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Headlines for July 20, 2026 * [U.S. Continues Strikes Against ...

2026-07-20T14:33:31Z

U.S. Escalates War on Iran, Targeting Civilian Infrastructure as ...

2026-07-20T14:33:26Z

U.S. Escalates War on Iran, Targeting Civilian Infrastructure as 3 U.S. Soldiers Are Killed

[[Seg1 guest split1]][1]

The United States is expanding its attacks on Iran after three U.S. soldiers were killed over the weekend, the first U.S. fatalities in the conflict since March. Two U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan, and a third soldier was killed in northern Iraq during a “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. The United States has now bombed Iran for nine consecutive nights, and Iran has retaliated by striking U.S. allies across the Persian Gulf. The war, which has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has squeezed global supplies of oil and gas.

“The United States has considerable violence at its disposal, but it has limited political capacity to dictate terms,” says Toby Jones, associate professor of Middle East history at Rutgers University. Jones says that while the United States has tried to “inflict pain” on Iranian civilians in order to weaken the government, “it’s hard to say that it’s working.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/iran_update

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/iran_update

"Justice for Lorenzo": Houston Community Demands ...

2026-07-20T14:33:20Z

"Justice for Lorenzo": Houston Community Demands Accountability After ICE Killing of Mexican Father

[[Seg2 maria reporting]][1]

Houston community members continue to demand justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the 52-year-old Mexican father who was shot and killed by an ICE agent July 7. He had lived in the United States for nearly 35 years and had three U.S. citizen children. The ICE agents involved in his killing have not been identified, and it’s unclear whether they remain on active duty.

For more on the community response, we get a report from *Democracy Now!* producers on the ground in Houston. To many people in the city’s immigrant communities, Salgado Araujo was “Houston’s dad,” representative of their own families and not a dangerous criminal as the government has tried to portray him.

“He looks just like all of our parents. He has the same story, the same American dream,” a resident named Sonia told *Democracy Now!*

“We are demanding justice for Lorenzo, but it’s not just that,” a mourner said at a rally. “These terrorists coming from the government, it’s not just in Houston, it’s not just in Texas, it’s not just in the United States. It’s terrorism all over the world.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/report_from_houston

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/report_from_houston

Texas Rep. Al Green Accuses Trump Admin of Attempting to Cover Up ...

2026-07-20T14:33:14Z

Texas Rep. Al Green Accuses Trump Admin of Attempting to Cover Up ICE Killings

[[Seg2 guest split3]][1]

As calls mount for accountability over the ICE killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, we speak with Democratic Congressmember Al Green, who represents Texas’s 9th Congressional District. He demands an independent investigation into the shooting to stop “an attempt to cover up” the killing by the Trump administration.

Democratic lawmakers led by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will hold a public hearing in Houston on Friday to gather testimony from community members about Salgado Araujo’s killing. Green, one of the longest-serving Black members in Congress, highlights the importance of solidarity between different communities facing oppression.

“Invidious discrimination is the common enemy for Latinos and African Americans, and we have to confront this common enemy together,” says Green. “We cannot allow people to segregate us.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/lorenzo_salgado_araujo

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/lorenzo_salgado_araujo

Nearly 1,000 Wildfires in Canada Continue to Burn as Trump & ...

2026-07-20T14:33:08Z

Nearly 1,000 Wildfires in Canada Continue to Burn as Trump & Carney Double Down on Fossil Fuels

[[Seg3 guest split2]][1]

Millions of people across North America have experienced hazardous air pollution this month as nearly a thousand active wildfires continue to rage in Canada. In addition to releasing hazardous chemicals and smoke darkening skies across the continent, the fires in Canada have also disproportionately impacted Indigenous communities, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. Republican politicians have been loath to acknowledge the role of the climate crisis in making extreme weather events like this more frequent and intense, instead blaming Canadian officials for poor forest management. President Donald Trump has even threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada over the record levels of hazardous air.

Independent Canadian journalist Rachel Gilmore says that while Trump’s comments are “extremely offensive” to people in the country, Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney’s policies — while acknowledging the science — also do little to mitigate the climate crisis as he approves new oil pipelines that would operate for decades.

“He’s not exactly taking the climate action that we need here in Canada,” Gilmore says of Carney.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/canada_wildfires

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/20/canada_wildfires

Headlines for July 16, 2026 * [U.S. Strikes Iran for Fifth ...

2026-07-16T14:33:10Z

Todd Blanche Is "Not Fit" to Be AG, from Epstein Files to ...

2026-07-16T14:33:05Z

Todd Blanche Is "Not Fit" to Be AG, from Epstein Files to Trump's $1.8B Slush Fund: Rep. Jayapal

[[Seg1 guest split2]][1]

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.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/todd_blanche_doj_pramila_jayapal

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/todd_blanche_doj_pramila_jayapal

We Are Sending a Message to Netanyahu: Rep. Jayapal on 100+ Dems ...

2026-07-16T14:33:00Z

We Are Sending a Message to Netanyahu: Rep. Jayapal on 100+ Dems Voting to Cut Israeli Military Aid

[[Seg1 guest split5]][1]

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.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/congress_israel_vote_democrats_pramila_jayapal

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/congress_israel_vote_democrats_pramila_jayapal

Victor Salgado Araujo Saw ICE Agent Kill His Brother in Texas. He ...

2026-07-16T14:32:54Z

Victor Salgado Araujo Saw ICE Agent Kill His Brother in Texas. He Is Now Detained, Faces Deportation

[[Seg1.5 vigil]][1]

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.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/brother_of_lorenzo_salgado_araujo_shooting

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/brother_of_lorenzo_salgado_araujo_shooting

A "Forever War" in Iran? Ali Vaez on Escalating War, U.S. ...

2026-07-16T14:32:49Z

A "Forever War" in Iran? Ali Vaez on Escalating War, U.S. "Diplomatic Malpractice"

[[Seg2 guest ali vaez]][1]

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.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/ali_vaez_iran_war_hormuz_strait

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/ali_vaez_iran_war_hormuz_strait

Earthjustice Sues to Block Trump's Move to Gut Endangered ...

2026-07-16T14:32:44Z

Earthjustice Sues to Block Trump's Move to Gut Endangered Species Act

[[Seg3 guest split2]][1]

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.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/change_to_endangered_species_act

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/16/change_to_endangered_species_act

Headlines for June 25, 2026 * [Thousands Feared Dead After Twin ...

2026-06-25T15:03:01Z

"How to Think About AI": Cory Doctorow on Big Tech, ...

2026-06-25T15:02:46Z

"How to Think About AI": Cory Doctorow on Big Tech, Understanding AI, Labor Automation & More

[[Seg cory ai]][1]

*Democracy Now!* speaks with science fiction author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow about AI and his latest book, *The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence — Before It’s Too Late*.

Doctorow comments on AI’s “bad unit economics” and the connection between automation and labor. “When labor drives automation, it’s usually in service to making the product better, and when capital drives automation, it’s usually in service to making more of the product,” says Doctorow.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/25/reverse_centaur_doctorow

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/25/reverse_centaur_doctorow

"Keep the Game Beautiful": Why ICE Crackdown & FIFA ...

2026-06-11T15:03:21Z

"Keep the Game Beautiful": Why ICE Crackdown & FIFA Greed Could Spoil the World Cup

[[Seg2 guest split stamp]][1]

“People are really, really afraid … that ICE will go and raid communities where people are watching and gathering together” to watch the FIFA World Cup, says Nelini Stamp. She is an organizer with the Our Copa campaign, a grassroots initiative that aims to protect immigrant fans, center the sport’s working-class roots, and host accessible local watch parties during the World Cup. “We will keep each other safe as much as possible during these games,” says Stamp.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/11/world_cup_ice

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/11/world_cup_ice

Headlines for May 11, 2026 * [Trump Blasts Iran's Response to ...

2026-05-11T14:33:23Z

Far-Right Anti-Immigrant Party Surges in U.K. Elections; Calls ...

2026-05-11T14:33:18Z

Far-Right Anti-Immigrant Party Surges in U.K. Elections; Calls Grow for Labour PM Starmer to Resign

[[Seg1 farage starmer split]][1]

This year’s local election results from the United Kingdom are in. The far-right, anti-immigrant Reform UK party made substantial gains, while the ruling Labour Party suffered heavy losses, signaling what London-based journalist Daniel Trilling calls a “wider fragmenting of politics” and a generational shift away from the two-party political system. We get an overview of major developments to the U.K. political scene from Trilling, including how Donald Trump’s transformation of the U.S. right-wing movement has inspired Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, and how the Labour Party’s crackdown on pro-Palestine activism led to rising support for the left-wing Green Party. Trilling also discusses how populist sentiment continues to influence other countries in Europe after Hungary’s extremist leader Viktor Orbán suffered a major election defeat last month.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/11/daniel_trilling_uk_reform_farage_starmer

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/11/daniel_trilling_uk_reform_farage_starmer

Meet Guido Reichstadter, the Marine Veteran Who Scaled D.C. ...

