Democracy Now!

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Russian independent journalist Dmitry Muratov and Filipina journalist Maria Ressa for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression." Muratov runs the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which has lost more journalists to murder than any other Russian news outlet. Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor-in-chief of The Nation and reporter on Russia for the last 30 years, recounts the trajectory of Muratov's career, noting his newspaper's humble beginnings and his unexpected rise to becoming an advocate for freedom of the press. "Investigative journalism in Russia today is very dangerous," says vanden Heuvel. Despite the danger, van Heuvel says that Novaya readership is skyrocketing with younger journalists lining up to work at the newspaper.

In response to the completion of the contested Line 3 pipeline, which is now reportedly operational, thousands of Indigenous leaders and climate justice advocates are kicking off the "People vs. Fossil Fuels'' mobilization, an Indigenous-led five-day action of civil disobedience at the White House to demand President Biden declare a climate emergency, divest from fossil fuels and launch a "just renewable energy revolution." "This pipeline doesn't respect treaty rights," says Winona LaDuke, longtime Indigenous activist and founder of Honor the Earth, a platform to raise awareness of and money for Indigenous struggles for environmental justice. "They're just trying to continue their egregious behavior. It's so tragic that, on the one hand, the Biden administration is like, 'We're going to have Indigenous Peoples' Day, but we're still going to smash you in northern Minnesota and smash the rest of the country.'" LaDuke faces criminal charges linked to her protest of pipelines in three different counties.

We continue our look at Indigenous Peoples' Day with Jennifer Marley, a citizen of San Ildefonso Pueblo and a member of the grassroots Indigenous liberation organization The Red Nation, which helped lead a campaign in 2015 to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Marley slams President Biden's formal recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day as a federal holiday and discusses how Native lands are disproportionately used for resource extraction and how The Red Nation connects their local struggles to international decolonization campaigns, as well.

President Biden has formally recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day as a federal holiday, following a growing movement to debunk the myth of Christopher Columbus as a beneficent discoverer and replace it with recognition that the arrival of Columbus in the Bahamas unleashed a brutal genocide that massacred tens of millions of Native people across the hemisphere. But the holiday will continue to be shared with Columbus Day, which many argue glorifies the nation's dark history of colonial genocide that killed millions of Native people. "It's just not appropriate to celebrate Columbus and Indigenous peoples on the same day. It's a contradiction," says author and historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. "Genocidal enslavement is what Columbus represents."

Merck Seeks FDA Approval for Antiviral COVID-19 Pill, COVID-19 Death Toll in Brazil Tops 600,000, "Shameful and Dangerous": Oxfam Slams New Deal on Global Minimum Corporate Tax, Up to 72 Die in Suicide Blast at Shiite Mosque in Afghanistan, Record Low Turnout Reported for Iraq's Parliamentary Elections, Lights Go Out in Lebanon After Electrical Grid Collapses, Taiwan Vows Not to Bow to Pressure from China as Tension Escalates, Libya: Six Refugees Shot Dead at Overcrowded Prison Camp, 70,000 March in Brussels Demanding Action on Climate Emergency, Report: Sen. Sinema Wants to Cut $100B in Climate Funds, Abortion Ban Reinstated in Texas After Federal Appeals Court Ruling, Police in Dayton, Ohio, Denounced for Dragging Paraplegic Black Man Out of Car, Justice Department: No Federal Charges in Police Shooting of Jacob Blake, Biden Administration Urged to Halt Efforts to Expand Immigration Detention, 126 People, Mostly Haitians, Found Locked in Shipping Container in Guatemala, Jan. 6 Committee Considers Charges Against Steve Bannon for Defying Subpoena, AQ Khan, Who Admitted to Role in Global Nuclear Proliferation Scandal, Dies at 85

As Republican lawmakers attempt to make it harder to vote in states across the country, we look at the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, the civil rights pioneer who helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Historian Keisha Blain writes about Hamer in her new book, "Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America." In addition to fighting for voting rights, Hamer challenged state-sanctioned violence and medical racism that Black women faced. Blain based the book's title on a frequent saying of Fannie Lou Hamer's: "Whether you are Black or white, you are not free until I am free."

The family of Henrietta Lacks has filed a lawsuit against biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific for making billions in profit from the "HeLa" cell line. Henrietta Lacks was an African American patient at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Doctors kept her tissue samples without her consent for experimental studies while treating her for cervical cancer in 1951. Benjamin Crump, one of the lawyers for the case, filed 70 years after her death, calls Henrietta Lacks a "cornerstone of modern medicine," as her cells have since played a part in cancer research, the polio vaccine and even COVID-19 vaccines. Ron Lacks, author and grandson of Henrietta Lacks, laments the fact that the family was never notified when his grandmother died, and that part of what motivates the lawsuit is to ensure "no other family should ever go through this."

