Democracy Now!

DOJ Reveals “Pattern or Practice” of Abuse of Power, Racism in Louisville, KY, Police, DOJ Launches Review of Memphis Police; Judge Blocks Release of Video of Tyre Nichols Killing, D.C. Leaders Rally for Statehood as U.S. Senate Blocks D.C. Crime Bill, Mississippi NAACP Challenges GOP Effort to Take Control Over Black-Majority Capital Jackson, Zaporizhzhia Suffers Another Blackout as Missiles Rain Down on Ukraine, Killing at Least 9, NYT: Pentagon Blocking Biden Admin from Sharing Likely Russian War Crimes Evidence with ICC, Saudi Engineer Released from Guantánamo After More Than 2 Decades Without Charge, Israeli Forces Kill 3 Palestinians in New Jenin Raid as U.S. Defense Secretary Lands in Tel Aviv, Georgia Withdraws “Foreign Agent” Bill After Mass Protests, Sen. Warren Blasts Fed Chair over Plan to Hike Interest Rates, White House Condemns Tucker Carlson Coverage of Jan. 6 as Texts Reveal Carlson Said He Hated Trump, Kevin Alexander Gray, Civil Rights Activist and Jesse Jackson SC Campaign Mgr., Dies at 65

As we mark International Women’s Day on March 8, we look at the criminalization of abortion with filmmaker Celina Escher, who directed the award-winning documentary Fly So Far about abortion in El Salvador, which has enforced an abortion ban since 1998, and dozens of people have been convicted and imprisoned after having miscarriages, stillbirths and other obstetric emergencies. On Monday, women’s rights activists called for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to condemn El Salvador in a case brought a decade ago by a woman, Beatriz, who died after being forced to carry a pregnancy although the fetus could not survive. Escher says El Salvador’s current policies amount to “torture for the women and girls” forced to bring nonviable and dangerous pregnancies to term against their will.

Iranian parents and teachers have been holding protests in Tehran and other cities following a spate of apparent poisonings at girls’ schools since November. According to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran, there have been at least 290 suspected school poisonings in recent months, sickening at least 7,000 students with symptoms including headaches, fatigue and more. Meanwhile, the head of the country’s judiciary said earlier this week that Iranian women could be punished for violating the Islamic dress code. His remarks came just months after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody sparked nationwide protests. For more on women’s rights in Iran, we speak with Manijeh Moradian, assistant professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Barnard College, author of This Flame Within: Iranian Revolutionaries in the United States and part of the Feminists for Jina network.

A top United Nations official said Wednesday that “Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights.” Since taking power nearly 19 months ago, the Taliban has moved systematically to erase women from public life by banning women and girls from schools, from working with nongovernmental organizations and from traveling without a male relative. “Afghanistan is now effectively one of the biggest prisons in the world for women,” says Zahra Nader, a freelance Afghan journalist who was formerly a reporter for The New York Times in Kabul and is now based in Canada. She is the editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a new Afghan women-led outlet documenting human rights issues in Afghanistan.

March 8 marks International Women’s Day around the world, seeking to end gender discrimination, violence and abuse. We start the show by looking at the day’s roots in socialism, and what it means for the movement for reproductive justice in the United States. Our guest is Nancy Krieger, renowned professor of social epidemiology at Harvard University’s School of Public Health and director of the Interdisciplinary Concentration on Women, Gender, and Health. She’s also co-founder and chair of the Spirit of 1848 Caucus in the American Public Health Association, which links social justice and public health. International Women’s Day has always been a struggle for “the conditions in which people can thrive,” says Krieger.

Israeli Forces Kill 6 Palestinians in Jenin Raid, as Settlers Attack Palestinian Family in Huwara, Wagner Group Says It Seized Eastern Bakhmut; NYT Reports Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, Russia Jails Blogger Dmitry Ivanov over Criticism of War on Ukraine, Georgians Take to the Streets over Proposed “Foreign Agents” Law, 3 Mada Masr Journalists on Trial Amid Ongoing Egyptian Crackdown on Press, Spain Advances Gender Parity Bill, Malnutrition in Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women and Girls on the Rise, 5 Women Sue Texas for Denying Them Abortions, Gigi Sohn Withdraws FCC Nomination After Vicious Industry and Right-Wing Smear Campaign, DOJ Sues to Block JetBlue’s Merger with Spirit Airlines, France Sees Largest Protest Yet Against Pension Reform

We examine the state of U.S. politics, Trumpism, journalism and more with Mehdi Hasan, host of The Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC and Peacock. His new book is titled Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking.