2026-05-11T14:33:12Z

Meet Guido Reichstadter, the Marine Veteran Who Scaled D.C. Bridge to Protest Iran War & AI

[[Seg2 guido bridge 3]][1]

Outraged by the civilian casualties from the war on Iran, protester Guido Reichstadter scaled the 168-foot Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. He remained on the bridge for over five days. Upon descending, he was arrested and charged by law enforcement for trespassing. Reichstadter says he undertook his protest as a form of nonviolent opposition against both the Trump administration’s war on Iran and the unchecked acceleration of artificial intelligence systems — some of which have been used by the United States military to select targets for deadly missile strikes. “We the people, in whose name these murders are being committed, we’ve got the power and the responsibility to nonviolently withdraw our support, our cooperation, from the system, from the regime,” he explains. Reichstadter is a former U.S. Marine who left the service after refusing to deploy to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is now an outspoken social justice activist and the
founder of the grassroots coalition Stop AI.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/11/guido_reichstadter_bridge_iran_war_protest

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/11/guido_reichstadter_bridge_iran_war_protest

Canceled over Palestine: Biotech CEO Rami Elghandour on Rutgers ...

2026-05-11T14:33:07Z

Canceled over Palestine: Biotech CEO Rami Elghandour on Rutgers Disinviting Him as Graduation Speaker

[[Seg3 rami]][1]

Two weeks before Rami Elghandour was expected to address newly minted engineering graduates at his alma mater Rutgers University, the CEO of biotech firm Arcellx received a shocking call from school administrators. Citing “vague” complaints about his social media posts on Israel and Palestine, the school abruptly withdrew its convocation invitation. We speak to Rami Elghandour about the decision, which he tells *Democracy Now!* he finds not only “heartbreaking,” but also illogical. “Having a different point of view is not harming these students in any way to lead to this sort of outcome,” he says. Elghandour, an executive producer of the Oscar-nominated film *The Voice of Hind Rajab*, adds that the silencing of pro-Palestine speech stems from a “false equivalency” between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine voices. “There are two sides, but they couldn’t be more historically different.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/11/rami_elghandour_rutgers_hind_rajab_convocation

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/11/rami_elghandour_rutgers_hind_rajab_convocation

Headlines for April 14, 2026 * ["The Strait of Hormuz Is Open ...

2026-04-14T14:41:24Z

Exclusive: Former American & Iranian Negotiators on Ceasefire ...

2026-04-14T14:41:19Z

Exclusive: Former American & Iranian Negotiators on Ceasefire Talks & How War Could End

[[Seg1 guests split negotiations venue]][1]

After the first round of ceasefire negotiations in Pakistan collapsed over the weekend, we speak to two former nuclear negotiators about prospects for ending the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including what another nuclear deal might look like. Robert Malley, a U.S. negotiator for the 2015 nuclear deal (which President Trump withdrew from in his first term), says Trump’s “mercurial” behavior makes it difficult to predict his objectives and the course of any future talks. “Iran was in full compliance with the JCPOA” and was blindsided by the U.S.'s decision to pull out of the deal, says Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who served as spokesperson for Iran's nuclear negotiation team from 2003 to 2005. Now its leaders “don’t know whether the U.S. is really for diplomacy or not.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/14/iran_blockade

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/14/iran_blockade

President vs. Pope: Trump Posts Pic of Self as Jesus, Pope Says ...

2026-04-14T14:41:14Z

President vs. Pope: Trump Posts Pic of Self as Jesus, Pope Says Warmakers Have "Hands Full of Blood"

[[Seg2 guest split trump pope]][1]

The first-ever pope from the United States is clashing with the White House. Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church, which counts more than a billion people in the world as its members, has spoken out forcefully against war. He said in his Palm Sunday address that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war … [whose] hands are full of blood.” In response, President Donald Trump said Pope Leo is “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.” Trump is also under fire for sharing an AI-generated image that appears to show himself as Jesus Christ. Pressed about the controversy in an interview on Fox News, Trump’s Catholic Vice President JD Vance said the pope should “stick to matters of morality.”

“I don’t know any other more pressing moral issues than war and peace, taking care of the poor, the sick, the homeless, the stranger,” says Father James Martin, a writer and Jesuit priest. “I don’t understand how Vice President Vance cannot see that war is a moral issue. … This idea that some people don’t deserve mercy is completely against the Christian message.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/14/pope_leo_iran_war

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/14/pope_leo_iran_war

Headlines for April 13, 2026 * [President Trump Announces Naval ...

2026-04-13T14:48:12Z

Trump Orders Naval Blockade of Iran After Failed Talks, Iran ...

2026-04-13T14:48:07Z

Trump Orders Naval Blockade of Iran After Failed Talks, Iran Threatens Retaliation in Gulf

[[Oil iran]][1]

Ship traffic has been halted again in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas starting Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Iran denounced Trump’s move as an illegal act amounting to “piracy” and has threatened to strike Gulf ports in retaliation. Trump ordered the blockade after the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war following 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. Global oil prices jumped after Trump announced the blockade.

Ervand Abrahamian, professor emeritus of history at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, predicts “the U.S. will start bombing Iranian oil installations. Iran will retaliate by bombing the Gulf oil installations, gas installations. The oil prices then could really zoom up. Some people expect it to reach $200 a barrel.” Abrahamian warns that soaring energy prices will have long-term implications for the world economy.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/ervand_abrahamian

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/ervand_abrahamian

Viktor Orbán's Era Is Over: Hungarians Celebrate as Longtime ...

2026-04-13T14:48:01Z

Viktor Orbán's Era Is Over: Hungarians Celebrate as Longtime Far-Right Leader Suffers Landslide Loss

[[Magyarorban]][1]

Official election results in Hungary show Péter Magyar and his opposition Tisza party won Sunday’s parliamentary election in a landslide, with more than the two-thirds majority needed to amend Hungary’s constitution. Hungary’s far-right Viktor Orbán has been prime minister of the country since 2010, making him the European Union’s longest-serving leader. His campaign was supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Trump administration.

Tens of thousands gathered in Budapest on Sunday to celebrate the victory over Orbán. “Everybody was partying on the streets. Strangers were hugging each other. Music, drinks, cars honking. So, basically, it was like a street carnival for the entire night,” says Hungarian journalist and analyst Szilárd Pap, who also explains the rise of Péter Magyar and Hungary’s new opposition party.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/hungary_orban

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/hungary_orban

Trump Fires Judges Who Blocked Deportations of Student Activists ...

2026-04-13T14:47:56Z

Trump Fires Judges Who Blocked Deportations of Student Activists Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi

[[Seg3 ozturk mohsen split]][1]

The Trump administration has fired six more immigration judges in its effort to reshape immigration policy and the immigration courts. Two of the fired judges, Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, had each dismissed high-profile cases brought by the government against international students who had advocated for Palestinian rights, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi. Around 100 immigration judges have been fired by the Trump administration. Firings in previous administrations were rare.

The Trump administration is eroding “the concept of procedural due process, the idea that you get to have a hearing in the United States” by “firing judges that it perceived as being opposed to the administration’s stated goal to deport as many people as possible with the least amount of due process possible,” says Carmen Maria Rey Caldas, a former immigration judge in New York who was fired in August.

The firing of so many immigration judges is also “egregious” because noncitizens are “going to be subject to the ruling of judges that are under pressure,” says Cyrus Mehta, an attorney who represents Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/trump_v_judges

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/trump_v_judges

Automatic Draft Registration Would Expand U.S. Surveillance ...

2026-04-13T14:47:51Z

Automatic Draft Registration Would Expand U.S. Surveillance State: Anti-War Activist

[[Seg4 military draft 1]][1]

The federal government is preparing to begin automatically registering eligible U.S. men ages 18 to 26 for the military draft pool. The U.S. hasn’t had a military draft since 1973, but it still maintains a registry of eligible men in case the draft is restored. New rules around automatic military draft registration were tucked into the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

We are joined by Edward Hasbrouck, an organizer with the Anti-Draft Coalition, which opposes the plan for automatic draft registration and is calling for repeal of the Military Selective Service Act. “The important thing is to take the draft off the table, remove it from the arsenal of war planning. Forcing the government to confront the question, before they make wars, of whether enough people will fight them, actually constrains wars before they happen,” says Hasbrouck.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/automatic_draft_registration

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/automatic_draft_registration

Headlines for April 10, 2026 * [Death Toll from Israel's ...

2026-04-10T22:00:56Z

"10 Minutes of Terror": Lebanon Death Toll Tops 300 from ...

2026-04-10T22:00:51Z

"10 Minutes of Terror": Lebanon Death Toll Tops 300 from Israel's "Black Wednesday" Attack

[[Seg1 guest split abouzeid]][1]

As the United States and Iran prepare to hold talks in Pakistan aimed at ending the war, Israel is continuing to bomb Lebanon, where the death toll from Wednesday’s massive wave of attacks has topped 300.