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday morning to Filipina journalist Maria Ressa and Russian newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov for their work to "safeguard freedom of expression." Ressa has repeatedly been arrested by the government of Rodrigo Duterte for the groundbreaking work of her news site Rappler, which has exposed Duterte's deadly war on drugs that has killed tens of thousands. "The Nobel Peace Prize committee realized a world without facts means a world without truth," said Ressa today after winning the prize. We reair a 2019 interview when Ressa came into the Democracy Now! studio.

Pfizer-BioNTech Requests Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccine for Children Aged 5-11, COVID Deaths in Russia Top 900/Day; Venezuela Accuses IMF of Withholding Pandemic Funds, Senate Cmte. Says Trump Repeatedly Asked DOJ for Help Overturning Election Loss, Senate Votes to Lift Debt Ceiling Until Early December, Minneapolis Police Joke About "Hunting Activists" During 2020 Racial Justice Uprising, Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, WSJ: U.S. Military Secretly Training Taiwanese Forces for Possible Conflict with China, Gunmen Kill 2 School Teachers in Kashmir Amid Mounting Attacks on Civilians, Family of Argentinian Reporter Found Dead During 2019 Bolivian Coup Demands Probe , U.N. Agency to Close Probe into Yemen War After Pressure from Saudis and Allies, Biden Admin to Turn Pennsylvania Prison into For-Profit ICE Jail, Immigrant Advocates Petition Int'l Rights Body to Call for End of Title 42, Texas to Appeal U.S. Judge Ruling Which Blocked State's Abortion Ban, Reuters: AT&T Helped Build Far-Right, Pro-Trump One America News Network, Biden Admin Restores Protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

Amid the mounting humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government has been using the commercial airline Ethiopia Airlines to shuttle weapons and military vehicles from neighboring country Eritrea since the beginning of their civil war, according to a new CNN investigation. This comes as the United Nations estimates more than 5 million people in the country's Tigray region are now in need of humanitarian assistance in order to survive, but U.N. officials say Ethiopia's government is blocking the movement of medicine, food and fuel into Tigray. In response, Ethiopian officials expelled seven senior U.N. officials from Ethiopia last week, giving them just 72 hours to leave the country. We look at the latest developments with Nima Elbagir, award-winning senior international correspondent for CNN, and also air her full report documenting ethnic cleansing.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case brought by Abu Zubaydah, the Guantánamo prisoner who was the first subject of the CIA's torture program. Zubaydah's legal team has spent years trying to obtain testimony from two psychologists who helped the CIA design and implement his torture, and the Biden administration is continuing the Trump's administration strategy to keep key information about Zubaydah's torture in Poland classified despite the fact that the two psychologists are willing to testify. Several justices contradicted the Biden administration, suggesting Zubaydah, the only witness besides the psychologists to the torture in Poland, testify himself, and expressing frustration that Zubaydah is still being held incommunicado at Guantánamo. We speak with Abu Zubaydah's attorney, Joe Margulies, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Raymond Bonner, who has long followed the case. "The legal justification for continuing to hold [Guantánamo detainees] has disappeared," says Margulies.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Texas's near-total ban on abortions, granting the Justice Department's emergency request to halt the law while courts consider its legality. In his ruling, Judge Robert Pitman slammed the Texas ban's unconstitutionality, writing, "This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right." "Judge Robert Pitman ruled and said what advocates in Texas and clinics operators in Texas have been saying all along … a near-total ban on abortion in the state of Texas is flagrantly unconstitutional," says Amy Littlefield, abortion access correspondent for The Nation. Abortion clinics in the state are already moving quickly to resume abortions.

Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Texas's Near-Total Ban on Abortions, Senate GOP Leader McConnell to Allow Debt Limit Extension into December, WHO Approves Use of First-Ever Vaccine Against Malaria, U.S. COVID Deaths in 2021 Surpass 2020's Total, U.N. to Pay Salaries of Aid Workers in Afghanistan, U.N. Appoints Envoy to Western Sahara After Two-Year Vacancy, Education Department to Expand Student Loan Forgiveness for Public Workers, Crude Oil Spills from Galveston Bay, TX Refinery, Biden Administration Restores Key Environmental Review Provisions to NEPA, Appeals Court Blocks California Law Banning Private Prisons, Shooter Injures Four at Texas High School; Student Taken into Custody, Colorado Workers Sue Amazon for Refusing to Pay for Time Spent at Mandated COVID Screenings, Bernie Sanders Challenges Joe Manchin to Name Benefits He Wants Stripped from Build Back Better Act, Immigrant Justice Advocates Demand Schumer Include Immigration Reform in Reconciliation Package, Nobel Prize in Literature Goes to Tanzanian Author Abdulrazak Gurnah

Derecka Purnell draws from her experience as a human rights lawyer in her new book, published this month, "Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom," to argue that police reform is an inadequate compromise to calls for abolition. Since the murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville in 2020, many states have passed laws aimed at reforming police, but congressional talks at the federal level have broken down. Purnell reflects upon her personal journey as a Black woman who believed in police reform before pivoting to abolition, saying, "I became a part of social movements who pushed me to think more critically … about building a world without violence and how to reduce our reliance on police."

