Democracy Now!

Lifelong activist, organizer and educator Denise Oliver-Velez has died at the age of 78. She was a central figure in the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s and was the first woman elected to the Young Lords Central Committee, a radical Puerto Rican human rights group modeled on the Black Panther Party, which Oliver-Velez was also a member of. She later became the first Black female program director in public radio and taught at SUNY New Paltz.As a founding member of the Young Lords, Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez worked alongside Oliver-Velez. She helped develop many of [the Young Lords'] Serve the People programs and helped to shape and write some of the key literature we produced back then," says Gonzalez, adding that Denise was never afraid to speak her mind, to challenge authority and to tell her comrades what they needed to hear - not what they wanted to hear - and she always did it with love and kindness."

Iran Claims Eight People Killed as U.S. Bombards Civilian Infrastructure, Wildfires Cause Dense Smoke and Hazardous Air Quality in More Than 20 States, Trump Accuses China of Interfering in 2020 Election, Without Providing Evidence, Trump's Teleprompter Operator Reportedly Earned Over $100K Betting on Presidential Speeches, Truth Social Plans to Sell Priority Access to Trump's Posts, Iranian Official Claims Kushner and Witkoff Sought to Exploit Negotiations for Personal Gain, ICE Agent Who Fatally Shot Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero Identified as David Brouillette, Rights Groups Demand Probe of ICE Violently Attempting Arrest of Elderly Man in Nevada, So-Called Border Czar Tom Homan Warns ICE Critics That Bloodshed" Will Continue, U.S. Tightens Visa Rules for Foreign Students, Journalists and Cultural Exchange Visitors, Denise Oliver-Velez, Lifelong Activist, Organizer and Educator, Dies at Age 78

The Trump administration has introduced a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act, a bedrock of successful U.S. wildlife conservation for more than 50 years, dramatically weakening its power to protect natural habitats and opening vulnerable lands to real estate development, oil drilling and other extractive industries. A coalition of conservation groups is suing the Trump administration over the rule change. They are represented by the environmental law group Earthjustice and senior attorney Ben Levitan, who calls this latest Trump administration attack on the environment a total repudiation of the premise that endangered species need places to have shelter, to have food, to raise their young."

Has the United States launched a forever war on Iran? As the Trump administration renews its attacks on Iran, killing at least 35 civilians over the course of five days, political analyst Ali Vaez warns that the U.S. is inciting potentially never-ending cycles of violence" with its manipulations of the diplomatic process. The U.S.'s unilateral renunciation of the memorandum of understanding" as a pretext for another round of war" has further eroded trust between the countries, says Vaez. There is really no military solution," he concludes. The best solution is for both sides to agree to return to the MOU and to respect its terms."

After ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, last week, they quickly arrested three witnesses: the other men that the 52-year-old father of three was driving to work. The three men, including Salgado Araujo's younger brother Victor, are now being detained by ICE and threatened with deportation.There is a Trump militia roaming our streets, our towns, our cities, killing people regardless of immigration status with absolutely no accountability. ... They are either not getting training or getting training to shoot directly at people, to murder people, in the streets," says Congressmember Pramila Jayapal, explaining that the three incarcerated witnesses must be protected from deportation for at least as long as they can provide information for the investigations on Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's killing. Victor Salgado Araujo wants to be accessible as a witness, and it's really hard for him to do that when he's [being detained] 45 minutes away from Houston," says his attorney Ruby Powers. Being able to be in the United States freely, to be able to give that testimony is what we're asking for."

As we continue our conversation with Congressmember Pramila Jayapal, we turn to recent developments involving the United States military. On Wednesday, Jayapal was one of over half of all House Democrats to vote in favor eliminating over $3 billion in military aid to Israel. Although the proposed amendment was ultimately shot down, the final tally with over 100 members voting yes is still a sea change" in U.S. political support for Israel, says Jayapal. Following Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, it is the horror of what has unfolded that has finally allowed us to confront the fact that we should not be using taxpayer dollars to send to Israel to perpetrate this kind of violence."Jayapal also responds to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's new order mandating testosterone testing and offering testosterone replacement therapy for servicemembers aged 30 and over. Providing testosterone is actually gender affirming care," Jayapal remarks. Last year, Hegseth ordered a halt to all gender-affirming medical procedures for military servicemembers and banned openly trans people from service. These actions are intrusive behavior," says Jayapal, where the government is getting involved in prescribing what medication you do or don't take, without your consent."

