to Demand Peace in DRC, Donald Trump Calls for “Termination” of U.S. Constitution, “Fire Drill Friday”: Climate Protesters Target Sen. Manchin’s “Dirty Deal” on Permits

When high school students in Rockland County, New York, invited renowned activist and professor Angela Davis to speak, the event got shut down in two different venues over protests that she was “too radical.” But the students persevered, and Angela Davis addressed a packed church Thursday night. “I talked about the importance of recognizing that through struggle, through organized struggle, through the efforts of people who come together and join hands and join their voices together, we’ve made changes in this country,” says Davis. We also speak with community activist Nikki Hines, who supported students at Rockland County High School when they invited Davis to speak and who says “misinformation” drove the protests.

More than six months since the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reporting in the occupied West Bank, “there is still no accountability in what happened,” says journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous. He is the correspondent on a new Al Jazeera documentary for the program “Fault Lines” that investigates Abu Akleh’s May killing. It draws on videos and eyewitness accounts of Abu Akleh’s killing to establish that Abu Akleh was fatally shot in the head by Israeli forces, a finding supported by numerous other press investigations. The Biden administration also recently opened an FBI probe into her killing, but Israel is refusing to cooperate and has continued to deny responsibility. Abu Akleh, who was one of the most recognizable faces in the Arab world, had worked for Al Jazeera for 25 years and held U.S. citizenship. We play excerpts from the Al Jazeera documentary, “The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh,” and hear from Shireen’s niece Lina Abu Akleh. “We want there to be accountability. We want there to be justice,” she says.

Senate Votes to Impose Contract on Rail Workers, Rejecting Paid Sick Leave, Supreme Court to Keep Biden Student Debt Relief Plan on Hold as It Considers Challenge, Biden Says He Is Prepared to Meet Putin Under Certain Conditions, Benjamin Netanyahu Coalition Deal Puts Far-Right Party in Charge of Illegal Settlements, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Future Uncertain After Damning Report, Guatemalan Newspaper El Periódico Ceases Print Edition After Being Targeted by Government, Amnesty Report Reveals Systematic Sexual Abuse by Colombian Police Against 2021 Protesters, Biden Proposes Change to Presidential Primary Schedule to Give Voters of Color More Power, Appeals Court Halts Special Master Review of Trump Mar-a-Lago Documents, Uvalde Survivors and Grieving Families Sue over Catastrophic Failures of Local Authorities

New York Mayor Eric Adams announced this week that police and emergency medical workers will start hospitalizing people with mental illness against their will, even if they pose no threat to others. Rights groups and community organizations have slammed the move as inhumane and are demanding better access to housing and other support for people struggling with mental illness and homelessness. “That does require funding. That does require investment. Unfortunately, we don’t get that,” says Jumaane Williams, New York City’s public advocate, who says officials are too quick to use policing as a solution to social inequality. We also speak with Jawanza Williams of social justice group VOCAL-NY, who says Mayor Adams and his administration are intent on obscuring issues of homelessness and mental illness rather than solving them. “Hiding, disappearing people experiencing homelessness, dismantling encampments, preventing people from taking photographs inside of the shelters will not prevent the truth from coming out,” he says.

With a new Congress being sworn in next month, Democratic lawmakers have a busy lame-duck session during which they will try to pass as many bills as possible before losing their majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate has just passed the historic Respect for Marriage Act in a 61-36 vote that protects marriage equality, and lawmakers are also moving to impose a controversial contract on the freight rail industry to avert a possible strike by thousands of rail workers who are demanding sick days and other improvements. Meanwhile, a fight is looming over a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. For more, we speak with journalist David Dayen, whose recent piece for The American Prospect is headlined “Reconciliation Is Available to End Debt Limit Hostage-Taking.”