California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency after a devastating oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach sent up to 144,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. Investigators say a split in an underwater pipeline, likely damaged by a ship anchor, is the source of the oil spill. The pipeline owner, Texas-based Amplify Energy, didn't report the leak until 12 hours after the Coast Guard was first notified, and beaches in the area are expected to be closed for months as crews race to minimize the environmental damage. "California's offshore oil platforms are a ticking time bomb," says Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "It's time to shut them down."

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified to Congress Tuesday, denouncing the company for prioritizing "astronomical profits" over the safety of billions of users, and urging lawmakers to enact strict oversight over Facebook. Haugen's testimony gave a rare glimpse into the secretive tech company, which she accused of harming children, sowing division by boosting hateful content, and undermining democracy. "Facebook wants you to believe that the problems we're talking about are unsolvable. They want you to believe in false choices," Haugen said at the hearing. Roger McNamee, a former mentor to Mark Zuckerberg, says a U.S. business culture "where CEOs are told to prioritize shareholder value at all cost" is partly to blame for Facebook's design. "We have abdicated too much power to corporations. We have essentially said we're not going to regulate them." We also speak with tech reform activist Jessica González, who says Haugen's testimony has exposed how little Facebook regulates its platform outside the English-speaking world. "Facebook has not adequately invested to keep people safe across languages," says González. "There is a very racist element to the lack of investment."

Whistleblower Tells Lawmakers to Regulate Facebook Before It Causes More Harm, Schumer Sets Up Debt Limit Vote Amid Ongoing GOP Obstructionism, Voters Confront AZ Sen. Kyrsten Sinema over Reconciliation Bill as She Heads Back to D.C., Missouri Executes Man with Intellectual Disability Despite High-Profile Pleas, China-Taiwan Tensions Mount as Biden Reaffirms U.S.-Sino Commitment to Diplomatic Agreement, Amnesty Says Taliban Killed 13 Ethnic Hazaras After Taking Power; Kabul Faces Winter Power Outages, U.N. Rejects Expulsion of Top Officials from Ethiopia as Millions in Urgent Need of Humanitarian Assistance, Romanian Lawmakers Oust Prime Minister After 9 Months in Power, French Trade Unions Protest Against Low Pay, Pension & Unemployment Reforms, Kellogg's Workers Go on Strike over Threats to Healthcare, Wages, President of NYC Police Union Resigns After FBI Raids Headquarters, Descendants of Henrietta Lacks Sue Pharmaceutical Co. for Using Her Cells Without Consent, USPS Now Offers Check Cashing in Four Locations, Could Lead to Expansion of Postal Banking Services

The Pandora Papers, described as "the world's largest-ever journalistic collaboration," have revealed the secret financial dealings of the world's richest and most powerful people. "We've uncovered a system that benefits the few at the expense of the many," says Ben Hallman, senior editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who details some of the project's main revelations so far. We also speak with Vanessa Ogle, professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on tax havens, who says the growth of tax havens like the Bahamas and Switzerland is directly linked to wealth extraction from the developing world. "The seed money for the expansion of these tax havens comes out of the colonial world," she explains.

An unprecedented leak at Facebook reveals top executives at the company knew about major issues with the platform from their own research but kept the damning information hidden from the public. The leak shows Facebook deliberately ignored rampant disinformation, hate speech and political unrest in order to boost ad sales and is also implicated in child safety and human trafficking violations. Former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen leaked thousands of documents and revealed her identity as the whistleblower during an interview with "60 Minutes." She is set to testify today before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. "​​​​Their value system, which is about efficiency and speed and growth and profit and power, is in conflict with democracy," says Roger McNamee, who was an early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg and author of "Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe." He says Facebook executives are prioritizing profits over safety. We also speak with Jessica González, co-CEO of the media advocacy organization Free Press and co-founder of Change the Terms, a coalition that works to disrupt online hate, who says this demonstrates Facebook is "unfit" to regulate itself. "We need Congress to step in."