Confirmation hearings are underway for President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, his personal attorney Todd Blanche. Blanche is mired in a number of controversies, most notably his mishandling of the administration's release of the Epstein files while serving as deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi. Washington state Representative Pramila Jayapal, who is co-sponsoring a bill to allow Epstein survivors whose identifying information was improperly publicized by the Department of Justice to sue the federal government for damages, says Todd Blanche was responsible" for the breach. He really wanted to discourage anyone else from coming forward with more information. ... It's [a] big reason why he shouldn't be the attorney general." Jayapal also discusses the Department of Justice's surveillance of herself and other legislators who viewed Epstein-related documents and Blanche's longstanding personal and professional connections with Trump.

U.S. Strikes Iran for Fifth Consecutive Day Targeting Tehran, Israeli Forces Kill Four People in Gaza, Including 6-Year-Old Girl, Israel's Security Cabinet Approves Nearly Half a Billion Dollars for New Settlements in Occupied West Bank, Half of All Democrats on Capitol Hill Support Measure Slashing Military Funding to Israel, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Grilled During Senate Confirmation Hearing, Trump's Nominee for Director of National Intelligence Refuses to Say Whether Biden Won 2020 Election, New York Times Files Motion to Quash Subpoenas of Its Journalists, Hegseth Announces Plans to Screen Testosterone Levels of Service Members Over the Age of 30, 45-Year-Old Venezuelan Immigrant Dies in ICE Custody in Georgia, 100 Million People in North America Face Air Quality Alerts, Pro-Palestinian Activists Demand Release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from Israeli Custody

Twelve Democratic-led states led by California sued this week to block Paramount Skydance's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount is run by David Ellison, whose father, Larry Ellison, is the billionaire founder of Oracle and a prominent ally and financial backer of President Donald Trump. Under the proposed deal, CNN and CBS News, streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+, as well as film and television studios, would all be combined under a single entity controlled by the Ellisons. The states' lawsuit comes after the Trump administration approved the megamerger last month.This proposed merger breaks the law," says California Attorney General Rob Bonta. It's anti-competitive. It will raise prices. It will lower quality."

Israeli settlers armed with clubs, rocks and a knife attacked a convoy of journalists in the West Bank on Saturday, the latest targeting of foreign journalists documenting the Israeli occupation. Four settlers have reportedly been detained over the attack. The convoy, which included CNN's Jeremy Diamond, were accompanying the father of Palestinian American Saif Musallet to the site where he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers one year ago. To date, no one has been arrested for Musallet's killing.Independent journalist and Palestine solidarity activist Adele Shoko, who was in one of the cars, says the attack is part of an unprecedented" escalation of settler activity in the occupied West Bank, taking place in so-called Area A, which is nominally under the full control of the Palestinian Authority. Area C is almost entirely ethnically cleansed by the settlers backed by the Israeli state, and they moved to Area B, attacking big villages. But Area A is another level."We also speak with Jasper Nathaniel, who was also in the convoy and has been attacked multiple times while reporting in the occupied West Bank. He says pro-Israel advocates who accuse journalists, activists and other international observers of staging publicity stunts" are downplaying how routine settler intimidation and violence has become. If you spend enough time in the West Bank - and by enough time, I mean a couple days - something like that is going to happen to you," says Nathaniel.

We speak with Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil about his lawsuit against top Trump administration officials, two pro-Israel groups and a conservative think tank for conspiring to suppress his constitutional right to free speech.Khalil, who helped lead protests at Columbia University against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, was one of several international students targeted for deportation by the Trump administration last year over pro-Palestine advocacy.I don't want everything that happened to me to go in vain," says Khalil.The lawsuit names Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several other top administration figures; the Heritage Foundation, which launched Project Esther, a campaign to suppress pro-Palestine protests; the far-right pro-Israel group Betar; and Canary Mission, a long-running operation to identify and harass pro-Palestine activists. The lawsuit was brought under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era law to restrict government coordination with vigilante groups like the Klan.

Trump Threatens to Attack Civilian Infrastructure as U.S. Continues Attacks on Iran, Senate Democrats Block $1.15 Trillion Pentagon Budget Bill over Iran War, Progressives Push Back as House Democratic Leader Opposes Ending Military Aid to Israel, Israeli Forces Kill More Children in Gaza, ICE Says It Will Halt Traffic Stops After Deadly Shootings by Agents, Minnesota Prosecutors Finally Receive Evidence in Killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Texas DA Opens Independent Criminal Probe Into ICE Killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, The Guardian: 12 People Detained at Colorado Immigration Jail Contracted Tuberculosis, Report: U.S. Law Enforcement Responsible for Over 400 Misuse of Force Cases Against Civilians, Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Sues Senior Trump Administration Officials, New York Becomes First State to Impose Data Center Moratorium, Sister of Late GOP Senator Lindsey Graham Sworn In to Fill His Senate Seat, Cuba's National Electric Grid Collapses Again Amid U.S. Oil Blockade

We get an update on elections and voting rights in the United States from Mother Jones's national voting rights correspondent, Ari Berman, who warns of President Donald Trump's escalating attempts to try to claim dictatorial power" and commit an unprecedented intervention" into the 2026 midterm elections. Whether it takes the form of claims of foreign interference, canceling mail-in voting or requiring proof of citizenship, [t]he bottom line here is they keep lying about the 2020 election so that they can justify massive interference in the 2026 election," says Berman. That's something that we all need to be very vigilant about."