“It was 10 minutes of terror, a day that the Lebanese are calling Black Wednesday,” says Lebanese Australian journalist Rania Abouzeid, speaking with *Democracy Now!* from Beirut. “It was hard to tell what was blowing up where, because those hundred or so attacks were all happening simultaneously.”

Israel and the U.S. have claimed the Iran ceasefire deal struck this week does not include Lebanon, contradicting Iran’s position. Abouzeid says direct talks between Israel and Lebanon are very “divisive” as many Lebanese fear being left out of a regional settlement, with Israel allowed to continue its attacks, displacement and occupation in the country.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/10/lebanon_war

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/10/lebanon_war

Will the U.S. and Europe Break Up? Trump Says He May Pull Out of ...

2026-04-10T22:00:46Z

Will the U.S. and Europe Break Up? Trump Says He May Pull Out of NATO as Iran War Criticism Mounts

[[Seg2 guest split tocci]][1]

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has deepened rifts with several European countries. The Spanish government has been most outspoken in its opposition to the war, and U.S. allies like Germany and the United Kingdom have voiced some criticism while providing logistical support for the assault on Iran. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has tried to smooth over differences and placate President Trump, even as he has mused about pulling the U.S. out of the military alliance and renewed his threats to seize Greenland.

“If there’s one thing that actually one can say about President Trump, it’s that he’s been very consistent in his total disdain for Europe and for NATO,” says Nathalie Tocci, an international affairs scholar based in Madrid, as well as a *Guardian Europe* columnist.

“Trust in the relationship seems to be broken. And, of course, once trust is broken, it’s extremely difficult to put the genie back in the bottle.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/10/nato_eu_trump

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/10/nato_eu_trump

Ahead of Hungary Election, JD Vance Campaigns with Orbán in Show ...

2026-04-10T22:00:41Z

Ahead of Hungary Election, JD Vance Campaigns with Orbán in Show of Support for Far Right in Europe

[[Seg3 guest split scheppele]][1]

Amid strains in U.S.-European relations, the Trump administration has worked to strengthen ties with Hungary and its far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is facing his biggest challenge in 16 years. With just days to go before parliamentary elections, Orbán’s Fidesz party is trailing the center-right pro-EU Tisza party led by Péter Magyar. U.S. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Budapest this week and appeared alongside Orbán to openly campaign for his reelection.

“This election is really crucial, not just for Hungary, but for the international right wing,” says Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University. “There’s been a lot of American signaling that the U.S. would really love to have Viktor Orbán be reelected. The problem is the Hungarian people don’t seem to agree.”

Scheppele also discusses the role of Sebastian Gorka, a top counterterrorism official in the Trump administration, who has longstanding ties to the far right in Hungary and has been instrumental in forging closer ties between the two governments. According to a recent *New York Times* investigation, Gorka is also leading an effort to target left-wing groups in the United States and abroad as “terrorist organizations.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/10/hungary_election

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/10/hungary_election

Headlines for April 3, 2026 * [Trump Warns of "Much More to ...

2026-04-03T14:44:43Z

Pam Bondi Fired as AG Despite Never Saying No to Trump: Law Prof. ...

2026-04-03T14:44:37Z

Pam Bondi Fired as AG Despite Never Saying No to Trump: Law Prof. David Cole

[[Trump bondi flickr]][1]

President Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi amid reports of his growing frustration with her failure to prosecute his political enemies and her handling of the Epstein files.

Bondi, Florida’s former attorney general, was a Trump loyalist who openly heaped praise on the president and did away with the long-standing Department of Justice practice of maintaining political independence from the White House. “She came in and did the master’s bidding, and she did it poorly,” says David Cole, law professor at Georgetown University and former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Her firing comes just months after a heated congressional hearing in which she refused to apologize to Epstein survivors for the DOJ’s failure to fully redact their names in released documents. Bondi was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee on April 14 to speak about her handling of the Epstein files. “The fact that she has now been run out of office does not mean that she is free of the obligation that every American citizen has to respond to a subpoena and answer questions under oath,” says Cole.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/david_cole_pam_bondi

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/david_cole_pam_bondi

David Cole: U.S. War on Iran Is "Blatantly Illegal" Under ...

2026-04-03T14:44:32Z

David Cole: U.S. War on Iran Is "Blatantly Illegal" Under U.S. & Int'l Law

[[Seg1 guest cole]][1]

Legal expert David Cole speaks about the “blatantly illegal” U.S.-Israeli war on Iran: “The U.N. Charter absolutely prohibits one country from aggressively attacking another country, using force against another country, unless that country has attacked us — and Iran had not attacked us.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/david_cole_iran_war

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/david_cole_iran_war

Arizona Sec. of State: Trump Is "Trying to Pick His Own ...

2026-04-03T14:44:26Z

Arizona Sec. of State: Trump Is "Trying to Pick His Own Voters" by Restricting Mail-in Ballots

[[Seg2 guest split fontes]][1]

Democrats and voting advocacy groups have filed lawsuits against President Trump’s sweeping new executive order to limit mail-in voting ahead of this year’s midterm elections. “This is clearly an attempt for the president to pick his own voters,” says Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who is legally challenging Trump’s order.

Voting rights experts have decried the order as an unconstitutional attempt by Trump to seize control of election administration from the states and Congress. It directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a “state citizenship list” and the U.S. Postal Service to mail ballots only to “verified” voters.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/adrian_fontes_arizona_secretary_of_state

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/adrian_fontes_arizona_secretary_of_state

Meet Leqaa Kordia: Palestinian Protester Freed After a Year in ...

2026-04-03T14:44:21Z

Meet Leqaa Kordia: Palestinian Protester Freed After a Year in "ICE Dungeon"

[[Seg3 guest kordia]][1]

We speak with Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia, who was freed on March 16 after spending more than a year in an ICE jail in Texas. She was arrested in 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to target student activists and others who advocated for Palestinian rights.

Kordia was born in the occupied West Bank and lives in New Jersey. She was arrested in 2024 during the Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. The charges against her were dropped the next day, but she was detained in March 2025 by ICE during a routine immigration check-in. “It was supposed to be just a regular meeting with my lawyer [and the] ICE agents. It led to arrest,” says Kordia. “They took me in an unmarked car directly to the airport, and they had informed my lawyer that I’m going to upstate New York, but they took me to Texas instead.”

While in custody, Kordia experienced destitute conditions at the Prairieland Detention Center, including overcrowding, inedible food, inadequate medical care, broken facilities, negligence by guards and more. “The detention center conditions and the ICE agents’ methods brought to my mind a lot of bad memories from the West Bank,” she says.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/leqaa_kordia_palestinian_activist

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/3/leqaa_kordia_palestinian_activist

Headlines for April 2, 2026 * [Trump Threatens to Bomb Iran ...

2026-04-02T14:27:25Z

"This War Is Already Lost": Spencer Ackerman & ...

2026-04-02T14:27:20Z

"This War Is Already Lost": Spencer Ackerman & Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi on Trump's Iran Debacle

[[Standardsplit]][1]

President Donald Trump gave a primetime televised address Wednesday to discuss the war on Iran, his first since the United States and Israel launched attacks on February 28. Trump gave few clues about when or how the war could end, but he boasted about killing top Iranian leaders and degrading the country’s military. He threatened to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages, where they belong.”

Despite the grandiose claims, built on “lies and delusions,” Trump “did not add anything new,” says Iranian American scholar Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, who calls Trump’s shifting justifications an admission of “defeat in the war of narratives.”

We also speak with journalist Spencer Ackerman, who says the U.S. has already lost the war. “Iran has changed the entirety of this conflict,” he says. “It has pivoted this conflict onto its own territory and its own goals, and the United States does not have a military mechanism to redress that, primarily the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/2/iran_war_trump

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/2/iran_war_trump

"Born in the U.S.A.": Supreme Court Appears Skeptical of ...

2026-04-02T14:27:14Z

"Born in the U.S.A.": Supreme Court Appears Skeptical of Trump's Birthright Citizenship Ban

[[Seg birthright]][1]

President Donald Trump gave a primetime televised address Wednesday to discuss the war on Iran, his first since the United States and Israel launched attacks on February 28. Trump gave few clues about when or how the war could end, but he boasted about killing top Iranian leaders and degrading the country’s military. He threatened to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages, where they belong.”

Despite the grandiose claims, built on “lies and delusions,” Trump “did not add anything new,” says Iranian American scholar Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, who calls Trump’s shifting justifications an admission of “defeat in the war of narratives.”

We also speak with journalist Spencer Ackerman, who says the U.S. has already lost the war. “Iran has changed the entirety of this conflict,” he says. “It has pivoted this conflict onto its own territory and its own goals, and the United States does not have a military mechanism to redress that, primarily the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/2/birthright_citizenship

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/2/birthright_citizenship

Israel's Death-by-Hanging Law Marks Further ...