Jurors in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of seditious conspiracy for plotting to keep Donald Trump in power after the 2020 election, resulting in the deadly January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Kelly Meggs, who led the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers, was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, and three other insurrectionists were found guilty of other felonies. The case marks the first time in nearly three decades that a federal jury has convicted defendants of seditious conspiracy, the crime of conspiring to overthrow, put down or destroy by force the government of the United States. “It’s a win for the Justice Department, and it also sends a message that illegal actions against the government will not go unpunished,” says Kristen Doerer, managing editor of Right Wing Watch. Doerer also discusses other upcoming trials for insurrectionists and how extremist groups have infiltrated military and law enforcement circles.

House Passes Bill to Block Rail Strike at Urging of President Biden, House Democrats Elect Hakeem Jeffries to Head Party, China Moves to Lift Some COVID Restrictions as Protests Continue, Russian Lawmakers Approve Expanding Anti-LGBTQ Law, Palestinian Activist Arrested After Filming Israeli Solider Assaulting Israeli Activist, U.S. Citizen Faces Extradition from UAE to Egypt for Criticizing el-Sisi, Appeals Court Denies Biden Admin Request to Reinstate Student Loan Relief Plan, U.S. Gov’t to Close Berks Immigrant Prison, Which Once Locked Up Asylum-Seeking Families, ICE Posts Personal Data of Asylum Seekers Online, Putting Thousands at Risk, Students with Mental Health Disabilities Sue Yale for Discrimination, Cryptome Founder Says He Should Be Prosecuted with Julian Assange for Publishing Classified Docs, Biden Announces Plan to Help Tribal Communities Respond to Climate Crisis, Including Relocation, DOJ Sues City of Jackson for Failing to Provide Residents with Safe Drinking Water, Coterra Energy Acknowledges Fracking Polluted Water of PA Residents, Will Pay $16 Million, 2022 Right Livelihood Awards Honors Activists from Somalia, Ukraine, Uganda and Venezuela, U.N. Calls for Renewed Push to Combat AIDS, Address Inequalities

Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board has voted to extend a contract with LUMA Energy — the private U.S.-Canadian corporation that took over the island’s power grid and is widely denounced by residents on the island for its inconsistent service and high prices. The privatization of Puerto Rico’s power grid, supported by an unelected board appointed by the U.S. government, represents the “everyday consequences of colonialism,” says independent reporter Bianca Graulau, whose latest documentary is called “País de Apagones,” or “Country of Blackouts.”

The largest higher education strike in U.S. history has entered its third week in an effort to secure livable wages, more child care benefits, expanded family leave and other demands. Some 48,000 academic workers at all 10 University of California campuses are on strike, including teaching assistants, postdoctoral scholars, graduate student researchers, tutors and fellows. We speak with a professor and graduate students at three campuses in the UC system, as a tentative deal with postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers was announced Tuesday by the University of California that does not cover graduate student employees who make up the vast majority of those on strike. “We are the ones who are producing the work. We’re teaching the classrooms. And yet, most of these student workers qualify for food stamps,” says UCLA doctoral student and local union head Enrique Olivares Pesante. UC Davis student researcher Aarthi Sekar describes how international graduate students have also been impacted. We also speak with Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy at UC Santa Barbara.

President Biden is pushing Congress to block a pending nationwide rail strike and push through a contract deal that includes no sick days and is opposed by four of the 12 rail unions. Biden’s latest request is an attempt to “legislate us basically back to work, before we’ve even had a chance to strike,” says locomotive engineer and Railroad Workers United organizer Ron Kaminkow. “Workers should have the right to take off work for a reasonable amount for whatever reason they need it,” says labor professor Nelson Lichtenstein, who urges the rail workers to strike anyway.