As the U.N. secretary-general blasts wealthy nations for rigging the global economy for their benefit, we speak with economist Joseph Stiglitz about how war, the pandemic and the climate emergency are causing economic crises across the globe. He also says interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve are making things worse for the Global South, as the cost of borrowing rises for many countries already struggling with debt. Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. He is also currently the chief economist of the Roosevelt Institute. His latest book is titled People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent. Professor Stiglitz joins us on Democracy Now! to discuss the current global economy.

Biden Administration Mulls Return to Detention of Asylum-Seeking Families, Migrants in Tunisia Flee Hate Crimes and Violence Following President’s Racist Remarks, Survivors of Forced Labor Under Japanese Occupation Condemn South Korean Compensation Plan, North Korea Warns U.S. Shootdown of Test-Fired Missiles Would Be “Declaration of War”, Chinese Leaders Condemn U.S. Policy of “Containment, Encirclement and Suppression”, Ukraine Holds Out in Defense of Bakhmut as Both Sides Inflict Heavy Losses, Belarus Sentences Opposition Leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 Years for Treason, Doctors Without Borders Considers Suspending Haiti Operations Amid Gang Violence, U.S. May Vaccinate Millions of Chickens as Avian Influenza Spreads, Atlanta-Area Prosecutors Charge 23 with Domestic Terrorism over Cop City Protests, Norfolk Southern Agrees to Limited Plan to Relocate East Palestine Residents During Cleanup, Minneapolis Residents Resist Plans to Demolish Warehouse on Toxic Site

A number of bombshell revelations about the inner workings of Fox News have come to light as part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against the network. Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News, has admitted under oath that many hosts on his network “endorsed” Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election for financial, not political, reasons, stating, “It is not red or blue, it is green.” In court filings, Dominion also revealed that Murdoch had given Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner confidential information about Biden’s campaign ads and debate strategy in possible violation of election laws. Our guest, Angelo Carusone, is president of the watchdog group Media Matters for America, which recently sent a Federal Elections Commission complaint against Fox News based on evidence from the Dominion lawsuit. “All the way from Rupert Murdoch on down to the show producers, they knew what they were saying was not true, that it was actually a lie, and they did it anyway,” says Carusone.

At least 150 bills have been filed by Republican lawmakers across the United States that target transgender people, with at least seven states enacting bans on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. Other bills have targeted drag performers, doctors and trans adults seeking transition-related care. For more on growing conservative attacks on transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community, we speak to Chase Strangio, deputy director for trans justice with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, who says the backlash “at its core has always been about pushing trans people out of public life and eradicating transness.”

The first-ever international treaty to protect the oceans was agreed to by negotiators from more than 190 countries at a United Nations conference this weekend, capping nearly two decades of efforts by conservation groups. The legally binding pact could help reverse marine biodiversity loss by establishing marine protected areas covering nearly a third of the world’s seas by 2030. We hear more from one of the treaty’s scientist-negotiators, Minna Epps, a marine biologist and director of the Ocean Team at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Nations Reach Historic Agreement to Protect High Seas, Iran and IAEA Agree to Strengthen Cooperation in Hopeful Sign for Nuclear Talks, Outrage Mounts over Mysterious Poisoning of Iranian Schoolgirls, U.N. Expert Says Taliban Attacks on Women and Girls Could Be Crime Against Humanity, Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan Evades Arrest, Huge Blaze in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya Refugee Camp Destroys Thousands of Homes, Shell Pipeline Kills 12 in Nigeria; Massive Lawsuit Targets Shell’s Operation in Niger Delta, U.K. Cracks Down on Refugee Rights in Right-Wing Effort to “Stop the Boats”, Shahida Raza, Pakistani Pro Athlete, Named as Victim of Shipwreck Off Calabrian Coast That Killed 57, Protests Rock Athens Amid Mounting Anger over Greek Train Tragedy, Another Norfolk Southern Train Derails in Ohio Ahead of Senate Testimony by CEO Alan Shaw, Biden Commemorates 58th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, Donald Trump Repeats Lies About 2020 Election in CPAC Keynote Speech, Marianne Williamson Launches 2024 Presidential Campaign, 35 Arrested Near Site of Proposed “Cop City” Police Training Center in Atlanta, Deadly Storms Claim 13 Lives Across U.S., 22 Lawmakers Call on Biden to Block Willow Project Oil and Gas Development in Alaska, Judy Heumann, “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement,” Dies at 75