2026-04-02T14:27:09Z

Israel's Death-by-Hanging Law Marks Further "Dehumanization of Palestinians": B'Tselem

[[Seg deathpenalty]][1]

We speak with Sarit Michaeli from the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem following the Knesset’s passage of a new law mandating death by hanging for Palestinians who are convicted of murdering Israelis. Jewish Israelis will not face the same punishment for similar crimes. The law, which further cements Israel’s apartheid system, has drawn condemnation from rights groups and other countries.

“This egregious, draconian law pretends to be somehow … grounded in some sort of objective criteria,” says Michaeli, B’Tselem’s international outreach director. “But essentially, it’s basically specifically written to apply only to Palestinians.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/2/israel_death_penalty

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/2/israel_death_penalty

Headlines for April 1, 2026 * [Trump Claims Operations in Iran ...

2026-04-01T14:50:47Z

Another Vietnam? Trump Sends Mixed Messages on Iran, from Ending ...

2026-04-01T14:50:42Z

Another Vietnam? Trump Sends Mixed Messages on Iran, from Ending War to Sending in Ground Troops

[[Seg1 guest split vaez]][1]

Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, says the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has transformed from a “war of choice” to a “war of necessity” as Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz sparks a worldwide oil crisis. Vaez discusses President Donald Trump’s “mixed messages” about U.S. military strategy and warns that “mission creep” could set in if Trump refuses to “exit this war and accept that he hasn’t been able to achieve most of his strategic objectives.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/iran_war_of_necessity

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/iran_war_of_necessity

War's Environmental Fallout: U.N. Expert Decries Targeting of ...

2026-04-01T14:50:37Z

War's Environmental Fallout: U.N. Expert Decries Targeting of Oil Sites & Desalination Plants

[[Seg1 guest split madani]][1]

We take a look at how war in the Middle East is impacting the environment in “one of the most water-stressed regions in the world,” with Kaveh Madani, the renowned U.N. scientist, former Iranian politician and recipient of the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize. Madani discusses threats to civil water infrastructure in the Gulf region, how the Strait of Hormuz crisis highlights consumer countries’ overreliance on oil and gas, and his prize-winning work on the global effects of “water bankruptcy.” Madani ties the antiwar and climate struggles together and calls for wider popular resistance to the long-term environmental harms of global warfare. “All the weapons that have been produced have had carbon footprints — the missiles that fly, the jets, the tanks that are burned, the oil fields that are being attacked and the gas fields that are being burned. All of these are producing a lot of greenhouse gas emissions,” he says. “They are going to impact us in the long term.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/iran_war_environmental_effects

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/iran_war_environmental_effects

"Two Versions of Christianity": Pope Leo Calls for Peace ...

2026-04-01T14:50:31Z

"Two Versions of Christianity": Pope Leo Calls for Peace as U.S. Uses Religion to Justify Iran War

[[Seg2 guest split munther]][1]

As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter Sunday, we go to Palestine to speak to Reverend Munther Isaac, pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ramallah and director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, located in the city of Jesus Christ’s birth. This year’s Easter preparations come against the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, which many Christian nationalists in the U.S., including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are framing in extremist religious terms. Reverend Isaac calls the Christian Zionism espoused by Hegseth and others “a theology of war, of violence” and highlights the efforts of Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church who has come out stridently against both the war and Hegseth’s rhetoric, to promote peace in the region.

Isaac also comments on Israeli authorities’ recent attempt to prevent the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday due to Israel’s ban on gatherings at religious sites during the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly granted access to the church following global backlash. But, “do we really need permission from an occupying authority?” asks Isaac. “Israel does not have sovereignty over, should not have sovereignty over Jerusalem. … We have been worshiping here for centuries, uninterrupted.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/palestinian_christians_west_bank

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/palestinian_christians_west_bank

Immigrant Workers in Colorado Lead "Historic Strike" at ...

2026-04-01T14:50:26Z

Immigrant Workers in Colorado Lead "Historic Strike" at JBS, Largest U.S. Meat Processor

[[Seg3 jbs strike 2]][1]

More than 3,000 meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado, have been on strike since mid-March, the first major labor strike in the U.S. meatpacking industry since 1985. Workers at JBS USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Brazilian-based multinational JBS, are protesting unfair and dangerous labor conditions, including low wages, lack of personal protective gear and discrimination against its majority-immigrant workforce. “This company is one of the richest companies in the world, and the wage increases that they’re offering simply just don’t keep up with the economy and the high cost of living,” says Kim Cordova, president of the union that represents JBS workers in Greeley. “These workers literally feed America,” adds organizer Caitlyn Clark, director at the labor rights nonprofit Essential Workers for Democracy. “This is really a historic strike. These workers are standing up not just for their own plant, but the meatpacking industry as a whole.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/meatpacking_strike_colorado

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/1/meatpacking_strike_colorado

Headlines for March 31, 2026 * [Trump Drops Bunker Buster Bombs ...

2026-03-31T14:41:31Z

"Deeply Illegal, Unconstitutional": ACLU at SCOTUS to ...

2026-03-31T14:41:25Z

"Deeply Illegal, Unconstitutional": ACLU at SCOTUS to Challenge Trump's Birthright Citizenship Ban

[[Seg1 birthright case 1]][1]

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week on the constitutionality of President Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship. An executive order, signed on Trump’s first day back in office, declares children born to parents without permanent legal status would no longer be automatically granted citizenship.

The policy “is deeply illegal, unconstitutional and morally wrong,” says Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. The ACLU is representing all children targeted by Trump’s executive order in a class-action lawsuit. Wofsy says roughly 5 million U.S.-born children would be affected by the order over the next 20 years.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/scotus_wofsy_aclu_immigrants_rights

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/scotus_wofsy_aclu_immigrants_rights

U.S. Pressure on Cuba Continues Despite Arrival of Russian Oil ...

2026-03-31T14:41:20Z

U.S. Pressure on Cuba Continues Despite Arrival of Russian Oil Tanker

[[Seg2 cuba 5]][1]

A Russian tanker carrying around 700,000 barrels of crude oil has arrived in the port of Matanzas, Cuba, breaking the U.S. blockade imposed by President Trump three months ago. Fuel shortages in Cuba have caused dayslong blackouts and have brought all sectors of the country to the brink of collapse.

The White House is claiming the arrival of the Russian tanker, unimpeded by the United States, does not signal a “formal change in sanction policy,” and said U.S. decisions on shipments going forward would be made on a case-by-case basis.

“I think possibly what’s going on is that the administration has begun to worry that their effort to strangle the economy could push the economy over the edge and generate a mass migration crisis,” says William LeoGrande, professor of government at American University.

“Who is the United States? Who gave you the authorization to say how much oil is going into Cuba or not? This is illegal,” adds Liz Oliva Fernández, a Cuban journalist with Belly of the Beast.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/cuba_oil_blockade_leogrande_fernandez_negotiations

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/cuba_oil_blockade_leogrande_fernandez_negotiations

The AI War on Iran: Project Maven, a Secretive Palantir-Run ...

2026-03-31T14:41:15Z

The AI War on Iran: Project Maven, a Secretive Palantir-Run System, Helps Pentagon Pick Bomb Targets

[[Seg3 project maven katrina split]][1]

The Trump administration says the United States has struck 11,000 targets in Iran since the U.S.-Israeli war on the country began. Critics have questioned the accuracy of the Maven system, the artificial intelligence system used by the military to speed up the process of identifying targets.

“Imagine Google Earth for war, a map of war with white dots, infused with information like elevation, coordinate, what is precisely there, whether it’s friendly or foe,” says Katrina Manson, a reporter for Bloomberg News and author of *Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare*.

The Pentagon launched Project Maven in 2017. Google was an initial partner, but the company pulled out after over 3,000 Google employees signed a letter opposing the work. The big data firm Palantir then took over the project and has run it ever since.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/project_maven_manson_bloomberg_ai_warfare

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/project_maven_manson_bloomberg_ai_warfare

Headlines for March 30, 2026 * ["No Kings" Protests Draw ...

2026-03-30T14:43:25Z

No Kings: Rep. Omar, Sen. Sanders, Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda, ...

2026-03-30T14:43:20Z

No Kings: Rep. Omar, Sen. Sanders, Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Joan Baez at Massive St. Paul Rally

[[Seg1 ilhan omar speech]][1]

An estimated 8 million people took part in anti-Trump protests across the United States on Saturday as part of the No Kings movement, with the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown animating many participants. One of the largest rallies took place in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, where federal immigration agents killed U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January. Rally speakers included Congressmember Ilhan Omar, Governor Tim Walz, Senator Bernie Sanders, actor and activist Jane Fonda and others, as well as a performance by Bruce Springsteen. We air highlights from the rally.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/no_kings_bernie_ilhan

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/no_kings_bernie_ilhan

"People Are Rising Up": Voices of No Kings Protests from ...