The killing of 26-year-old Colombian immigrant Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero by ICE agents in Biddeford, Maine, has put the sparsely populated state back in the national spotlight amid the ongoing fallout from a sexual assault allegation that led insurgent Democratic nominee Graham Platner to suspend his campaign for Senate. The nomination will now be determined by Maine Democratic Party delegates in an accelerated - and more crowded - version of the race's contentious primary. Platner had been running to unseat longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins, a supporter of Donald Trump and his administration's intensifying immigration enforcement policies. Protesters chanting Vote her out!" marched to Collins's office after Duran Guerrero's shooting was made public. Collins was the deciding vote to approve an additional $70 billion in federal funding for ICE last month. Voters all across Maine, they don't think there is a way to reform this agency. They think it needs to be abolished," says Nathan Bernard, a Drop Site News correspondent in Maine.

Just days after the killing of a Mexican immigrant in Texas, immigration agents fatally shot another immigrant, also driving to work, this time in a small town in southern Maine. Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, originally from Colombia, was 25 years old and the father of a 3-year-old daughter. He was reportedly authorized to work in the United States, had been issued a Social Security number and was not the target of any warrant. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the shooting, saying that ICE fired on Duran Guerrero in his car out of fear for public safety." Witnesses say they say they saw agents dragging Duran Guerrero from the car after the shooting as he told them that he had been trying to stop." For more, we speak to Biddeford, Maine, resident Eisha Khan, the wife of the town's mayor, Liam LaFountain, about the community's shell-shocked" response to Guerrero's death.

They were hunting for Latinos." Outcry is continuing over the ICE shooting death of 52-year-old Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in a majority-Latino neighborhood in Houston, Texas, last week. Events pieced together by eyewitness videos and texts sent by the agents involved in Araujo's killing suggest that agents largely ignored Araujo's cries for help after he was shot. They really just strung him along for hours until finally sending him to the hospital," says Juan Proano, CEO of LULAC, the largest and oldest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. Meanwhile, the three men carpooling with Araujo to work are still languishing in ICE detention, where they were initially pressured to sign self-deportation orders. But the fact of the matter is, we need them to stay in the United States. They are witnesses to a crime, and the only witnesses to what actually happened on that day."Houston police have begun investigating the shooting as a homicide, but my expectation is that their investigation will similarly be hampered by DHS," says Proano. I don't believe there will be justice here. There's no way to bring him back."

Trump Announces U.S. Naval Blockade of Iran Moving Closer to All-Out War, Tensions Escalate Between Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Immigration Agents Fatally Shoot Colombian Man in Maine, Mexican President Sheinbaum Calls for Criminal Probes into the Deaths of Mexicans in the U.S., Federal Judge Blasts Trump's $10 Billion Lawsuit Against the IRS, 12 Democratic-Led States File Lawsuit to Block Paramount's Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Secretary of State Rubio Announces U.S. Plans to Systematically Disable" the ICC, Pentagon Announces New Joint Task Force with DOJ to Target Press Leaks, U.S. Border Agents Seize Devices of Journalist Max Blumenthal After He Returned from Reporting Trip to Iran, Trump Signs Executive Order Drastically Reducing Size of Two National Monuments in Utah, South Carolina Governor Appoints Sister of Late GOP Senator Graham to Replace Him, National Weather Service Forecasts Dozens of Temperature Records Will Be Tied or Broken This Week, Keystone Pipeline Operators Agree to Pay Nearly $27 Million over 2022 Oil Spill, Pro-Palestinian Activist and Philanthropist Fergie Chambers Arrested in Spain

The United States and Israel earlier this month signed a deal allocating land for a permanent U.S. Embassy in West Jerusalem - years after a temporary embassy was established during Trump's first term in office. Palestinian families have pleaded with the U.S. government to reconsider the embassy's planned location, saying the site in the area known as the Allenby compound was unlawfully taken from them decades ago.Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said professor emeritus of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, belongs to one of the families that has claims to the land. So, here we have the U.S. government signing an agreement with the Israeli government to lease land the Israeli government has no right to, to which ... we and many other families have title, in order to establish an illegal embassy in Jerusalem, which is in violation of repeated U.N. Security Council resolutions."Khalidi also comments on the ongoing fight to save the centuries-old Mamilla Cemetery in Jerusalem, one of the most sacred and holy sites to Muslims." Israel has gradually taken over the cemetery, replacing it with a museum, parks and parking lots.