Guatemala’s presidential election this year is taking place against a backdrop of worsening repression against journalists, human rights activists and Indigenous environmental defenders. The Guatemalan Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld a decision by the country’s electoral tribunal to bar Indigenous human rights defender Thelma Cabrera from running. Cabrera and her running mate, former human rights ombudsman Jordán Rodas, are members of the leftist political party the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples. They visited the United States in February to meet with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights following their ban and spoke with Democracy Now! about the election, their platform and how political elites in the country have consolidated power. “Guatemala is a corrupt state that’s been coopted by criminals. This is now reflected in violating our right to participate in this presidential election,” said Cabrera.

Opposition parties are disputing the results of Saturday’s presidential election in Nigeria, where the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the winner to be Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress party. The former governor of Lagos played a key role in helping outgoing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari win two terms in office and campaigned using the slogan “It’s my turn.” Tinubu received about 36% of the vote, and turnout was under 30%. Several of Tinubu’s challengers have disputed the results, alleging fraud, while election observers and voters have cited delays, closures and violence at voting sites. For more on how the election could play out in Africa’s most populous nation, we speak with Aderonke Ige in Lagos. She is a human rights activist and lawyer who works with Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, or CAPPA.

New York City has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with peaceful protesters who were violently “boxed in” or “kettled” by NYPD officers during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in response to the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. As part of the settlement, over 300 people who were trapped by police and assaulted with batons and pepper spray, then detained or arrested at a June 4, 2020, protest in the neighborhood of Mott Haven, will each receive $21,500 — believed to be the largest class-action settlement in a case of mass arrest. We are joined by three people who were at the Mott Haven protest: Samira and Amali Sierra, sisters who are two of the five listed plaintiffs, and Democracy Now! video news fellow Sonyi Lopez, whose footage of the protest was used in a Human Rights Watch report that condemned the NYPD’s actions as “serious violations of international human rights law.” In addition, we speak to Joshua Moskovitz, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

German Chancellor to Hold Confidential Talks with Biden Amid Tensions over Arming Ukraine, Blinken Presses Russia’s Lavrov to Return to New START Nuclear Treaty, Belarus Jails Dissidents Including Nobel Laureate Ales Bialiatski, Cambodian Opposition Leader Kem Sokha Found Guilty of Treason, Sentenced to 27 Years, Israeli Troops Fatally Shoot 15-Year-Old Palestinian, Emmanuel Macron Embarks on African Tour Amid Tensions over French Presence in Ex-Colonies, Walgreens Won’t Dispense Abortion Pills in States Where Abortion Is Still Legal After GOP Threats, Eli Lilly Lowers Price of Insulin After Intense Public Pressure, East Palestine Residents Confront Norfolk Southern as EPA Orders Rail Co. to Test for Dioxins, House Ethics Committee Launches Probe into Rep. George Santos’s Litany of Lies, DOJ Says Trump Is Not Immune from Jan. 6 Lawsuits

On Sunday, Israeli settlers ransacked and torched Palestinian homes in Huwara, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, killing at least one Palestinian resident and injuring dozens of others. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of backing a pogrom in Huwara. Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday that Huwara needs to be “wiped out” and that the state of Israel should do it. In response, 22 Israeli international law experts sent a letter to Israel’s attorney general demanding an immediate investigation against Smotrich for potential war crimes. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also condemned Smotrich’s comments, though he framed the conflict as bilateral by referencing the need to condemn Palestinian “incitement to violence.” Meanwhile, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on the U.S., as the Israeli government’s most powerful international ally, to take action to stop its violence. For more on this latest escalation of the Israeli occupation, we’re joined by Saddam Omar, a Huwara resident who witnessed the settler attacks, and Gideon Levy, an award-winning Israeli journalist and columnist for Haaretz.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was at the top of the agenda of a critical meeting of G20 foreign ministers this week in New Delhi. The issue has caused deep divisions within the G20, which includes 19 major economies and the European Union. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, spoke briefly on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, though there was no diplomatic breakthrough between the two countries. The G20 meeting comes a week after China released a 12-point peace plan and as calls grow for a negotiated end to the fighting. To talk more about possible peace talks, we are joined by two guests: Vladislav Zubok, a Russian professor of international history at the London School of Economics, and Wolfgang Sporrer, a conflict manager and adjunct professor at the Hertie School in Berlin, who was head of human rights for the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Kyiv from 2014 to 2020.