2026-03-30T14:43:14Z

"People Are Rising Up": Voices of No Kings Protests from NYC to Denver

[[Seg1 amy no kings]][1]

One of the largest No Kings protests on Saturday took place in New York City, where tens of thousands marched to protest the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown, the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and more. *Democracy Now!*’s Amy Goodman was in the streets and spoke to many demonstrators.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/no_kings_3

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/no_kings_3

NYC Palestine Activist Nerdeen Kiswani Speaks Out After Being ...

2026-03-30T14:43:09Z

NYC Palestine Activist Nerdeen Kiswani Speaks Out After Being Target of Assassination Plot

[[Seg2 kiswani split v2]][1]

New York police say they foiled an assassination attempt against Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani. She describes the terror of finding out about the plot and why it reflects the “impunity” with which Zionist groups have targeted pro-Palestine voices.

“It really made me feel even more vulnerable than I already do as a Palestinian activist,” says Kiswani, co-founder of the group Within Our Lifetime.

A New Jersey man, Alexander Heifler, has been arrested and charged with plotting to firebomb Kiswani’s home in Brooklyn. Investigators say Heifler was a member of the JDL 613 Brotherhood, a New Jersey-based group founded in 2024 that describes itself as a revival of the Jewish Defense League, a pro-Israel group designated by the FBI as a terrorist organization.

“It’s truly shocking, what they’ve been able to get away with,” Kiswani says of extreme Zionist groups like the Jewish Defense League. “It’s just been ignored for far too long, so it’s good to finally have some accountability.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/nerdeen_kiswani

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/nerdeen_kiswani

Report from Beirut: "Hearts Are Very, Very Heavy" After ...

2026-03-30T14:43:04Z

Report from Beirut: "Hearts Are Very, Very Heavy" After Israeli Strikes Target Journalists, Medics

[[Seg3 lebanon split]][1]

We speak with journalist Lylla Younes in Beirut as Israel vows to expand its invasion of Lebanon and occupy much of the country. This comes as an Israeli strike targeted a marked press car in southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing Ali Shoeib of Al-Manar TV, reporter Fatima Ftouni of Al Mayadeen TV, and her brother, freelance cameraman Mohamed Ftouni. Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence. The World Health Organization says nine paramedics were also killed Saturday in five separate Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, bringing the total number of health workers killed by Israel in March to 51.

Such brazen killings are an attempt by Israel “to break the will of a people in a moment of deep vulnerability,” says Younes.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/israel_lebanon

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/israel_lebanon

"The Institutions Have Not Collapsed": Prof. Ali Kadivar ...

2026-03-30T14:42:59Z

"The Institutions Have Not Collapsed": Prof. Ali Kadivar on Iran's Resilience to U.S.-Israeli War

[[Seg4 tehran aftermath]][1]

As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran enters its second month, President Donald Trump has said he wants “to take the oil” and seize Kharg Island, Iran’s key export hub in the Persian Gulf. President Trump’s comments come as 3,500 U.S. troops began arriving in the region on Friday, with *The Washington Post* reporting that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of potential ground combat in Iran. According to a consortium of human rights groups in Iran, nearly 1,500 Iranian civilians, including at least 217 children, have been killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes. Iranian scholar Ali Kadivar says the increased targeting of residential areas, schools and hospitals in recent days shows that regime change is no longer the main goal, if it ever was. “These recent attacks on civilian infrastructure makes the war look more like a war on Iran as a nation-state,” says Kadivar, fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University and an associate professor at Boston College.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/ali_kadivar

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/30/ali_kadivar

Headlines for March 27, 2026 * [Trump Again Delays Ultimatum for ...

2026-03-27T14:15:28Z

"No Kings": March 28 Rallies Could Be Biggest Day of ...

2026-03-27T14:15:23Z

"No Kings": March 28 Rallies Could Be Biggest Day of Protest in U.S. History

[[Seg1 nokings split]][1]

Millions of people are expected to take to the streets this Saturday in opposition to the Trump administration in the third iteration of the nationwide No Kings protest movement. Ahead of the thousands of No Kings demonstrations scheduled not only across the country, but also around the world, we speak to one of the organizers behind the campaign, Leah Greenberg of Indivisible. “People are coming out in every state, in every county, collectively, and saying, 'Enough.' We are going to stand against illegal war abroad. We are going to stand against secret police at home,” Greenberg says.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/no_kings_day_march_28

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/no_kings_day_march_28

"Quagmire": Jeremy Scahill on Iran War, Strait of Hormuz, ...

2026-03-27T14:15:17Z

"Quagmire": Jeremy Scahill on Iran War, Strait of Hormuz, Market Manipulation & More

[[Scahilliran]][1]

*Drop Site News*'s Jeremy Scahill joins *Democracy Now!* to discuss the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including President Donald Trump's lies about U.S. strategy and negotiations with Iran, possible avenues of U.S. escalation and what Scahill has learned about Iranian strategy in conversations with Iranian officials. “They want to cause enough pain to the world economy … [so] that any nation that thinks of attacking Iran again is going to do so knowing that these are the consequences,” he explains.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/us_israel_war_on_iran_jeremy

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/us_israel_war_on_iran_jeremy

Meta & Google Found Liable in Landmark Cases for Knowingly ...

2026-03-27T14:15:12Z

Meta & Google Found Liable in Landmark Cases for Knowingly Causing Harm to Young People

[[Seg3 seg splits]][1]

Juries in California and New Mexico have found the tech giants Alphabet and Meta liable for knowingly causing harm to children and teens who used their social media platforms. Over the course of the trials, documents revealed that tech companies were well aware of the addictive properties of their social media products and exploited these properties to increase their profits. “They take advantage of the undeveloped frontal cortex of young people and their emotional need for validation by showing them things, not that they want to see, but what they can’t look away from,” says attorney Matthew P. Bergman, who represented the plaintiffs in the California case. Youth advocate Zamaan Qureshi, who testified in the New Mexico case against Meta, says the verdicts indicate that “Meta’s house of cards is falling, and it is absolutely clear that they will be held accountable.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/big_tech_guilty_california_new_mexico

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/big_tech_guilty_california_new_mexico

Hurray for the Riff Raff Performs "Pa'lante" at ...

2026-03-27T14:15:07Z

Hurray for the Riff Raff Performs "Pa'lante" at Democracy Now!'s 30th Anniversary

[[Hurray for the riff raff dn 30th anniversary dantetorrieri mar2026 web078]][1]

The 30th anniversary celebration of *Democracy Now!*, held in New York City’s historic Riverside Church this week, featured live performances and appearances from writers and musicians including [Bruce Springsteen][2]*minneapolis and [Patti Smith][3]*smith. The musical performances were kicked off by singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra and their band Hurray for the Riff Raff, performing the Puerto Rico-inspired anthem “Pa’lante.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/hurray_for_the_riff_raff
[2]: https://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/bruce_springsteen_streets_of
[3]: https://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/patti

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/27/hurray_for_the_riff_raff

Headlines for March 26, 2026 * ["We Have No Intention of ...

2026-03-26T14:26:41Z

Crude Capitalism: Trump's War on Iran Disrupts Global ...

2026-03-26T14:26:36Z

Crude Capitalism: Trump's War on Iran Disrupts Global Systems, from Agriculture to Oil to Shipping

[[Seg adam oil gulf]][1]

The U.S. is threatening to intensify its bombardment of Iran as the country’s leadership rejects a 15-point U.S. proposal to end the war. Iran has issued a number of demands, including recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Since the war began, Iran has largely blocked ships from passing through the critical strait, causing a global crisis as the prices of oil, natural gas and fertilizer soar.

“We’re not just talking about potential spikes in food prices … but also potentially key shortages in the commodities that are necessary to produce food, like fertilizers,” says Adam Hanieh, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute at the University of London. “Many of the countries that are going to be most potentially impacted by this are already in conditions of famine or near famine.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/hanieh_iran_hormuz_oil_war

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/hanieh_iran_hormuz_oil_war

Meet Ryan Schwank, ICE Whistleblower Who Exposed Agency's ...

2026-03-26T14:26:30Z

Meet Ryan Schwank, ICE Whistleblower Who Exposed Agency's Unconstitutional Practices

[[Seg ryan ice]][1]

*Democracy Now!* is joined by Ryan Schwank, an ICE whistleblower who has been speaking out about how the agency drastically slashed its training standards for new officers. Schwank worked as an ICE lawyer and legal instructor in Georgia until he resigned last month.

Schwank says he received secretive orders to teach ICE trainees to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant.

He also speaks about how violent arrest tactics by ICE agents, like those seen in Minneapolis, should only be employed in certain circumstances: “Those things should only be done as an act of necessity, when it’s the choice between the public’s safety and the use of force on the individual.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/ryan_schwank_ice_whistleblower

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/ryan_schwank_ice_whistleblower

"Torture & Genocide": U.N. Expert Francesca Albanese ...

2026-03-26T14:26:25Z

"Torture & Genocide": U.N. Expert Francesca Albanese Denounces Israeli Abuse of Palestinians

[[Seg albenese]][1]

United Nations expert Francesca Albanese’s latest report warns that Israel is systematically torturing Palestinians on a scale that “suggests collective vengeance and destructive intent” and that “torture has effectively become state policy” since October 2023.