Hollywood Crew Workers Vote to Authorize Strike, Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen to Urge Congress to Take Action, Johnson & Johnson Seeks FDA OK for Booster Shot, New York Healthcare Provider Fires 1,400 for Refusing to Get Vaccinated, Biden Accuses GOP of Playing "Russian Roulette" with U.S. Economy, Activists Confront Sen. Sinema in Arizona Bathroom, State Department Lawyer Blasts Biden for "Inhumane" Expulsions of Haitians, California Declares State of Emergency After Offshore Oil Pipeline Spill, Biden Administration to Open Up 80 Millions of Acres for Drilling in Gulf of Mexico, Report: 14% of World's Coral Reefs Lost Since 2009 Due to Climate Emergency, Biden Reverses Trump-Era Domestic Gag Rule on Title X Family Planning Clinics, Judge Ignores Federal Prosecutors and Sentences Insurrectionist to Jail, Commission Estimates 330,000 Children Sexually Abused in French Catholic Church, Masked Jewish Settlers Attack Palestinians in "Pogrom" as Settler Violence Surges, Bangladesh Probes Murder of Prominent Rohingya Activist, Duterte Announces Plan to Retire from Politics Amid ICC Probe, U.N. Investigators Document Possible War Crimes in Libya by Warring Factions, National Women's Soccer League in Crisis Amid Coach Abuse Scandal, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart on Trial for Opioid Epidemic, Missouri Prepares to Execute Ernest Lee Johnson, an Intellectually Disabled Black Man

Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen to Urge Congress to Take Action, Johnson & Johnson Seeks FDA OK for Booster Shot, New York Healthcare Provider Fires 1,400 for Refusing to Get Vaccinated, Biden Accuses GOP of Playing "Russian Roulette" with U.S. Economy, Activists Confront Sen. Sinema in Arizona Bathroom, State Department Lawyer Blasts Biden for "Inhumane" Expulsions of Haitians, California Declares State of Emergency After Offshore Oil Pipeline Spill, Biden Administration to Open Up 80 Millions of Acres for Drilling in Gulf of Mexico, Report: 14% of World's Coral Reefs Lost Since 2009 Due to Climate Emergency, Biden Reverses Trump-Era Domestic Gag Rule on Title X Family Planning Clinics, Judge Ignores Federal Prosecutors and Sentences Insurrectionist to Jail, Hollywood Crew Workers Vote to Authorize Strike, Commission Estimates 330,000 Children Sexually Abused in French Catholic Church, Masked Jewish Settlers Attack Palestinians in "Pogrom" as Settler Violence Surges, Bangladesh Probes Murder of Prominent Rohingya Activist, Duterte Announces Plan to Retire from Politics Amid ICC Probe, U.N. Investigators Document Possible War Crimes in Libya by Warring Factions, National Women's Soccer League in Crisis Amid Coach Abuse Scandal, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart on Trial for Opioid Epidemic, Missouri Prepares to Execute Ernest Lee Johnson, an Intellectually Disabled Black Man

Thousands of youth climate activists marched through the streets of Milan last week demanding world leaders meet their pledges to the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The protest came at the end of a three-day youth climate conference, ahead of the United Nations' COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Activists at the Youth4Climate conference slammed political inaction on the climate crisis and world leaders' vague pledges to reduce carbon emissions. "Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions," said Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate. "And yet Africans are already suffering some of the most brutal impacts fueled by the climate crisis." Swedish activist Greta Thunberg mocked the jargon politicians use to talk about climate and the environment. "Net zero, blah, blah, blah. Climate neutral, blah, blah, blah. This is all we hear from our so-called leaders: words — words that sound great but so far has led to no action," said Thunberg. "Our hopes and dreams drown in their empty words and promises."

After thousands of people marched in hundreds of rallies across the United States to protest against tightening abortion restrictions, we speak with Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, who says the weekend actions represent "a movement moment" for reproductive rights. "More than 80% of Americans believe that Roe should be the law of the land," she says. "And yet, in state after state, these horrific restrictions and bans are continuing to further erode our ability to access our constitutional right."

Thousands marched Saturday in more than 600 demonstrations across the United States to protest increasing state restrictions on abortion. The "Bans Off Our Bodies" rallies were sparked in part by a near-total ban on abortion that went into effect in Texas on September 1, which bans the procedure after about six weeks and lets anyone sue the doctor and others who help a person obtain an abortion. Ahead of Saturday's nationwide actions, several Democratic House members shared their own experiences getting abortions during a hearing Thursday, including California Congressmember Barbara Lee, who said she was just 16 when she had to travel to Mexico for a so-called back-alley abortion in the days before Roe v. Wade, and Congressmember Cori Bush, who described getting an abortion after she was raped at 17. "To all the Black women and girls who have had abortions and will have abortions: We have nothing to be ashamed of," Bush said. "We deserve better. We demand better. We are worthy of better."