Top U.S. and Russian Diplomats Meet Briefly at G20 Talks as Ukraine War Rages On, Finland Advances Bid to Join NATO as Turkey Holds Up Sweden’s Bid, U.S. Approves $619 Million Sale of High-Tech Weapons to Taiwan, U.S. Air Force Relieves Six Officers over Safety Lapses at North Dakota Nuclear Base, Israeli Protesters Opposed to Judicial Overhaul Met with Police Violence, “Repugnant”: U.S. Condemns Israeli Minister’s Call to “Erase” Palestinian Town of Huwara, U.S. Spy Agencies Reject Claims That “Havana Syndrome” Was Caused by Foreign Power, Protests Erupt in Greece After Train Crash That Killed at Least 46 People , NYC to Pay Millions to Victims of Police Abuse During 2020 “Kettling” of BLM Protesters, Hunger-Striking Immigrant Detainees in CA Vow to Continue Protest Demanding Humane Conditions, Nationwide Actions Call for an End to ICE, DHS and CBP After 2 Decades of Terrorizing Communities, NLRB Judge Orders Starbucks to Rehire Workers, Reopen Stores Closed in Retaliation for Unionization, Chicago Activists Boosted by Overwhelming Electoral Support for Affordable Housing Plans, Dan Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers Whistleblower & Longtime Activist, Announces Terminal Cancer Diagnosis

In Alabama, hundreds of striking miners are set to return to work Thursday after nearly two years spent on picket lines in the so-called right-to-work state. This was the longest strike in Alabama history. Its end comes after the Warrior Met Coal company successfully used replacement workers to keep its mines running, reporting large profits to shareholders due to the skyrocketing price of coal. At the same time, the company told miners they would only retain their jobs if they agreed to a 20% pay cut and to relinquish various benefits relating to weekend pay and healthcare. We go to Birmingham, Alabama, for an update from independent labor journalist Kim Kelly, who has covered the Warrior Met strike since it began and says many of the workers felt abandoned.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in two challenges to the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan, which could give tens of millions of federal borrowers up to $20,000 of relief. During arguments, several conservative justices expressed skepticism over the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan, while liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor blasted the Republican states who brought one of the lawsuits. We’re joined by Eleni Schirmer, who organizes with the Debt Collective and is a writer and postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University’s Social Justice Centre in Montreal. Her new piece in The New Yorker is headlined “How the Government Cancelled Betty Ann’s Debts.”

At least 67 people, including children, died in a shipwreck Sunday off the coast of southern Italy, and rescue workers fear the death toll could climb above 100 as they recover more bodies from the sea. It is believed to be the deadliest migrant shipwreck of its kind in almost a decade. Almost 26,000 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014, but many governments have responded by criminalizing rescue efforts by humanitarian groups. Just days before this latest shipwreck off the coast of Italy, the Italian government of far-right leader Giorgia Meloni approved a new law making it harder for humanitarian aid rescue vessels to carry out their missions. For more, we speak with Caroline Willemen, a search and rescue leader with Médecins Sans Frontières, which has had one of its ships detained by Italian authorities as part of the new measures, blocking it from going to sea to save lives for at least 20 days.

Chicago-based Democracy Now! co-host Juan González gives an update on the Chicago mayoral race after incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot failed to advance to a runoff election. The two top candidates are now Paul Vallas, the former head of Chicago Public Schools, who has been endorsed by the local police union, and Brandon Johnson, an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union. González says the race pits progressives in the city against centrist and conservative forces and could be a bellwether of where the Democratic Party goes.