Senate Passes Marriage Equality Act in Bipartisan Vote, House to Impose Deal Blocking Rail Strike Despite Objections from Workers, Progressive Dems, U.S. Announces Ukraine Infrastructure Aid as Europe Calls for Tribunal for Russian War Crimes, Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes Found Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy, Qatari World Cup Official Says 400-500 Migrant Workers Died While Working on FIFA Tournament, Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin Dies at 96, Blast at Religious School in Northern Afghanistan Kills at Least 15, Missouri Executes Kevin Johnson After SCOTUS Denies Stay, Democratic Congressmember Donald McEachin Dies, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Erupts for First Time in Almost Four Decades, NYC to Start Involuntarily Hospitalizing People with Mental Illness, 16 Communities in Puerto Rico File Climate Lawsuit Against Big Oil

In a remarkable courtroom scene, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked a New York judge Monday to dismiss murder charges against Tracy McCarter, who says she acted in self-defense when her estranged husband died from a stab wound in the chest in 2020. Bragg campaigned on a promise to fight to free McCarter of murder charges, though, when elected, advocates say his actions initially fell short. This comes as pressure is growing in New York to end the criminalization of domestic abuse survivors, which happens at a disproportionate rate against Black women. Advocates say 90% of women who are incarcerated in New York have been subjected to domestic violence. McCarter “had done everything we tell domestic abuse survivors to do,” says journalist Victoria Law, who has closely followed McCarter’s case, but the nurse still finds herself “in legal limbo, waiting to see if she can try to start picking up the pieces of her life or if she will be facing trial for murder.”

We speak with author Jules Boykoff about the climate and political implications of the 2022 World Cup. The soccer tournament is being played in the winter for the first time due to Qatar’s extreme summer temperatures. Boykoff says Qatar and FIFA have greenwashed the event by erroneously claiming the World Cup is “fully carbon neutral” despite blocking an independent review of the games. Boykoff also says Qatar is participating in “sportswashing” by using the games to deflect attention from labor abuses. Boykoff’s article in Scientific American is “The World Cup in Qatar Is a Climate Catastrophe.”

As the 2022 World Cup plays out in Qatar, the first Arab country to host the major sporting event, we speak with history professor Abdullah Al-Arian, who says the international media is projecting an “Orientalist outlook” in its coverage of the games. Al-Arian says despite mainstream discourse, football in the Middle East has historically been used by nationalist movements as “a means of organizing collectively on the basis of achieving their own liberation against colonial rule.” His recent New York Times opinion piece is “Why the World Cup Belongs in the Middle East.”

NATO Pledges More Support for Ukraine as Some in Europe Accuse U.S. of Profiting from the War, China Eases Some COVID Restrictions as It Moves to Block New Protests, In Blow to Taiwanese Gov’t, Voters Back Opposition Nationalist Party in Local Elections, Biden Sides with Big Business & Asks Congress to Block Potential Rail Strike, Teenage Gunman Pleads Guilty in Mass Shooting at Buffalo Supermarket in Black Neighborhood, Chesapeake, Virginia, Holds Vigil for Walmart Workers Shot Dead by Store Manager, Five Police Officers in New Haven, CT, Arrested After Man Is Paralyzed in Police Van, Arizona Sues Republican-Led County for Refusing to Certify 2022 Election Results, “Publishing Is Not a Crime”: Major Newspapers Urge Biden to Drop Charges Against Julian Assange, Biden Eases Sanctions on Venezuela and Allows Chevron to Resume Oil Pumping, Israeli Military Demolish Palestinian Primary School Near Hebron, Israel Kills Four Palestinians as U.N. Warns Occupied West Bank Is “Reaching a Boiling Point”, Former British Soldier Convicted of Shooting Irish Man in Back in 1988 During the Troubles, Missouri Supreme Court Refuses to Halt Execution of Kevin Johnson, Mike Pence & White House Condemn Trump for Hosting White Supremacist at Mar-a-Lago, Houston Lifts Boil Water Notice for 2 Million Residents, Judge Orders Amazon to Stop Retaliating Against Union Organizing Efforts, Two Peet’s Coffee Stores Move to Become Chain’s First Unionized Stores