Rallies Across U.S. Call for Reproductive Justice Amid GOP Assault on Abortion, U.S. Tops 700K COVID Deaths; CA Announces Student Vaccine Mandate as NYC Educator Mandate Starts, Major Orange County Oil Spill Blankets Beaches, Kills Wildlife, Pandora Papers Expose Secret Financial Dealings of World Leaders, Billionaires and Other Elites, Facebook Whistleblower Says Co. Repeatedly Put Profit Over Safety, Calls for Regulations, Kabul Blast Kills Five People as Afghan Humanitarian Crisis Grows, 8 Killed at Indian Farmworker Protest, 4,000 Refugees, Including Children, Arrested in Raids by Libyan Authorities, 3 Million in Northern Syria Face Water Shortages After Decade of War, Qatar Holds First-Ever Legislative Election in Poll That Excludes Many from Voting, Canary Islands Volcanic Eruption Grows More Powerful, Taiwan Scrambles Warplanes After Chinese "Air Incursion", With Democrats at Impasse, Biden Proposes Scaling Back $3.5T Spending Bill, House Passes Bill to End Racist Sentencing Disparity for Cocaine Offenses, Lawyer Steven Donziger, Who Led Suit Against Chevron, Sentenced to Six Months for Contempt, George Floyd Memorial Statue Defaced in New York City

Friends and relatives of the late radical attorney Michael Ratner respond to the recent controversy over Yale University professor Samuel Moyn's claim that Ratner "prioritized making the war on terror humane" by using the courts to challenge the military's holding of prisoners at Guantánamo. Ratner's longtime colleagues blast Moyn for failing to recognize how the late attorney had dedicated his life to fighting war and U.S. imperialism. "Michael opposed war with every fiber of his being in every medium he had access to: the courtroom, the classroom, in the media," says Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. "And he knew that legal challenges to protect humans from authoritarian abuses and violence and torture were necessary."

We look at the life and legacy of the late Michael Ratner, the trailblazing human rights lawyer and former president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, with three people who knew him well: Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights; Vince Warren, the organization's executive director; and ​​Lizzy Ratner, Ratner's niece and a senior editor at The Nation magazine. Michael Ratner spent decades opposing government abuse and fought to close the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, first in the 1990s when it was used to hold thousands of Haitian asylum seekers and later when the George W. Bush administration opened a military prison there to detain hundreds of people from the so-called war on terror. Ratner died in 2016 at age 72. His posthumous memoir, "Moving the Bar: My Life as a Radical Lawyer," has just been published.

Congress Extends Gov't Funding as Pelosi Delays House Infrastructure Vote Amid Democratic Split, Court Allows Biden to Continue Mass Expulsions Without Due Process Under Title 42, Merck Applies for Emergency Use of Antiviral Drug That Could Halve Number of Severe COVID Cases, Rep. Cori Bush Opens Up About Having an Abortion After Rape as House Members Share Abortion Stories, Over 50% of Police Killings Go Unreported, Police Kill Black People at 3.5x Higher Rate Than Whites, Protesters Demand Accountability After Officials Suspend Probe into 2020 Beirut Port Blast, Salvadorans Protest New Cryptocurrency, Power Grab by President Bukele, Judge Sentences Steven Donziger, Lawyer Who Sued Chevron for Amazon Oil Spills, Footage from Animal Rights Group Shows Mistreatment of Chickens at Foster Farms, Biden Admin Restores Migratory Bird Protections as Another 23 Plant & Animal Species Go Extinct, Youth Activists Rally in Milan to Demand Climate Justice Ahead of November's COP26, NYC Taxi Drivers Hold 24/7 Protest to Demand Debt Relief from Purchase of Medallions, Chicago Tortilla Plant Workers Escalate Protests Against El Milagro, Canadian Gov't to Pay Billions in Compensation to First Nations Children for Welfare Discrimination

Wall-to-wall coverage of the case of Gabby Petito — a 22-year-old white woman and blogger who went missing while traveling with her fiancé Brian Laundrie and whose remains were found in a national park in Wyoming — has renewed attention on what some call "missing white woman syndrome," the media's inordinate focus on white female victims and the disparity in coverage for women of color. We host a roundtable discussion with Amara Cofer, host and executive producer of the podcast "Black Girl Gone"; Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lawyer focused on tribal sovereignty; and Melissa Jeltsen, a freelance reporter who covers violence against women. "There is an underrepresentation of Black women, of women of color in these stories," says Cofer.

Activists continue to call on Democratic leaders to pass the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act, which expands the social safety net and includes measures to address the climate crisis. Progressives remain resolute in their opposition to passing a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill unless it is paired with the larger package. The Build Back Better Act represents "economic investment in the lives of poor and low-wealth people in this country," says Reverend William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. "The question here is not 'What will it cost if we do this?' What will it cost if we don't do this?"