SCOTUS Hears Challenges to Government Student Relief Plan as Activists Rally, Senate Holds Equal Rights Amendment Hearing as U.S. Court Denies Attempt to Include in Constitution, Bola Tinubu of Ruling Party Wins Nigeria Election Amid Low Turnout, Rigging Charges, Hundreds of Iranian Schoolgirls Suffered Toxic Poisonings in Last Four Months, Biden Names Labor Advocate Julie Su to Lead Labor Dept.; Democrats Reintroduce PRO Act, Mississippi Enacts Transgender Healthcare Ban for Youth Amid Spate of Anti-Trans Laws in Red States, Tennessee Gov. Says He Will Sign Bill Criminalizing Drag as Old Photo of Him in Drag Circulates, 30 Million SNAP Recipients Get Their Food Benefits Slashed, Lori Lightfoot Loses Reelection for Chicago Mayor; Paul Vallas & Brandon Johnson Advance to Runoff

We speak with Celso Amorim, the foreign adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, about how Brazil could play a key role in peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. Lula recently met with President Biden, who has unsuccessfully pushed Brazil to send weapons to Ukraine. Lula says he told Biden, “I don’t want to join the war, I want to end the war.” “If you only talk how to defeat Russia, how to enfeeble or weaken Russia, that will not come to a positive conclusion,” says Amorim, who also previously served as Brazil’s foreign minister, as well as its defense minister. “You have to talk to everyone, including your adversaries.”

We speak with the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Hannah Dreier, who revealed in a major New York Times investigation the widespread exploitation of migrant children in some of the most dangerous jobs in the country. In response, the Biden administration on Monday announced it would carry out a broad crackdown on the use of migrant child labor in the United States, vowing stricter enforcement of labor standards and better support for migrant children. “These kids are just on their own in these situations, with very little resources and very few ways out,” says Dreier. We are also joined by Gregory Chen, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who says migrant children need better protection from unscrupulous employers and others who would seek to exploit them. “Children don’t have any knowledge or understanding of what their legal rights are,” says Chen.

China Blasts U.S. for Pushing “Endless” War in Ukraine as Janet Yellen Visits Kyiv, Turkey: 29 Buildings Collapse in New Earthquake as Overall Death Toll Tops 50,000, B’Tselem Accuses Israel Government of Backing Pogrom in West Bank Town of Huwara, Biden Vows to Crack Down on Migrant Child Workers in U.S. After NYT Exposé, Biden Admin to Require Recipients of CHIPS Subsidies to Offer Affordable Child Care, Supreme Court Hears Student Debt Relief Case, Rupert Murdoch Admits Fox Hosts Endorsed Election Lies to Boost Network Profits, “I Am Going to Die”: Tenn. Woman Dies of Stroke in Police Cruiser After She Was Denied Medical Care, Mexican Soldiers Shoot Dead FIve Unarmed Men in Nuevo Laredo Near Border, Ecuadorian Indigenous Leader Eduardo Mendúa Assassinated at His Home, Climate Activists in France & Norway Engage in Direct Action Protests Outside Gov’t Ministries, Northern Ireland: U.K. Reaches Deal with European Union on Post-Brexit Trade Rules, U.S. Marshals to Work with Yurok Tribe to Probe Missing & Murdered Indigenous Persons, American Indian Movement’s Occupation of Wounded Knee Began 50 Years Ago

The Equal Rights Amendment, which would codify gender equality in the U.S. Constitution, has been introduced in every session of Congress since 1923. It was finally passed in 1972, and yet never ratified. This week, the ERA will get its first hearing in 40 years when, on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee meets to discuss a joint resolution to finally affirm the ERA. We speak to Zakiya Thomas and Linda Coberly of the ERA Coalition for more on the historic significance of this hearing and the century-long fight for constitutional protections against sex discrimination.

We speak with author Malcolm Harris about his new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, in which he writes how his hometown in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to many tech billionaires has helped to reshape the economy by exporting its brand of capitalism to the rest of the United States and around the world. “It’s important to see the internet and its history as this relation between capital and the government,” says Harris in a wide-ranging interview.

We look at two cases before the Supreme Court that could reshape the future of the internet. Both cases focus on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which backers say has helped foster free speech online by allowing companies to host content without direct legal liability for what users post. Critics say it has allowed tech platforms to avoid accountability for spreading harmful material. On Tuesday, the justices heard arguments in Gonzalez v. Google, brought by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in the 2015 Paris terror attack. Her family sued Google claiming the company had illegally promoted videos by the Islamic State, which carried out the Paris attack. On Wednesday, justices heard arguments in the case of Twitter v. Taamneh, brought by the family of Nawras Alassaf, who was killed along with 38 others in a 2017 terrorist attack on a nightclub in Turkey. We speak with Aaron Mackey, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who says Section 230 “powers the underlying architecture” of the internet.