Of all the investigations Albanese has carried out, “this has been absolutely the most excruciating, that led me to say that Israel uses torture in a systematic and widespread fashion, intentionally and sadistically, to break the spirit of the Palestinians, not just as individuals, but as a people,” says Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory since 2022.

This comes as Israeli forces reportedly tortured a Palestinian toddler earlier this month, by using a cigarette to burn one of the child’s legs and a nail to puncture the other, in order to coerce a confession from his father.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/albanese_un_palestine_rapporteur

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/albanese_un_palestine_rapporteur

Michael Stipe & Aaron Dessner Perform "No Time for Love ...

2026-03-26T14:26:17Z

Michael Stipe & Aaron Dessner Perform "No Time for Love Like Now" at Democracy Now! Celebration

[[Stipe dessner dn30 dantetorrieri dn30 2026 0323]][1]

Over 2,000 people packed into the historic Riverside Church in New York on Monday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of *Democracy Now!* The acclaimed singer, songwriter and artist Michael Stipe performed his song “No Time for Love Like Now,” accompanied by musician and producer Aaron Dessner, a founding member of The National. Dessner has also closely collaborated with Taylor Swift, co-producing several of her albums.

“This evening feels like a clarion call, a voice of courage, of optimism and resilience and community in the face of system collapse,” said Stipe, former lead singer of R.E.M.

Watch the entire event [here][2].

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/michael_stipe_aaron_dessner_dn_30th
[2]: https://www.democracynow.org/live/democracy_now_30th_anniversary_event

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/26/michael_stipe_aaron_dessner_dn_30th

Headlines for March 25, 2026 * [Pentagon Reports as Many as 3,000 ...

2026-03-25T14:44:51Z

New DHS Head Markwayne Mullin Is "Trump Loyalist, ...

2026-03-25T14:44:46Z

New DHS Head Markwayne Mullin Is "Trump Loyalist, Anti-immigrant, Incompetent": Rep. Delia Ramirez

[[Seg delia mullin]][1]

Markwayne Mullin was sworn in Tuesday as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem, who was ousted earlier this month. Mullin has served as senator for Oklahoma since 2023 following a decade in the House of Representatives. He joins the Trump administration amid a partial government shutdown, with Democrats demanding reforms to immigration enforcement before fully funding DHS.

“This agency of terror needs to be dismantled,” says Congressmember Delia Ramirez of Illinois. “And whether it is Mullin, whether it is Noem, whether it’s Tom Homan, that agency is dangerous, and every American should say, 'Enough is enough.'”

Ramirez also comments on the birthright citizenship case before the Supreme Court, the U.S. fuel blockade against Cuba and more.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/markwayne_mullin

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/markwayne_mullin

Pentagon Whistleblower Criticizes "Bloodthirst" of Iran ...

2026-03-25T14:44:41Z

Pentagon Whistleblower Criticizes "Bloodthirst" of Iran War, Says Hegseth Is Enabling War Crimes

[[Seg bryant hegseth]][1]

As the United States mobilizes thousands more troops for deployment to the Middle East, we speak with retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Wes Bryant, who criticizes the “bloodthirst” of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Bryant led the Pentagon office for civilian harm assessment from 2024 to 2025, before the unit was dissolved under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The “wholly illegal war” has been “carried out recklessly from the start and with little regard for the innocent,” Bryant tells *Democracy Now!* “Pete Hegseth has already directed the committing of war crimes. And unfortunately, our senior military leadership is bending the knee and carrying out whatever he tells them to do.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/wes_bryant

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/wes_bryant

Patti Smith Remembers Rachel Corrie, Sings "Peaceable ...

2026-03-25T14:44:35Z

Patti Smith Remembers Rachel Corrie, Sings "Peaceable Kingdom" at DN!'s 30th Anniversary Event

[[Pattismith brookeduthiephoto 2026 0323]][1]

Over 2,000 people packed into the historic Riverside Church in New York on Monday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of *Democracy Now!* The program included a reading by legendary singer Patti Smith from her new memoir *Bread of Angels*, in which she remembered the U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2003 while trying to protect Palestinian homes from destruction. Corrie inspired Smith’s song “Peaceable Kingdom,” which she performed alongside Tony Shanahan on guitar and her daughter Jesse Smith on piano.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/patti_smith

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/patti_smith

"People Have the Power": Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, ...

2026-03-25T14:44:30Z

"People Have the Power": Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stipe at Democracy Now! Celebration

[[Pattibrucemichael brookeduthie dantetorrieri 2026 0323]][1]

*Democracy Now!* celebrated its 30th anniversary Monday at the historic Riverside Church in New York. The night ended with Patti Smith performing her anthemic hit “People Have the Power,” joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stipe, Hurray for the Riff Raff, the National’s Aaron Dessner and more.

Watch the entire event [here][2].

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/patti_smith_and_friends
[2]: https://www.democracynow.org/live/democracy_now_30th_anniversary_event

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/25/patti_smith_and_friends

Headlines for March 24, 2026 * [Iran Denies Trump's Claim of ...

2026-03-24T14:50:06Z

"Israel First": Ex-Israeli Negotiator Daniel Levy Says ...

2026-03-24T14:50:01Z

"Israel First": Ex-Israeli Negotiator Daniel Levy Says Netanyahu Led Trump into Illegal Iran War

[[0324daniel]][1]

“This is about how far Israel can extend its dominion, how much of a hard-power, dominant hegemon it can be in the region.” Daniel Levy of the U.S./Middle East Project says that U.S. involvement in the ongoing war on Iran is being driven by Israel’s expansionist ambitions in the Middle East. “Israel is still on the impunity high from its Gaza genocide, which has led us here.” Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, also provides analysis of current U.S., Israeli and Iranian wartime strategy, as well as potential ceasefire negotiations and Israel’s settler and soldier-backed ethnic cleansing of the occupied West Bank. “I think this will ultimately end very badly for Israel and generate tremendous blowback. But in the meantime, it is again the Palestinians bearing the brunt.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/daniel_levy_iran_israel_middle_east

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/daniel_levy_iran_israel_middle_east

"Under the Rubble": Pulitzer-Prize Winner Reads Poem ...

2026-03-24T14:49:55Z

"Under the Rubble": Pulitzer-Prize Winner Reads Poem About Gaza at Democracy Now’s 30th Anniversary

[[Segmosab]][1]

*Democracy Now!* celebrated its 30th anniversary at the historic Riverside Church in New York City with live performances by guests including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha. Mosab Abu Toha read his poem “Under the Rubble” and spoke about his experience surviving Israel’s genocide of Gaza, which killed 30 members of his extended family. Watch the full event [here][2].

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/mosab_abu_toha_performance
[2]: https://www.democracynow.org/live/democracy_now_30th_anniversary_event

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/mosab_abu_toha_performance

Bruce Springsteen Performs "Streets of Minneapolis" at ...

2026-03-24T14:49:50Z

Bruce Springsteen Performs "Streets of Minneapolis" at Democracy Now!'s 30th Anniversary

[[Seg bruce]][1]

*Democracy Now!* celebrated its 30th anniversary at the historic Riverside Church in New York City with live performances by guests including musician Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen performed his new song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” about the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and spoke about his upcoming tour, which begins in Minneapolis next week. Watch the full event [here][2].

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/bruce_springsteen_streets_of_minneapolis
[2]: https://www.democracynow.org/live/democracy_now_30th_anniversary_event

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/bruce_springsteen_streets_of_minneapolis

As Trump Deploys ICE Agents to Airports, TSA Agents Continue to ...

2026-03-24T14:49:45Z

As Trump Deploys ICE Agents to Airports, TSA Agents Continue to Go Without Pay: AFGE Union Steward

[[Seg ice airport]][1]

The partial government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security has caused major staffing shortages within the Transportation Security Administration, an agency under DHS that handles airport security procedures created in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. TSA officers have not been paid for over a month, leading to hundreds of resignations and leaves of absence. As airports are hit with significant delays, Cameron Cochems, the vice president of a union representing thousands of fellow TSA workers, urges travelers to use their time waiting to call their elected representatives “to fund the TSA so we can get our paychecks and we can get back to work.”

To fill staffing shortages, DHS has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports. This comes as ICE is under fire for a hiring surge with minimal vetting and training for new officers. “It really feels like they’re a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. Our officers, they’re not getting paid, and having people that come in that are getting paid just feels like an insult,” says Cochems, who adds that the ultimate goal of the Republican Party is to eliminate union protections and privatize the TSA.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/ice_government_shutdown_tsa_airports

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/24/ice_government_shutdown_tsa_airports

Headlines for March 23, 2026 * [Trump Says He's Pausing ...

2026-03-23T14:24:52Z

Iran War & Strait of Hormuz Energy Crisis Reveal Decline of ...