As Government Shutdown Looms, Biden's Legislative Agenda Hangs in the Balance, Second Alaska Hospital to Ration Care Amid Surge in Unvaccinated COVID Patients, YouTube to Ban Anti-Vaccine Misinformation, CDC Urges Pregnant People to Get Vaccinated, Protesters Target Moderna CEO and Top Biden Aide, Demanding Vaccine Equity , U.N. Warns Tigray Blockade Leading to Famine, Dire Medical Shortages for Millions, Pentagon Knew U.S. Drone Strike in Kabul Missed Target, Hit Civilians Weeks Before Public Admission, Ecuador Prison Riot Claims 116 Lives , North Korea Says It Tested New Hypersonic Missile, La Palma Residents Lock Down as Volcano Lava Reaches Atlantic Ocean, House Cmte. Subpoenas Organizers of Jan. 6 Rallies, Incl. Trump Campaign Spokesperson , Baby Food Makers Kept Selling Products with Arsenic Levels Exceeding FDA-Approved Limits, Land Defenders Vow to Continue Struggle as Enbridge Announces Oil Will Start Flowing Through Line 3, Canadian Judge Ends Injunction That Led to Violent Crackdown on Indigenous Fairy Creek Activists, Wet'suwet'en Land Protectors Set Up Blockades Against Incursion by Coastal GasLink, Right Livelihood Award Goes to Environmental Activists, Rights Defenders Across the Globe

The center-left Social Democratic Party in Germany has narrowly claimed victory in an election that marks an end to the 16-year era of Angela Merkel's conservative chancellorship. We look at what this means for Europe and the world with Yanis Varoufakis, a member of the Greek Parliament and the former finance minister of Greece. The SDP's narrow victory should be viewed critically, says Varoufakis, noting that the party "ruthlessly" practiced austerity in 2008 and 2009. "Not much has changed," Varoufakis says. "It's not as if an opposition party won."

Progressives in the House of Representatives say they will oppose the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would seek a vote on the measure separately from the Build Back Better Act, the $3.5 trillion bill that expands the social safety net and combats the climate crisis. Conservative Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who receive major donations from financial institutions, fossil fuel companies and other industries, continue to oppose the $3.5 trillion package. While the $1 trillion infrastructure bill is "kind of a half-measure," the Build Back Better Act "really could be best described as the Democratic platform," says David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect.

Progressives Hold Firm on Opposing Infrastructure Bill Without Vow to Pass Build Back Better Act, Vanessa Nakate, Greta Thunberg Condemn Climate Inaction, U.S. Military Leaders Acknowledge "Strategic Failure" in Afghanistan During Senate Questioning, Gen. Milley Denies Going Around Chain of Command During Trump Term, Pfizer-BioNTech Submits Vaccine Data on 5-to-11-Year-Olds to FDA; Mask Mandate Bans Halted in SC and AZ, Cuba Starts Shipping Abdala Vaccine; COVID Surges in Russia and Syria; Japan Lifts State of Emergency, Fumio Kishida, from Ruling Party Establishment, Set to Become Next Japanese Prime Minister, Report Finds WHO Workers Responsible for at Least 20 Cases of Sexual Abuse and Assault in DRC, Haiti Elections Delayed Amid Mounting Crises, Berliners Vote to Expropriate Housing Units from Developers, Mega Landlords, Court Annuls Trade Deals Between EU and Occupied Western Sahara, Capital Gazette Mass Murderer Receives Multiple Life Sentences, Judge Blocks Key Part of Arizona Anti-Abortion Law Involving Genetic Abnormalities, Chile to Debate Expanded Abortion Access as Rallies Call for Reproductive Justice In Latin America

We go to Chicago for an update on workers at El Milagro tortilla plants who staged a temporary walkout last week to protest low pay, staff shortages and abusive working conditions, including intimidation and sexual harassment. El Milagro claims an ongoing tortilla shortage is due to supply chain issues, but organizers say the company has lost staff due to their poor treatment of workers, including their mishandling of the pandemic, resulting in dozens of infections and five deaths. Workers gave El Milagro management until this Wednesday to respond to their demands. "The company, instead of offering better wages and hiring more people, is just cranking up the machines," says Jorge Mújica, strategic campaigns organizer at Arise Chicago, a community group that helps people fight workplace exploitation.