Shipwreck Off Italian Coast Kills at Least 62 Refugees as Italy Cracks Down on Rescue Missions, Israeli Settlers Go on Anti-Palestinian Rampage in Huwara as Officials Agree to Deescalate Tensions, “We Have Survived”: Zelensky Marks 1 Year of Russian Invasion Amid Global Protests, New Sanctions, Protesters in Tunisia Condemn President Saied’s Racism Amid Ongoing Political Turmoil, El Salvador’s Pres. Nayib Bukele Touts “Megaprison” with Shocking Images of Shackled Detainees, Erin Brockovich Tells East Palestine Residents to Remain “Vigilant” Following Toxic Train Crash, Energy Dept. Believes with “Low Confidence” COVID-19 Started with Lab Leak, FDA Approves At-Home Combined COVID and Flu Test, NYT Exposes Labor Exploitation of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in U.S., Newspapers Drop Dilbert Comic After Creator’s Racist Comments, Uber and Lyft Drivers Strike in Ongoing Battle Against Wage Theft

Palestinians held a general strike in the West Bank Thursday after Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians and injured nearly 500 in a military raid in the city of Nablus. So far this year, Israel has killed at least 65 Palestinians, including 13 children, drawing concern and criticism from supranational actors including the U.N. and Amnesty International. We speak to Amira Hass, a correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender from Hebron in the West Bank. Amro was recently beaten by an Israeli soldier while being interviewed by the American author Lawrence Wright. “There is a huge anger among the Palestinians from what is happening these days from the Israeli racist and fascist government, who are inciting to kill more and more Palestinians,” says Amro of the protests.

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, continue to demand answers about how a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed February 3, releasing hazardous materials into the air, water and soil. The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the accident, blaming a wheel bearing failure for the crash and saying the derailment was “100% preventable.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has faced widespread criticism over his response to the disaster, visited the village on Thursday for the first time since the derailment, a day after former President Trump also visited East Palestine. For more, we speak with Emily Wright, development director of River Valley Organizing, who lives a few miles from the derailment site; Gregory Hynes, the national legislative director at SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers; and reporter Topher Sanders, whose latest ProPublica story details how Norfolk Southern officials are allowed to order train crews to ignore safety alerts.

U.N. Votes Overwhelmingly to Condemn Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Ahead of Anniversary, Putin Vows to Strengthen Russia’s Nuclear Arsenal, U.S., South Korea and Japan Hold Nuclear War Drill as North Korea Test-Fires Missiles, U.S. to Quadruple Troop Presence in Taiwan, Iran Acknowledges Enriching Uranium to Near Weapons-Grade Purity, Iranian Court Sentences German-Iranian Journalist to Death, U.S. Frees Two Guantánamo Prisoners Who Faced Torture and 20 Years of Arbitrary Detention, U.N. Resumes Talks on Treaty to Protect Ocean Biodiversity, Winter Storms Blanket Midwest and SoCal with Snow as Southern U.S. Sees Record Temperatures, Biden Taps Former Mastercard CEO and Wall Street Insider Ajay Banga to Lead World Bank, Texas Judge Could Block Access to Abortion Pill for Patients Nationwide, Pregnant Woman Argues Her Fetus Is Being Unlawfully Detained in Florida Jail, One Person Dies Every Two Minutes from Pregnancy or Childbirth Complications, Pandemic-Era Federal Food Assistance Benefits to End in March, Harvey Weinstein Sentenced to Another 16 Years for Rape in Los Angeles, Court Sentences R. Kelly to 20 Years for Child Sex Crimes, Warrior Met Coal Miners Offer to End Nearly 2-Year Strike

One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many African countries have tried to avoid strong denunciations or shows of support for either side in the conflict, walking a diplomatic tightrope even as the war has had a major impact on food and fuel prices across the continent. Kenyan writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola says that neutrality is influenced by memories of Africa as a conflict zone during the Cold War, as well as a desire to chart foreign policies independent of former colonial European powers.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow this week, where they reaffirmed the close relationship between the two countries. The high-profile visit comes just days before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For more on China’s relationship with Russia and its role in the Ukraine war, we speak with Ho-fung Hung, professor of political economy and sociology at Johns Hopkins University.