Armed Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have carried out a number of attacks in recent days targeting local Palestinians and foreign journalists, as well as detaining U.S. Congressmember Ro Khanna during a fact-finding trip. Khanna said that when Israeli forces arrived, they sided with the settlers. The U.S. government just merrily goes along funding these atrocities against American citizens, not to speak of atrocities against Palestinians who don't happen to be American citizens," says Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said professor emeritus of modern Arab studies at Columbia University. All of this is being done with our tax dollars."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the most prominent supporters of war in Washington, has died at the age of 71 after what his office called a brief and sudden illness." He was a vocal supporter of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, a leading backer of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and a proponent of more U.S. military support for Ukraine. He also pushed for a permanent occupation of Afghanistan and once called for a preemptive attack on North Korea.Graham never met a war of aggression that he didn't passionately back," says Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of Drop Site News, who adds that the late senator also had a slavish dedication to Israel over the interests of the United States and the rest of the world."

The United States is continuing to bombard Iran amid an intensifying standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said on Sunday the United States had struck 140 targets in Iran. In retaliation, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted U.S. military facilities across the Middle East.U.S. CENTCOM, Central Command, and the Pentagon at large have concealed the impact of Iranian strikes, in some cases entirely," says Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of Drop Site News, adding that Trump has dramatically underestimated the Iranians from the very beginning."The escalating attacks from both sides come after Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz last week and President Trump declared the ceasefire over. Iran insists that, according to the 60-day memorandum of understanding with the United States, commercial ships going through the waterway must coordinate" their movements with Iranian authorities, which the United States has rejected.There is no question, objectively speaking, that it's the United States that's been violating the terms of this agreement. It is quite explicit that Iran is supposed to have managing authority of the Strait of Hormuz," says Scahill.

U.S. Continues to Attack Iran as IRGC Retaliates by Striking U.S. Bases Across the Middle East, Armed Israeli Settlers in the Occupied West Bank Detain Congressman Ro Khanna, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina Dies at 71, GOP Senator McConnell Reveals He Was Hospitalized After He Fell, Justice Department Subpoenas Four New York Times Journalists, NYT: U.S. Secretary of State Rubio Serving as De Facto Viceroy of Venezuela, Wildfires Rage in Greece, Spain and France During Europe's Record Heat Wave, Federal Judge Approves DOJ Request to Dismiss Charges Against Five Members of the Proud Boys, Protests Continue in Houston After ICE Fatally Shot Mexican Father Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Justice Department Probes Yale's Admissions Practices, Federal Judge Rejects DOJ Subpoena Seeking Names of Election Workers in Fulton County from the 2020 Election, President of PEN America Resigns After Article on Boycotts of Israeli and Jewish Writers, Civil Rights Leaders Call for Independent Probe of Black Teen's Death in Mississippi

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act, the landmark government transparency law that has helped reveal and publicize critical information about everything from the Vietnam War to FBI surveillance to CIA torture. For decades, FOIA has played a crucial role in uncovering and rectifying government wrongdoing. Today, however, advocates say that the government's resistance to fulfilling FOIA requests has grown, forcing applicants to file expensive lawsuits to obtain records, while records that are released often take years to receive and are filled with so many redactions as to render them essentially a waste of time."It's gotten extremely bad in this last year and a half under Trump, but this has been going on for decades," says Ian Head, who manages the Open Records Project at the Center for Constitutional Rights. These bureaucratic delay and deferral tactics are extremely concerning, he adds, threatening accountability, transparency and democratic processes. We need to be able to file federal FOIA requests so we can see what this government is doing."

A new investigation from the BBC is accusing Instagram of running paid ads in India promoting child sexual abuse material. BBC senior correspondent Divya Arya explains how Instagram's AI-powered review process frequently fails to flag content suggesting illegal and abusive activity, and how the platform's profit-driven algorithms boost accounts paying to advertise this content. Instagram's parent company Meta has denied culpability, saying that it's absolutely unfair to say that they prioritize revenue over user safety and that they underinvest in safety mechanisms." In response to Arya's findings, the Indian government is now demanding that Meta immediately remove all such ads and child exploitation materials, and submit a detailed explanation on how such advertisements were allowed on its platforms. This illegal content should not be on the internet, and somebody needs to be held accountable for it," says Arya.