Did the CIA under the Trump administration plan to kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during a shootout in London? That is one of the explosive findings in a new exposé by Yahoo News that details how the CIA considered abducting and possibly murdering Assange while he took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid being extradited to Sweden for rape allegations, charges that were dropped in 2017. More than 30 former officials say former CIA Director Mike Pompeo was apparently motivated to get even with WikiLeaks following its publication of sensitive CIA hacking tools, which the agency considered "the largest data loss in CIA history." Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News, lays out the plans and describes how the abduction plan "was one of the most contentious intelligence debates of the entire Trump era," noting it ultimately spurred the Justice Department to fast-track its legal case against Assange. We also speak with Assange's legal adviser Jennifer Robinson, who says the latest revelations should alarm American citizens, as well as journalists around the world. "This is the CIA talking about conspiracy to kidnap and murder an Australian citizen and an award-winning journalist and editor who has done nothing but publish truthful information."

R&B singer R. Kelly is guilty of a series of charges, including racketeering based on sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, forced labor and transporting people across state lines for sex. Jurors in the federal trial returned their verdict Monday after 11 accusers — nine women and two men — and 34 other witnesses detailed Kelly's pattern of sexual and other abuse against dozens of women and underage girls for nearly two decades. "He just became more egregious, more bold, with the kind of crimes that he was committing against Black girls and women," says dream hampton, executive producer of the documentary series "Surviving R. Kelly," which helped publicize Kelly's predations and fueled demands for accountability. "It was time for it to end."

As Government Shutdown Looms, Senate GOP Blocks Bill to Fund Government and Raise Debt Ceiling, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Solicits Funds from Lobbyists Opposing Democrats' $3.5T Spending Bill, R. Kelly Found Guilty on All Counts in Sex Trafficking Trial, Biden Receives COVID-19 Booster, Urges Unvaccinated to Get First Shots, New York National Guard May Fill Roles of Healthcare Workers Who Refuse Vaccinations, CIA Pushed Trump Administration to Kidnap or Assassinate WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, International Criminal Court Probe on Afghanistan War Crimes Excludes U.S. and Allies, Taliban Tightens Restrictions on Afghan Women's Rights, Tunisians Protest Power Grab by President Kais Saied, Biden Administration Seeks to Protect Young Immigrants After Texas Judge Voids DACA , Pioneering Black Filmmaker and Artist Melvin Van Peebles Dies at 89, Myron Dewey, Who Documented Resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline, Killed in Car Accident

We speak with Mansoor Adayfi, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee who was held at the military prison for 14 years without charge, an ordeal he details in his new memoir, "Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo." Adayfi was 18 when he left his home in Yemen to do research in Afghanistan, where he was kidnapped by Afghan warlords, then sold to the CIA after the 9/11 attacks. Adayfi describes being brutally tortured in Afghanistan before he was transported to Guantánamo in 2002, where he became known as Detainee #441 and survived years of abuse. Adayfi was released against his will to Serbia in 2016 and now works as the Guantánamo Project coordinator at CAGE, an organization that advocates on behalf of victims of the war on terror. "The purpose of Guantánamo wasn't about making Americans safe," says Adayfi, who describes the facility as a "black hole" with no legal protections. "​​The system was designed to strip us of who we are. Even our names were taken."

Haitians Condemn Mass Deportations and Inhumane Treatment by the U.S., Social Democrats to Form Coalition Gov't in Germany After Edging Out Merkel's Long-Standing Bloc, Israeli Forces Kill 5 Palestinians in West Bank; Political Leader Khalida Jarrar Released from Prison, Mahmoud Abbas Gives Israel One Year to End Occupation, Vanuatu to Ask for ICJ Opinion on Climate Crisis, Activists Take to Streets for Global Climate Strike, PG&E Charged with Manslaughter over 2020 Zogg Fire as Wildfires Rage in California, Al-Shabab Suicide Attack Kills at Least 8 People in Mogadishu, Canada's Catholic Bishops Apologize for Abuse of Indigenous Children, Swiss Voters Approve Bid to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage, San Marino Votes to Legalize Abortion, House Approves Bill to Protect Abortion Rights, But Measure Unlikely to Pass Senate, House Sets Up Vote for Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill as Larger Spending Package Moves Forward, Judge Blocks NYC Teacher Vaccine Mandate as Hochul Eyes Plans to Replace Unvaccinated Health Workers, Workers at Chicago Tortilla Plant Walk Out to Protest Low Pay and Poor Working Conditions, Frances "Sissy" Farenthold, Trailblazing Texas Politician and Activist, Dies at 94

Longtime diplomat Daniel Foote, the U.S. special envoy to Haiti, has resigned in protest over the Biden administration's mass deportation of Haitian asylum seekers and meddling in Haiti's political affairs. The resignation comes days after U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback were filmed chasing, grabbing and whipping Haitian asylum seekers who had gathered in a makeshift camp in Del Rio, Texas. "I am outraged," says Maxine Waters, a Democratic congressmember from California who is a longtime advocate for the rights of people in Haiti. She says refugees must be able to seek asylum in the U.S. without such "inhumane" treatment, and urges the Biden administration to do more to protect vulnerable people. "The United States can do better than this," Waters says.