Friday marks one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Over the past year, at least 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations, but the true death toll is believed to be higher. The U.N. refugee agency said this week that more than 8 million refugees have fled the fighting in Ukraine. This week, U.S. President Joe Biden met with NATO leaders in Warsaw, while Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Western countries sending military aid to Ukraine bear responsibility for prolonging the death and destruction of the war. We begin today’s show looking at the war’s impact and future with Nina Krushcheva, a professor of international affairs at The New School and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Hanna Perekhoda, a Ph.D. student in history at the University of Lausanne and member of the democratic socialist organization Sotsialnyi Rukh. Perekhoda is from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Israel Bombs Gaza Strip Amid Palestinian Rocket Fire, Following Deadly Raid in Nablus, Vladimir Putin Leads Pro-War Rally Ahead of First Anniversary of Ukraine Invasion, Biden Pledges to Defend “Every Inch of NATO” in Meeting with Bucharest Nine , Federal Judge Bars 9/11 Families from Seizing Frozen Afghan Central Bank Funds, Turkey Fines Broadcasters Critical of Government Response to Deadly Earthquakes, Nigerians Prepare to Vote in High-Stakes Presidential Election Amid Ongoing Violence, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Criminal Probe, Minnesota Lawmakers Approve Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Residents, Voter Reenfranchisement, Florida Shooting Leaves 3 Dead, Including 9-Year-Old and a Journalist , Pete Buttigieg in East Palestine as Pennsylvania Weighs Criminal Charges over Norfolk Southern Crash, Indian Point Nuclear Plant Owner Plans to Dump Radioactive Waste Water into Hudson River

A New York court on Tuesday convicted Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former secretary of public security and a close ally of U.S. law enforcement for decades, of drug trafficking and money laundering, among other charges. Prosecutors said García Luna accepted millions in bribes from the very criminal groups he was meant to be fighting, including the infamous Sinaloa Cartel formerly led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. García Luna faces up to life in prison and is the most high-ranking Mexican official ever tried in the U.S. For more, we speak with award-winning journalists Peniley Ramírez and Maria Hinojosa, co-hosts of Futuro Media’s podcast USA v. García Luna. They say the case exposes how corrupt the so-called war on drugs has been on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. “The U.S. government, the DEA, the entire security apparatus failed here,” says Hinojosa.

On the 58th anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump announced a new lawsuit from Malcolm X’s surviving family seeking compensation from the NYPD, CIA and FBI for its role in concealing evidence in his murder case. This lawsuit comes more than a year after it was confirmed that federal and local agencies had a role in the wrongful conviction of Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam for the murder. Aziz and Islam’s convictions were overturned in 2021, and they were awarded a $36 million settlement for wrongful imprisonment by the state and city of New York. We air excerpts of Tuesday’s public comments from Crump and one of Malcolm X’s daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz, of their intent to file a wrongful death lawsuit over evidence concealed in the murder investigation, in part to seek answers on the extent of the government’s involvement in the civil rights leader’s death.

As Donald Trump and his inner circle potentially face indictments over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Fox News is also in legal hot water for amplifying the same unfounded claims about election fraud. Dominion Voting Systems, which makes voting machines, has sued the conservative cable news outlet for $1.6 billion in a defamation suit that has exposed how top hosts and executives knew they were spreading misinformation but continued to push the conspiracy theories on air. “Fox News, despite its corporate name, is not in fact a news organization,” says Chris Lehmann, D.C. bureau chief for The Nation. “What they are doing is promulgating lies for the sake of maintaining audience share and high profitability.”

The special grand jury in Georgia that is investigating attempts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election has recommended more than a dozen indictments, and the list could include Trump. Emily Kohrs, the foreperson of the grand jury, confirmed the indictments on Tuesday, though it’s still unclear if they will include crimes other than perjury. Prosecutors will ultimately decide what charges to bring in the coming days. For more, we speak with The Nation’s D.C. bureau chief, Chris Lehmann, who says convictions are still unlikely, given that “the legal system favors heavily entrenched power.”