As a rose-tinted wave of progressives and democratic socialists win Democratic primaries across the United States, we take a look at two of the organizations behind this recent slate of successful electoral campaigns: the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats.From Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York to Melat Kiros in Colorado to Janeese Lewis George in Washington, D.C., major victories from self-described democratic socialists and DSA-backed candidates show that socialism is losing its scare factor." Ashik Siddique, co-chair of the DSA's National Political Committee, explains that DSA's goal is to reframe politics around class lines in the United States, which is what the ruling class has been doing forever. We want to transfer power from the 1% to the working class, and to replace capitalism with socialism, which means expanding democracy in every part of our lives."By equipping progressives with alternatives to the traditional money streams relied upon by establishment Democrats, like the pro-Israel lobby or Big Tech, DSA and the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats hope to propel genuine advocates for the working class, unbought by corporate funding, into the halls of Congress.We went into this cycle viewing it as an existential one," says Alexandra Rojas, the executive director of Justice Democrats, which recruited candidates like Avila Chevalier and Adam Hamawy in New Jersey. We see fascism here at our doorstep, and this is a now-or-never moment for our party."

U.S. Denies Involvement as Blasts Rock Southern Iran, Eyewitness and Video Evidence Contradicts ICE Claims in Killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Mexico Seeks Criminal Charges in Deaths of Mexicans in ICE Custody, Vigilantes Intensify Attacks on Immigrants in South Africa, Venezuela Faces Public Health Crisis as Earthquake Death Toll Tops 3,800, U.N. Says Russian Attacks Killed at Least 265 Ukrainian Civilians in June, Palestinian Authority Schedules First Elections Since 2006, Israel Continues Deadly Strikes on Gaza, Withholds Bodies of Palestinians, Housing Bill Sidelined by Trump Is Set to Become Law, Barring Last-Minute Veto, With Midterms Looming, Trump Completes Purge of Election Assistance Commission, Justice Department's Civil Rights Division Warns State Election Officials They Could Be Prosecuted, 28 Die as Fire Consumes Shoe Factory in China's Jinjiang, Death Toll from Severe Flooding in China Rises to 39 as Massive Typhoon Approaches Taiwan

Plans for a luxury resort in an ecologically sensitive area have set off more than a month of protests in Albania, where thousands have taken to the streets to oppose the megaproject backed by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The Flamingo Revolution - named for its feared impact on migratory birds - began as an environmental protest but has now turned into anger at the entire political system, threatening to bring down the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.For more, we speak with two members of the left-wing Levizja Bashke party who call the planned resort a money laundering operation" that exposes a deeper rot in the country.The protests will go on, and the people are very determined," says researcher and labor organizer Bora Mema.

The family of Geraldo Lunas Campos is suing over the 55-year-old Cuban immigrant's death at an ICE detention center in Texas earlier this year, with a local coroner ruling his death a homicide from asphyxia. The Department of Homeland Security said Lunas Campos had attempted suicide, but witnesses said he died after being restrained by multiple guards. The family's lawsuit names four guards and multiple private companies overseeing the jail.Perla Trevizo, a reporter with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit, says Lunas Campos had a history of mental health issues and that he had complained before his death about lack of access to his medication.Witnesses say that they believe he was shackled. There were several guards. They took him down," Trevizo says.

Immigration and civil rights advocacy groups are demanding an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant and father of three who was killed by ICE agents in Houston on Tuesday morning. Salgado Araujo, who had been living in the United States for nearly 35 years, worked in construction and was starting his day by picking up other workers in Magnolia Park, a historically Latino neighborhood, when ICE agents targeted him. The Department of Homeland Security says Salgado Araujo weaponized his vehicle" and attempted to ram agents, a claim made in previous ICE killings that has fallen apart under scrutiny. This latest death comes exactly six months after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis under similar circumstances.We speak with Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the Houston-based civil rights organization FIEL, Immigrant Families and Students in the Fight. He says the community is demanding answers, including the release of any available video of the incident.Everything is hush-hush," he says of the Homeland Security response. They don't want to release anything. We don't even know if there's bodycam footage."

We speak with political analyst Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, about the latest events in the Middle East. The United States has bombed Iran for multiple days after President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire between the countries to be over." Iran says it has retaliated by attacking U.S. military bases and other strategic sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.Parsi says the renewal of fighting is a disastrous development" for chances of a long-term peace and a reset in the U.S.-Iran relationship. Both countries are in dire need of an end to this war."