The Taliban are already restricting women's rights in Afghanistan — just a month since they overran the capital of Kabul — by blocking female students from returning to schools and universities, and telling many women workers to stay home. The new Taliban government has closed the Ministry of Women's Affairs that was established soon after the Taliban were toppled in 2001, and replaced it with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, ​​charged with enforcing strict Islamic law. Former Afghan Member of Parliament Belquis Roshan calls for international solidarity with the women of Afghanistan and an end to imperial interventions in the country. "International solidarity, we can initiate … by creating harmony and unity and working together — not with governments, but the people," says Roshan in an exclusive interview with V, the award-winning playwright formerly known as Eve Ensler. V joins us along with Madinah Wardak, a mental health social worker of Afghan descent and founder of the digital platform Burqas & Beer, ahead of a global day of action in support of Afghan women.

As the Delta variant continues to surge across the United States, so too has the housing and eviction crisis, with more than 11 million households now behind on rent. Most of those evicted are Black or Latinx, and the majority are single women with children. We speak with a single mother and a high school student who have faced eviction and went to Washington, D.C., this week to help Congressmember Cori Bush and Senator Elizabeth Warren introduce the Keeping Renters Safe Act to reinstate the federal pandemic eviction moratorium. "We need the eviction moratorium and the National Tenant Bill of Rights," says Vivian Smith, a tenant activist with the Miami Workers Center. We also speak with Faith Plank, a 17-year-old housing activist in Morehead, Kentucky, who was evicted in March and says she has felt "the pain of that eviction" every day since. "I can't focus on school when I'm worried about how I'm going to go to bed tonight," says Plank.

Haiti Envoy Resigns over Mass Deportations, Blasts "Catastrophic" History of U.S. Interventions, Immigrant Rights Activists Demand an End to ICE Jails on Day of Nationwide Action, CDC Dir. Walensky Approves Pfizer Boosters for High-Risk Workers, Overruling Agency Panel, South African and Bolivian Presidents Highlight Global Vaccine Inequity at UNGA, Guyana's President Calls Out Disproportionate Effects of Climate Crisis on Small Island Nations, EPA Slashes Use of Industrial Chemicals Widely Used in Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, House Approves Increased $768 Billion Pentagon Budget, Rejecting Bids to Rein In Military Spending, House Approves Amendment Ending U.S. Support for Saudi-Led Bombing of Yemen, Rep. Tlaib Condemns U.S. Support for Israeli War Crimes & Abuses as House Approves Military Funding, Exiled Catalan Separatist Leader Arrested in Italy, "Texans Are in Crisis": Abortion Providers Ask SCOTUS to Review Texas Abortion Ban, House Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Four Aides and Allies to Trump, GOP-Ordered Maricopa County Recount Ends with 261 Fewer Votes for Trump, 99 More Votes for Biden, Derek Chauvin to Appeal 22.5-Year Sentence for Murdering George Floyd, One Killed, 14 Injured After Tennessee Mass Shooting, Facebook Official to Face Senate Questioning After Reports Instagram Harmful to Adolescent Girls

Criticism is growing of AUKUS, a new trilateral military partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that the countries say is needed to counter China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific region. As part of the agreement, the U.S. has agreed to help Australia build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, replacing a previous deal Australia had with France. China has denounced the deal, saying the countries are "severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts." Anthropologist David Vine, who tracks U.S. military bases overseas, says AUKUS will not only intensify regional tensions but also grow the U.S. military footprint in Australia. "There is no reason to be building new military bases in Australia or any part of the world," he says.

More than 500 civil society groups boycotted the United Nations Food Systems Summit in New York for giving corporations an outsized role in framing the agenda. We speak with ​​leading food advocates in Ethiopia, India and the United States, who lay out their concerns: Million Belay, general coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa; Raj Patel, journalist and research professor at the University of Texas at Austin; and Shalmali Guttal, executive director of Focus on the Global South. "There is growing hunger in the world, and there is growing inequality and growing poverty and unemployment," Guttal says. "This industrialized, globalized, corporate-led food system is failing us."

With hunger growing across the globe during the pandemic, the United Nations is holding its first Food Systems Summit, but the gathering is facing fierce criticism for giving corporations an outsized role framing the agenda. The United Nations' own experts on food, human rights and the environment released a statement warning the summit could "serve the corporate sector" over the needs of workers, small producers, women and Indigenous peoples around the world. U.N. figures show the pandemic has increased the number of hungry people to 811 million, and nearly one in three people worldwide — almost 2.4 billion — lack access to adequate nutrition. "When you've got conflict, climate and capitalism compounded with COVID, you see a really apocalyptic situation," says journalist and academic Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World's Food System."