Russian President Vladmir Putin’s announcement that Moscow would suspend its participation in the New START treaty threatens to end the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. Putin made the pledge during his annual State of the Nation address on Tuesday, when he accused Western nations of provoking the conflict in Ukraine. The treaty limits the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapon stockpiles and gives each country opportunities to inspect the other’s nuclear sites. Russia says it will continue to respect the caps established by the treaty, but that it will no longer allow inspections. For more on the treaty and the wider challenge of nuclear proliferation, we speak with Dr. Ira Helfand, a longtime advocate for nuclear disarmament, who says the need to end nuclear weapons “transcends” all other issues between the U.S. and Russia. “If we don’t get rid of nuclear weapons, they’re going to be used. And if they’re used, nothing else that we’re doing is going to make any difference,” says Helfand. He is the former president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, a member of the steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, as well as the co-founder and past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Israeli Forces Kill 10 Palestinians in Nablus Raid, U.N. Warns Israel Not to Attack Courts Amid Weeks of Mass Protests, Beijing and Moscow Pursue Talks as Biden Declares “Ukraine Will Never Be a Victory for Russia”, EPA Orders Norfolk Southern to Clean Up Contaminated Water and Soil from Ohio Derailment, Barbara Lee Announces U.S. Senate Bid as Race for Dianne Feinstein’s Seat Heats Up, Democrat Jennifer McClellan Wins VA Special Election; RI Rep. David Cicilline Resigns from House, SCOTUS Leaves in Place Ban on Israel Boycott, Hears Case Involving Liability for YouTube Algorithms, Pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Could Reinstate Abortion Access, Protect Voting Rights, Mexico’s Former Top Security Official and U.S. Ally Convicted of Bribery, Drug Trafficking, Biden Admin’s New Immigration Plan Seeks to Keep Blocking Thousands from Seeking Asylum in U.S., Texas AAPI Community Fights New GOP Bill That Would Ban Some Nationalities from Buying Property, Seattle Bans Discrimination Based on Caste in Groundbreaking Vote, Malcolm X’s Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against NY and Federal Authorities

We speak with renowned scholar and activist Angela Davis on the 58th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. Davis is delivering a keynote address Tuesday at the Shabazz Center in New York, formerly the Audubon Ballroom, where the iconic Black leader was killed on February 21, 1965. Davis says Malcolm is still vital to understanding racism, power and justice in the United States and beyond. “Malcolm always placed these issues in a larger context, and I think that we can learn a great deal from that legacy today,” says Davis. She also responds to recent moves by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others to restrict the teaching of African American history, calling it an effort to “turn the clock back” on racial progress.

The police murder of Fred Hampton in Chicago in 1969 helped launch a movement more than 50 years ago for community-led police accountability. In a culmination of this campaign, Chicago voters next Tuesday will elect 22 local police councils tasked with community control of the police. Seven members of the councils will be part of a Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, a new model of police oversight. We speak with Frank Chapman, longtime activist and field organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, about the initiative and how it aims to empower Black and Brown working-class civilians.

A pivotal Chicago mayoral race, just a week away, on February 28, is an off-cycle election, and voter turnout could be low, as nine Democratic candidates court their vote and face pressure to address public safety and crime. Candidates include incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Congressmember Chuy García, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools Paul Vallas, who is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. This comes as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis spoke Monday in Chicago in support of police. We discuss the race with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González in Chicago, along with Chuy García supporter Luis Gutiérrez, a former Democratic congressmember for Illinois and former member of the Chicago City Council, and Brandon Johnson supporter Barbara Ransby, a professor of Black studies, gender and women’s studies and history at the University of Illinois Chicago.

New Tremors Add to Misery of Earthquake Survivors in Turkey and Syria, Vladimir Putin to Suspend New START Nuclear Arms Treaty, Biden Travels to Warsaw for Major Speech on Ukraine and Talks with NATO Leaders, France Officially Withdraws Army from Burkina Faso, 17 Asylum Seekers Killed as Bus Crashes in Southern Mexico , Cambodia Shutters “Voice of Democracy” Broadcaster in Latest Crackdown on Dissent, Iraqi Environmentalist Jassim Al-Asadi Freed from Kidnappers, One Person Killed, 12 Others Injured in Ohio Metal Factory Explosion , Ohio Opens Health Clinic for Residents Near Site of Toxic Train Crash, Michigan State University Classes Resume as Students Demand Gun Reforms After Mass Shooting , Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Colleagues Win George Polk Award for “The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh”

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns teen girls face record levels of depression and hopelessness, we host a roundtable on the role of social media and a bipartisan push against Big Tech in Congress. Several child safety-focused bills to curtail children’s exposure to harmful online interactions are being proposed this session. Critics say the measures may not actually help children while limiting speech and privacy rights. We are joined by three people who testified last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee: Emma Lembke, a college student and founder of the LOG OFF movement, which promotes healthy social media use among teens; Mitch Prinstein, professor of psychology and neuroscience and chief science officer at the American Psychological Association; and Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, a consumer advocacy group dedicated to ending marketing targeted at children.