Trump Renews Threat to Commit War Crimes as U.S. Bombs Iran for Second Day, Assassinated Supreme Leader Khamenei to Be Laid to Rest in Iran After Multiday Funeral, Israel Kills School Principal, Her Mother and Two Other Civilians in Lebanon Strike, Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 9, Including Driver Delivering Food for U.S. Charity, Israeli Soldier Shares Evidence of Torture on Social Media, Amnesty Asks U.S. to Secure Release of Gaza Doctor Following Reports of Torture in Israeli Jails, Trump Says Ukraine Can Manufacture Its Own Patriot Missiles, Maine Democrats Plan Nominating Convention as Graham Platner Suspends Senate Campaign, Kentucky Governor Demands Update on Sen. Mitch McConnell's Health, Judge Orders Release of Trump's $5M Payment to E. Jean Carroll for Sexual Abuse and Defamation, He Did Not Deserve to Die": Family Demands Justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Shot Dead by ICE, Man Shot in Memphis Is Fourth to Be Killed by Federal Task Force Agents, Former Wisconsin Judge Is Spared Prison Time for Obstructing" ICE Agents at Her Courthouse

A new investigation has uncovered how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) supports a secret network of military training camps for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that enables them to continue their deadly war in Sudan.This war, which is often categorized in international media as a civil war, is really a proxy war," says award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Julia Steers. We're talking about a really extensive network of logistics and training and financial backing from the UAE."The investigation is a collaboration between Lighthouse Reports, Evident and Sudan War Monitor.Meanwhile, as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warns another humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding the North Kordofan state capital of El Obeid, where the RSF and the Sudanese army are fighting for control. There's no question that the RSF would not be able to have gotten as far as they have, to have claimed nearly as much territory as they have, without the really robust support of the UAE," says Steers.

Trump announced on Tuesday at the NATO summit in Ankara that he would lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey and is considering selling the country F-35 fighter jets. Trump made the comment following a lavish state dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, whom he praised as a great leader." The mayor of Istanbul and other Turkish politicians, civil society figures and journalists remain jailed on politically motivated charges.Here in Ankara, and in Turkey more broadly, this NATO summit is not taking place in a climate of freedom. We saw, in the two weeks leading up to this summit happening, authorities in Ankara arrested over 200 people in dawn raids," says Ruth Michaelson, a journalist based in Istanbul. There has also been a protest ban enforced in Ankara, and that is a protest ban that extends even to leafleting."Repression from the Turkish state has not been addressed during the summit; instead, something that we've been hearing throughout the summit is that Turkey has this indispensable place in NATO," says Michaelson.

Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner has yet to drop out of the race despite losing all major endorsements after a rape allegation by an ex-girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, who says Platner assaulted her in 2021. Platner has denied the claim.There's no way to force Platner off the ballot; he has to make the decision," says Amy Fried, professor emerita of political science at the University of Maine. Platner would have to drop out of the race by Monday, and then there's two weeks for the Maine Democratic Party to pick someone else."Fried discusses potential Democratic candidates to replace Platner and the legacy of Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins, against whom they would be running in November.

U.S. Renews Attacks on Iran and Reimposes Oil Sanctions, Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire Over," Blasts NATO Allies and Praises Turkish President, Israel's Netanyahu Criticizes Trump's Embrace of Turkish President Erdoan, Pentagon Considers Relocating Gulf Bases to Israel, Israeli Strike Kills Gaza Aid Official Who Organized World Cup Screening, Protesters Outside U.N. Celebrate as Israel's Ben-Gvir Cancels Visit to Policing Summit, ICE Agent Fatally Shoots Mexican Father During Houston Traffic Stop, 85-Year-Old German National Becomes 21st to Die in ICE Custody This Year, French Court Clears Path for Far-Right Politician Marine Le Pen to Run for President, Colombian President-elect Suspends Transition as Outgoing Leader Alleges Fraud, Extreme Weather Rocks China, Europe and U.S. Amid Searing July Heat Wave, Senior ExxonMobil Lawyer Retires, Joins Trump Administration

As part of the U.S.-backed Board of Peace" 20-point plan to end Israel's military assault on Gaza, Hamas is dissolving its civilian governing body in the Gaza Strip. Hamas's head of administration, Mohammed al-Farra, resigned from his position on Monday. Hamas, which has controlled the territory for nearly two decades, has said that its ministries and staff will stay in place, and that it will still oversee security and policing in parts of Gaza left under its control.The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, NCAG, was formed in January 2026 and is meant to take transitional control. In practice," says Amjad Iraqi, senior Israel-Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group, Hamas is still the de facto governing authority on the Palestinian-populated side of Gaza. The NCAG, the Palestinian technocratic committee that's supposed to take over those governing duties, is still basically stuck in Cairo and not allowed to enter into Gaza to assume those duties."Since the deal was signed in October, Israel has continued to uphold its blockade of Gaza, preventing people and aid from traveling through its heavily policed borders. It has also violated the deal's ceasefire provisions on a near-daily basis, killing nearly 1,100 Palestinians, including women, children and other unarmed civilians. Very little of this, if any, is actually being called out either by [Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov] or by the U.S. officials, and what they're actually doing is allowing Israel to keep bending the terms of the ceasefire, if not openly violating it," says Iraqi.