2026-03-23T14:24:32Z

Iran War & Strait of Hormuz Energy Crisis Reveal Decline of U.S. Empire: Historian Alfred McCoy

[[Seg1 guest hormuzstrait split]][1]

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has now entered its fourth week. The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces is being felt worldwide, as shipments of oil, natural gas and fertilizer have been drastically curtailed. A fifth of the world’s oil supply transits through the strait, and the price of oil is up by about 50% since the war began in late February.

On Saturday evening, President Trump threatened Iran on social media, saying he would “obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first,” if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully reopened within 48 hours. He later extended his deadline by five days following Iranian threats to destroy essential infrastructure, including energy and water systems, across the Gulf. Iran has denied reports of direct or indirect talks with the U.S.

If Iran can keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and “hold Washington to ransom,” it will have significant leverage, says Alfred McCoy, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “In a strategic analysis, Iran right now is in the dominant position.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/23/mccoy_alfred_imperial_decline_history

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/23/mccoy_alfred_imperial_decline_history

"It's a Disaster": European Countries Refuse to Take ...

2026-03-23T14:24:12Z

"It's a Disaster": European Countries Refuse to Take a Stand Against U.S. Violations of Int'l Law

[[Seg2 nato rutte trump]][1]

We look at how Europe is responding to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran as President Trump denounces NATO allies for not joining the war. International affairs scholar Nathalie Tocci, speaking to *Democracy Now!* from Italy, criticizes Europe’s “ambiguous” response to the war on Iran as most of the continent has refused to condemn it. “We were the ones that were for multilateralism, for international law, and that ambiguity is basically another nail in the coffin of our credibility.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/23/tocci_nathalie_europe_trump_iran

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/23/tocci_nathalie_europe_trump_iran

From Gaza to Iran, Rise of Conscientious Objectors Marks U.S. ...

2026-03-23T14:23:52Z

From Gaza to Iran, Rise of Conscientious Objectors Marks U.S. Soldiers' "Shift in Consciousness"

[[Seg3 guest noisraelnousproxy split]][1]

With thousands more U.S. Marines headed to the Middle East and President Trump reportedly considering a ground invasion of Iran, we speak with Mike Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War, who says his organization has received a massive increase in inquiries from soldiers seeking to submit conscientious objector applications. Prysner cites a “shift in consciousness” among young people in the United States, spurred by the Gaza genocide. “And the military is made up of young people in the United States.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/23/prysner_mike_conscience_war_military

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/23/prysner_mike_conscience_war_military

Headlines for March 20, 2026 * [U.S. Offensive Seeks to Reopen ...

2026-03-20T23:21:48Z

Labor Icon Dolores Huerta, 95, Reveals She, Too, Was Raped by ...

2026-03-20T23:21:43Z

Labor Icon Dolores Huerta, 95, Reveals She, Too, Was Raped by Cesar Chavez; Speaks to Maria Hinojosa

[[Seg1 guest huerta chavez split]][1]

A major *New York Times* investigation details the late co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse of women and girls. The revelations about Chavez’s history of grooming and abuse have sent shockwaves through the labor movement and California, where officials are already moving to cancel or rename public celebrations planned in his honor. Chavez is also accused of sexually assaulting fellow labor rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95. Huerta says the assaults led to the births of two of her children. She concealed the pregnancies and had kept the children’s paternity secret until now.

Huerta spoke for the first time at length about her new public disclosures in an exclusive interview with *Latino USA* host Maria Hinojosa, who joins *Democracy Now!* to discuss how Huerta is “not only coming to terms with her own assaults, [but also] coming to terms with the fact that the movement and the person who she admired as part of the movement is essentially being covered up, disappeared.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/20/dolores_huerta_cesar_chavez

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/20/dolores_huerta_cesar_chavez

Report from Beirut: 1,000+ Dead, 1M+ Displaced, Many Fear ...

2026-03-20T23:21:37Z

Report from Beirut: 1,000+ Dead, 1M+ Displaced, Many Fear Long-Term Occupation of Southern Lebanon

[[Seg2 guest lebanondestructionperson split]][1]

As Israel continues to pummel Lebanon in its resumed war against the country and the Hezbollah paramilitary, we get an update from Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut. “If you compare this particular war to the last one, less than two years ago, what happened in the past three weeks is what happened in the past seven or eight months,” says Chehayeb, who describes masses of displaced people and fears of an imminent ground invasion. “There is a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country, and it doesn’t appear that these strikes will stop anytime soon.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/20/lebanon_israel

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/20/lebanon_israel

Disenfranchise Tens of Millions? Trump's SAVE Act Targets ...

2026-03-20T23:21:21Z

Disenfranchise Tens of Millions? Trump's SAVE Act Targets Women, Poor, Rural & Trans Voters

[[Seg3 guests pollsitewoman split]][1]

Experts are calling it “the worst voter suppression bill ever seriously considered by Congress.” As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Trump-backed voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, millions of citizens who lack easy access to its required forms of documentation are now at risk of disenfranchisement. “Republicans are singularly focused on making it harder to vote and pursuing this MAGA fever dream,” explains Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for *Mother Jones*. “It is the overarching goal of the Republican Party now to make it harder to vote.”

The groups most at risk of disenfranchisement include people who have changed their names after marriage, older voters who never received birth certificates, rural voters who could find it increasingly difficult to register to vote and trans people who have changed their names or gender markers on government documents. The GOP and MAGA movement’s goal, says Imara Jones, the founder and CEO of TransLash Media, “is to enshrine anti-trans discrimination in the law, because what they’re doing is using trans people as a road test in order to try to figure out how to disenfranchise and marginalize and strip citizenship away from millions of Americans who disagree with them.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/20/save_america_act_voting_rights

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/20/save_america_act_voting_rights

Headlines for March 17, 2026 * [Israel Says It Killed Iran's ...

2026-03-17T14:19:15Z

Israel Says It Has Assassinated Iran's Security Chief, Ali ...

2026-03-17T14:19:07Z

Israel Says It Has Assassinated Iran's Security Chief, Ali Larijani, Known for Negotiating with the West

[[Seg trita larijini]][1]

How long will the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran last? Regime change in Iran will not be as “easy and quick” as U.S. warmongers may have initially believed, says Iranian American political analyst Trita Parsi. Israel claims that it has successfully assassinated Iran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani, who Parsi says could have played a role in future ceasefire negotiations. “The Israelis have fought so hard to get the United States to go into a full-scale war with Iran for more than 20 years,” says Parsi. “It is in their interest to prolong this war as long as they can, and kill off any potential off-ramps that Trump may be looking for.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/trita_parsi

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/trita_parsi

Ground Invasion of Iran Could Be "Suicide Mission" for ...

2026-03-17T14:19:01Z

Ground Invasion of Iran Could Be "Suicide Mission" for U.S.: Ex-Army Intelligence Analyst

[[Seg harrison iran]][1]

We get an analysis of the Trump administration’s Iran war strategy from former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Harrison Mann. “From day two of this war, the Trump administration has not known what to do and how to get out of this,” says Mann, who resigned from the U.S. Army’s Defense Intelligence Agency in 2024 over the Biden administration’s policy in Gaza. As Trump is rumored to be eyeing the oil export hub of Kharg Island for seizure, Mann gives his assessment of a potential ground invasion of Iran. “Any attempt to seize this island would be close to a suicide mission,” he says. While U.S. leaders struggle to respond to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on military bases in U.S.-allied Gulf states, Mann notes that “the people who drove [Trump] into this war pretty much expected this. I don’t think this is a surprise to Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio or Benjamin Netanyahu — who is very much getting what he wanted, which is dragging the U.S. into what he hopes will be
a decisive war of annihilation against Iran.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/harrison_mann

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/harrison_mann

Report from Havana as Trump Threatens to "Take" Cuba ...

2026-03-17T14:18:56Z

Report from Havana as Trump Threatens to "Take" Cuba & Pushes for Ouster of Cuban Leader

[[Seg cuba power]][1]

Cuba’s electrical grid has collapsed. The island-wide blackout comes amid a harsh U.S. oil blockade and recent comments from President Donald Trump that he wants to “take” Cuba. No oil shipments have reached the country, located just south of Florida, in three months, compounding a humanitarian crisis caused by decades of severe U.S. sanctions. “Sanctions are literally killing people right now,” says Cuban journalist Daniel Montero, speaking from Havana. “We understand what this oil embargo means, and [what] sanctions have always meant. This is regime change through starvation.” Historian Sara Kozameh, who recently returned from Cuba, adds, “Cubans have fought for sovereignty many, many times. And they’re not going to just sort of lie there while this is happening.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/cuba_electrical_grid

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/cuba_electrical_grid

Prairieland Trial: Anti-ICE Protesters Convicted on Terrorism ...

