Today's Liberal News

“Just Transition”: Polluting Countries Must Take Responsibility for Extreme Climate Change

With negotiations in their second week here at the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil, we get an update on the United Nations talks from Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth. He says COP30 is taking place against a backdrop of rising far-right authoritarianism, climate denial, and genocide in Gaza, which are all testing the “rules-based system” underpinning the U.N. climate framework.

Trump Told a Woman, ‘Quiet, Piggy,’ When She Asked Him About Epstein

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
“Keep your voice down.”
“That’s enough of you.”
“Be nice; don’t be threatening.”
“There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
“Quiet, piggy.

Today’s Atlantic Trivia: The Sound of One Hand Clapping

Updated with new questions at 4:50 p.m. ET on November 18, 2025.
If I have provided you with any factoids in the course of Atlantic Trivia, I apologize, because a factoid, properly, is not a small, interesting fact. A factoid is a piece of information that looks like a fact but is untrue. Norman Mailer popularized the term in 1973, very intentionally giving it the suffix -oid. Is a humanoid not a creature whose appearance suggests humanity but whose nature belies it? Thus is it with factoid.

Advent Calendars Are Totally Out of Control

It is believed that in the fourth century, European followers of the still-newish religion called Christianity first formally observed the period in December leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ. They called it “the advent,” from the Latin word for “approach” or “arrival,” and it was a somber time, one for preparation and contemplation. In the sixth century, Pope Gregory composed many of the texts still associated with the advent, at least as it is practiced by Catholics.

The Trump Administration’s Favorite Tool for Criminalizing Dissent

The videos have become commonplace. Federal officers wearing masks and bulletproof vests subdue a moped driver in the middle of a busy D.C. street. A 70-year-old protester in Chicago is pushed to the ground by an armed Border Patrol agent holding a riot gun. In Los Angeles, an agent shoves away a demonstrator.
These videos capture the aggressive tactics of immigration officers under the second Trump administration. But they share something else, too.

Kumi Naidoo on U.S. Skipping COP30, Why Rich Nations Must Pay a Climate Debt, Gaza, Sudan & More

As Democracy Now! broadcasts from the COP30 U.N. climate summit, we speak with Kumi Naidoo, the longtime South African human rights and environmental justice activist who is president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. He discusses U.S. absence from climate talks, Gaza, and wealthy countries refusing to take accountability for the climate crisis. “We’re not asking the rich nations for a charity here. We are asking them to pay their climate debt.

Indigenous Leaders Converge in Belém, Brazil, Demanding Greater Role at U.N. Climate Talks

We speak with one of the Indigenous leaders at the U.N. climate summit in Belém for the climate negotiations, in greater numbers than ever before, taking center stage at COP30. They are calling “to end the persecution of our land defenders,” says Diana Chávez, member of the Pastaza Kichwa Nation, with Pakkiru, an Indigenous organization based in Ecuador’s Amazon. “We’re fighting to keep our territories.

Brazil’s Contradictory Climate Policies: Lula Gov’t Reduces Deforestation, Boosts Oil & Gas Production

As we broadcast from the United Nations climate summit in Belém, we look at Brazil’s contradictory climate policies. The Lula government has reduced deforestation in the Amazon while also approving oil drilling near the Amazon. “Many parts of the Amazon are now reaching a tipping point, so a point of no return,” says Ilan Zugman, Brazilian climate activist and 350.org’s regional head for Latin America and the Caribbean.

America Has a Baby-Formula Problem—Again

Three years ago, America was in the midst of an infant-formula crisis. Abbott, one of the world’s biggest formula producers, had issued a nationwide recall after two children who consumed its products died of Cronobacter, a bacterial infection that can lead to complications such as meningitis. Because Abbott produced about 40 percent of the U.S. supply of infant formula, the recall contributed to a monthslong nationwide shortage stemming partially from pandemic-related supply-chain issues.