Israel continues to ignore international calls to free the director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, from over 18 months of Israeli detention without charge. After seeing Dr. Abu Safiya on July 2, his attorney Nasser Odeh says the doctor faces tangible danger to his life" from torture and medical neglect. For more, we speak to Tirza Leibowitz, the deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, about Abu Safiya's case and efforts to secure his release. The group has filed an appeal in the Israeli courts requesting the release of Abu Safiya and 13 other Palestinian doctors who were captured in Gaza and imprisoned by the Israeli military.We also hear from Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Chicago-based emergency room physician and former colleague of Hussam Abu Safiya. Ahmad volunteered as a medical practitioner in Gaza in 2024. He says Abu Safiya has become a symbol of Palestinian resilience" and, in particular, Israel's systematic targeting of Gaza's healthcare system, which continues to this day. The necessary aid is not entering, the bombing still persists, people are still dying on a regular basis, and these hospitals don't have the supplies that they need to be able to treat their patients," says Ahmad.

Millions of people are estimated to be participating in the multiday state funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran this week. After ruling the Islamic Republic of Iran for over three dozen years, Khamenei was killed by a joint Israeli-U.S. airstrike on February 28. Now viewed as a martyr by both his religious base and the wider Iranian public, Khamenei has taken on a new identity" as the leader of the resistance movement, the leader in the fight against U.S. imperialism," says Tehran-based journalist Reza Sayah, who has been reporting on the funeral proceedings. Sayah also discusses the absence of Khamenei's son and chosen successor Mojtaba Khamenei from the public eye, the Iranian government's position on the thousands of protesters killed by security forces in the early months of 2026 and more.

Iran Fires on Two Ships in Strait of Hormuz as Trump Threatens to Finish the Job", Hamas to Cede Control of Gaza to Technocratic Governing Body, Palestinian Baby Dies as Israeli Forces Block Ambulance at Checkpoint, Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner Faces Calls to Resign over Rape Allegation, Progressive Abdul El-Sayed Faces Centrist Haley Stevens as Challenger Exits Michigan Senate Race, Sen. Mitch McConnell is Continuing His Recovery" Weeks After Apparent Cardiac Arrest, GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Says Clinical Depression Led to 117-Day Absence from Congress, Trump Heads to NATO Summit with Plans to Allow Turkey's Purchase of F-35 Jets, Human Rights Expert Says U.K. Government Suppressed Genocide Warnings in Sudan over UAE Ties, U.S. Surges Troops to Venezuela in Wake of Devastating Earthquakes, Family of Cuban Who Died of Likely Homicide" at Texas ICE Jail Sues for Wrongful Death, 18 Injured in Damascus Explosions as France's Emmanuel Macron Meets Syrian Leader

A New York City Council employee who was detained at the Delaney Hall ICE jail in Newark, New Jersey, for more than five months was released from custody in June. Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez was taken by federal immigration officers in January during a routine asylum interview. Rubio Bohorquez, who is from Venezuela, was detained despite holding temporary protected status that should have shielded him from deportation.People are sad; detainees are sad. It's people that try to build a future in this country, people that have complied with the law," says Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez of detained immigrants he met while being held in multiple ICE jails. They have paid their taxes. They are raising families."Rubio Bohorquez says he fears being detained again, even though his attorney Gwyneth Hesser says that would be in violation of a court order. But it seems right now that's not that much solace, because sometimes things are happening that are outside of the law," says Hesser.

A massive heat dome settled above the eastern half of the United States over the Fourth of July weekend, bringing triple-digit temperatures, disrupting travel and prompting emergency measures for millions of people. At least 25 people died in New Jersey due to extreme heat and humidity, and more than 185 million people - over half of U.S. residents - were under heat alerts over the weekend. This follows a record-shattering European heat wave that's been blamed for thousands of deaths across Spain, France and Germany. Climate scientists say the burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of global warming and the reason why heat waves are becoming longer, hotter and more frequent.Global warming is accelerating past thresholds that we used to consider unacceptable," says climate journalist David Wallace-Wells. There are a lot of questions about why we haven't prepared adequately for these heat waves," says Wallace-Wells, but he argues that it is still possible to retrofit the planet to mitigate the climate catastrophe.