2026-03-17T14:18:50Z

Prairieland Trial: Anti-ICE Protesters Convicted on Terrorism Charges as DOJ Targets "Antifa Cell"

[[Seg prairieland]][1]

A jury in Texas has convicted eight people in the first federal anti-terror case since the Trump administration declared “antifa” a terror group. Nine defendants alleged to be members of an “antifa terror cell” stood trial on federal and state charges including rioting, using explosives and attempted murder. The charges stemmed from their attendance at an anti-ICE protest outside the Prairieland ICE jail on July 4, during which fireworks were set off and a police officer was shot and wounded. Eight protesters now face at least 15 years in jail. Their legal teams plan to appeal. “The antifa of it all, from my perspective, was purely political,” says one of the defendants’ attorneys, Xavier de Janon, who joins Democracy Now! to break down the case.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/antifa

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/antifa

Headlines for March 16, 2026 * [U.S.-Israeli War on Iran Enters ...

2026-03-16T14:42:57Z

"A Sense of Despair": Many Iranians Fear a Prolonged War ...

2026-03-16T14:42:51Z

"A Sense of Despair": Many Iranians Fear a Prolonged War — and What Comes After

[[Seg1 guests iran destruction split]][1]

As the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran extends into a third week, President Trump is demanding other countries send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut, as oil prices keep rising. This comes as the U.S. and Israel continue to launch major strikes on Iran, while Iran has retaliated by repeatedly striking Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Despite the violence in Iran, “pro-war voices are definitely in the diaspora and very strong, but they also exist inside Iran,” says Naghmeh Sohrabi, professor of Middle East history at Brandeis University.

“I think most Iranians want this war to end as soon as possible, and at the same time, they fear nothing more than the day after the war, if this regime remains intact,” says Iranian American novelist Amir Ahmadi Arian.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/naghmeh_sohrabi_amir_ahmadi_arian

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/naghmeh_sohrabi_amir_ahmadi_arian

Report from Jerusalem: As Israel Keeps Bombing Iran, Palestinians ...

2026-03-16T14:42:46Z

Report from Jerusalem: As Israel Keeps Bombing Iran, Palestinians Face Growing Violence in West Bank

[[Seg2 orly]][1]

*Democracy Now!* speaks with Iranian Israeli political activist Orly Noy about her recent piece, “Longing for My Tehran.” “It’s been a very emotional time since the beginning of the war, not just because we are constantly running in and out of shelters,” says Noy, “but because this time, the footage of the bombing that I grew accustomed to seeing for over two years from the genocide in Gaza was now coming from my homeland.”

Noy also comments on Israeli political support for the war on Iran, saying “the very few attempts to protest against the war were brutally crushed by the Israeli police.” Israeli violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is also increasing. “Up until now, our worry was about the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. Now it is just about executing Palestinians, both by the army and by the settlers,” says Noy.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/iran_war_trump_hormuz_orly_noy

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/iran_war_trump_hormuz_orly_noy

"Mr Nobody Against Putin" Wins Oscar; Meet the Russian ...

2026-03-16T14:42:41Z

"Mr Nobody Against Putin" Wins Oscar; Meet the Russian Teacher in Film Who Confronts State Propaganda

[[Seg3 david pavel poster]][1]

*Mr Nobody Against Putin* won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature on Sunday. *Democracy Now!* recently spoke with co-director David Borenstein and the subject of the film, the Russian teacher Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, who personally documented Russia’s use of wartime propaganda. “I need for as many people as possible to see what is happening inside of Russian schools,” says Talankin. “Putin is forcing propaganda into their schools, and [the children are] absorbing all of this.”

Borenstein says the film is also a reflection on “the value of one person’s resistance, about how much one person can do, about how much we can overcome complicity while the systems around us are succumbing to authoritarianism.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/mr_nobody_against_putin_interview

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/mr_nobody_against_putin_interview

Headlines for March 13, 2026 * [U.S.-Israeli Attacks Have Forced ...

2026-03-13T14:32:02Z

Report from Beirut: Israel Expands Bombing Campaign & Mass ...

2026-03-13T14:31:56Z

Report from Beirut: Israel Expands Bombing Campaign & Mass Displacement in Lebanon

[[Seg1 lebanon destruction 2]][1]

We speak with journalist Lylla Younes in Lebanon, where she says Israel’s “massacres are multiplying” amid the broader U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli strikes have killed nearly 700 people in Lebanon over the past two weeks, while attacks have expanded to include areas of central Beirut, which Israel claims are aimed at the powerful Hezbollah militia. This comes as Israel has vowed to expand its incursion into southern Lebanon.

“The vast majority of southern Lebanon is now under displacement orders,” says Younes. “That is approximately 15% of the country.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/lebanon_lylla_younes

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/lebanon_lylla_younes

Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy: Israel Will Not Stop Wars & ...

2026-03-13T14:31:51Z

Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy: Israel Will Not Stop Wars & Occupation Until U.S. Pulls Support

[[Seg2]][1]

Inside Israel, “there is no room for any question marks or doubts about this war,” says journalist Gideon Levy, a columnist for *Haaretz* and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. He says war fever has taken over the country, with polls showing 93% support for the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Lebanon and beyond — at least among the Jewish public. “Israel is doing as much as it can,” he says. “As long as the American support is so massive, so blind and so automatic, this will go on.”

Levy also criticizes Israel’s military censorship system that strictly limits publishing information about war damage and other material deemed to be counter to national security. He says much of it is driven by self-censorship by a press that sees itself as “an agency of the government and of the military establishment, and this is very worrying.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/gideon_levy_israel

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/gideon_levy_israel

Economist Jeffrey Sachs: U.S.-Israeli "War of Choice," ...

2026-03-13T14:31:46Z

Economist Jeffrey Sachs: U.S.-Israeli "War of Choice," Assault on U.N. Charter Could Lead to WWIII

[[Seg3 sachs tehran bombs]][1]

The global economy has been rocked by the war in the Middle East, with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatening energy flows and sending the price of oil soaring to its highest level in years. The United Nations Security Council responded to the unprovoked U.S.-Israeli war by passing a resolution this week condemning Iran — specifically for its attacks on U.S. allies in the region — while ignoring the role of the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government in instigating the bloodshed. Economist Jeffrey Sachs joins *Democracy Now!* to discuss the fallout of the “war of choice” and why it also constitutes an assault on the United Nations.

“This is so out of control, without any logic, any rationality, not any humane, moral, legal justification whatsoever,” says Sachs. “It will lead to world war the way we’re going, because we have two malignant narcissists, Netanyahu and Trump, that are leading us to disaster.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/jeffrey_sachs

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/jeffrey_sachs

Headlines for March 12, 2026 * [Iran Says U.S. and Israeli ...

2026-03-12T14:11:36Z

"War on the Iranian People": Nationalism Grows in Iran in ...

2026-03-12T14:11:31Z

"War on the Iranian People": Nationalism Grows in Iran in Defiance of Deadly U.S. and Israeli Strikes

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“This is all being read inside of Iran as a war on the Iranian people.” As oil prices threaten to spike to $200 a barrel amid Iran’s pressure campaign against the U.S. and its allies, professor Narges Bajoghli returns to *Democracy Now!* with an update on the war on Iran and its place in the modern history of U.S.-Iran relations. Bajoghli explains how the combination of harsh sanctions and an insidious propaganda campaign has created a deep political divide within Iran and its diaspora, as Iranians are stuck between theocratic governance and the prospective return of the U.S.-backed monarchy.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/narges_bajoghli_us_israeli_war_iran

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/narges_bajoghli_us_israeli_war_iran

Amnesty Head Agnès Callamard on Iran War, Global Fight for ...

2026-03-12T14:11:26Z

Amnesty Head Agnès Callamard on Iran War, Global Fight for Gender Justice & Killing of Yanar Mohammed

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*Democracy Now!* recently sat down with Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International and a former United Nations special rapporteur, while she was in New York City to mark International Women’s Day and attend the U.N.'s annual conference on women's rights. Callamard responded to the assassination of Iraqi feminist Yanar Mohammed, U.S. sanctions against U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the rise of Christian nationalism under the Trump administration.

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/agnes_callamard

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/agnes_callamard

Headlines for March 11, 2026 * [U.S.-Israeli War on Iran Enters ...

2026-03-11T14:30:11Z

"No Stupid Rules of Engagement": Ahead of Iran War, ...

2026-03-11T14:30:06Z

"No Stupid Rules of Engagement": Ahead of Iran War, Hegseth Halted Efforts to Limit Civilian Deaths

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Iranian authorities say the U.S. and Israel killed more than 1,300 civilians, striking over 10,000 civilian sites during the first 12 days of the war. This comes as Israel escalates attacks on Lebanon, killing at least 570 since the war began and displacing nearly 800,000 people. As President Trump dodges questions on how long the war will continue, reporting by Akbar Shahid Ahmed, senior diplomatic correspondent for *HuffPost*, has revealed that “a lot of the experts on international law, the laws of war, international humanitarian law have quietly been leaving the Trump administration.”

[1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/11/akbar_shahid_ahmed_iran_israel_huffpost

http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/11/akbar_shahid_ahmed_iran_israel_huffpost