A grand jury in Washington, D.C., has indicted former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Davey" Hearn on a felony charge for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19. He is facing a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Hearn, who denies the accusations, says he had noticed a partly detached piece of the Reflecting Pool's blue liner and reached into the water to see what it felt like, when he was quickly arrested and subsequently held in jail for five hours. He is one of at least six people who have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, which has turned green due to algae blooms despite being painted American-flag blue" at the behest of President Trump.We do think that Davey is being scapegoated for the failures of the White House with respect to the Reflecting Pool, that the blame is being shifted," says Norm Eisen, co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. He's innocent, and we intend to vigorously defend the matter."Eisen speaks about some of the other 300 cases Democracy Defenders Fund is involved in, including legal fights against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger and the Trump administration's executive order that attempted to end birthright citizenship. He also comments on President Trump having made $2.2 billion last year, mostly fueled by cryptocurrency profits. It's corruption on a scale we've never seen in American history, and, frankly, seldom in world history," says Eisen.

Millions Join Funeral Procession for Iranian Supreme Leader Assassinated in U.S. Strike, Israel Continues Attacks on Lebanon Despite U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire, Dozens Killed in Yemen as Houthis Launch Hodeidah Offensive, Israel Approves New West Bank Settlements and Continues Attacks on Gaza, Family Says Palestinian Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya Was Left Disfigured by Israeli Torture, Thessaloniki Shrouded in Toxic Smoke as Wildfires Follow Record European Heat Wave, At Least 25 Die from Record U.S. Heat Wave Over Fourth of July Weekend, Trump Attacks Opponents as Communists" in Independence Day Speech Marred by Storms, U.S. to Prosecute Former Olympian for Damaging" Lincoln Reflecting Pool, Thousands Remain Missing as Death Toll from Venezuelan Quakes Tops 3,300, Russian Attacks on Kyiv Kill at Least 11 After Ukrainian Drones Strike St. Petersburg, Turkey Cracks Down on Dissent as Trump Heads to NATO Summit in Ankara, Pope Visits Lampedusa, Urging Humane Treatment of Migrants and Refugees, Trump Pardons Clean Air Act Violators and Ex-Partner of Jack Abramoff, FIFA Lifts Suspension of U.S. Striker After Trump Intervenes, Amnesty International Says Chinese Ethnic Unity" Law Would Accelerate Forced Assimilation, Activist Self-Immolates Outside U.N. to Demand Tibet's Independence from China

As part of our July Fourth special broadcast, we continue our extended interview with Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. The book documents the rise of OpenAI and how the AI industry is leading to a new form of colonialism. One of the things that you really have to understand about AI development today is that there are what I call quasi-religious movements that have developed within Silicon Valley," says Hao. The concept of artificial general intelligence is not one that's scientifically grounded."

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

We begin our July Fourth special broadcast with the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" He was addressing the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. The late actor James Earl Jones read the historic address during a performance of Voices of a People's History of the United States, which was co-edited by Howard Zinn.

Ahead of the July Fourth holiday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we speak with the acclaimed scholar Robin D. G. Kelley, who examines how Black radicals have interpreted the document throughout U.S. history in a new essay for Hammer & Hope. Although the declaration famously asserts that all men are created equal," Kelley says that clearly did not extend to Indigenous or enslaved Black people. When the drafters developed this declaration, they assumed that human beings were basically white men," he says. But despite the hypocrisy" of the declaration, many Black radicals still found value in its words, including a justification for rebellion," says Kelley.

In a 6-3 ruling this week that overturned nine decades of precedent, the Supreme Court granted President Donald Trump the power to fire and replace officials at independent government agencies like the Federal Trade Commission. But in a separate 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can stay in her job as she challenges Trump's efforts to fire her.The seemingly contradictory rulings suggest a two-tier system of regulation, says Alvaro Bedoya, a former FTC commissioner who was fired by Trump last year. The independence and stability of the Federal Reserve is important to billionaire Wall Street Bankers," and therefore remains protected, says Bedoya. But then you have this whole series of other agencies that keep your toys safe, that keep health insurers from robbing people blind, that keep supermarkets from merging to make milk, eggs and beef ... even more expensive. The court said that all those regulators can report directly to the president and be entirely beholden to his whims."

New financial disclosures by President Donald Trump show that he made more than $1.4 billion from his family's various cryptocurrency ventures last year, reaping a windfall after pulling back on regulation of the industry and promoting the United States as the crypto capital of the world." Other Trump businesses, like his resorts and golf courses, have also flourished since his return to the White House, while the Trump Organization has also licensed the family name to properties in countries that are crucial to U.S. foreign policy interests, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.It's been an incredibly successful period for the Trump family," says Reuters investigative reporter Tom Bergin.

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