Contributing Writers

The Trump administration on Friday placed sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court that target the institution as a whole. This comes on top of earlier sanctions against individual ICC judges and personnel. The administration has been escalating attacks on the ICC since the court issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

We speak with the Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney about his new documentary Musk, an expansive, nearly four-hour examination of the world’s first trillionaire and how he has amassed unprecedented power in business, technology and politics. The film traces Elon Musk’s early ventures and the rise of SpaceX and Tesla, examining the role of government support in their growth.

Israeli forces have raided what they say are the offices of several Palestinian NGOs in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials say a child was injured from Israeli gunfire, while others suffered from tear gas inhalation. At least one journalist was reportedly detained in the raids, which come four years after the forced closure of multiple NGOs that the Israeli government designated as “terrorist” organizations.

On Monday, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security raided the Washington, D.C., home of Congressmember Ilhan Omar. Omar has faced years of racist targeting from President Trump over her ethnicity and immigrant background. She immigrated to the United States as a refugee from Somalia when she was a child.

The midterm elections are in less than three weeks, on November 3. With Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress on the line, the Trump administration has thrown its time and resources into holding rallies in newly competitive states. We take a look at key Senate races in Georgia, Texas, Michigan and Maine with The Lever’s David Sirota. Ultimately, says Sirota, election results will hinge on voter turnout.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we feature a conversation with one of the world’s most prominent champions for Indigenous rights, Leonard Peltier. “Indigenous Day is a day that’s been long overdue for any type of recognition,” says Peltier. “I am not going to give up, because we are not free yet. We are in danger. Trump and these organizations, they’re talking about doing away with our reservations and our treaties and everything else. … We’re going to stay here.

Tens of thousands of people in India have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the deletion of 130 million names from the voter rolls, a large majority of which are believed to be opposed to Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party. The demonstrations, joined by leaders from India’s opposition parties, are being led by students and the youth-led “Cockroach” movement.

We speak with the Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney about his new documentary Musk, an expansive, nearly four-hour examination of the world’s first trillionaire and how he has amassed unprecedented power in business, technology and politics. The film traces Elon Musk’s early ventures and the rise of SpaceX and Tesla, examining the role of government support in their growth.

Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, have repeatedly attacked the Saudi capital of Riyadh in recent days. On Saturday, a missile strike on the airport in Riyadh killed at least 12 and injured over 300 in the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in over a decade. President Trump is now weighing whether to join the Saudi fight against the Houthis in Yemen.

University students across the United States held a national day of action in solidarity with “Jane Doe,” the anonymous former student whose lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped by seven Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity members in 2024 has reignited outrage over how campuses and local law enforcement mishandle sexual assault cases and fail survivors.

The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the South African jurist who led the United Nations commission of inquiry that concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Pillay’s long career in international human rights law includes work as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a former judge at the International Criminal Court and the U.N.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we feature a conversation with one of the world’s most prominent champions for Indigenous rights, Leonard Peltier. “Indigenous Day is a day that’s been long overdue for any type of recognition,” says Peltier. “I am not going to give up, because we are not free yet. We are in danger. Trump and these organizations, they’re talking about doing away with our reservations and our treaties and everything else. … We’re going to stay here.

Tens of thousands of people in India have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the deletion of 130 million names from the voter rolls, a large majority of which are believed to be opposed to Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party. The demonstrations, joined by leaders from India’s opposition parties, are being led by students and the youth-led “Cockroach” movement.

University students across the United States held a national day of action in solidarity with “Jane Doe,” the anonymous former student whose lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped by seven Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity members in 2024 has reignited outrage over how campuses and local law enforcement mishandle sexual assault cases and fail survivors.

The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the South African jurist who led the United Nations commission of inquiry that concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Pillay’s long career in international human rights law includes work as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a former judge at the International Criminal Court and the U.N.

Protests have erupted in New York City after a federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man in the Bronx on Thursday afternoon. As masked agents reportedly posing as construction workers attempted to arrest 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, they opened fire on his car. Belgal was shot in the neck. His 5-year-old child, who was in the back seat, was physically unharmed.

This week marks 25 years since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the beginning of what would become the longest war in U.S. history. After installing a pro-Western government in Kabul in December 2001, U.S. and other NATO troops would remain in the country for the next two decades battling a stubborn insurgency — until a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 that saw the Taliban return to power.

University students across the United States held a national day of action in solidarity with “Jane Doe,” the anonymous former student whose lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped by seven Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity members in 2024 has reignited outrage over how campuses and local law enforcement mishandle sexual assault cases and fail survivors.

The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the South African jurist who led the United Nations commission of inquiry that concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Pillay’s long career in international human rights law includes work as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a former judge at the International Criminal Court and the U.N.

Protests have erupted in New York City after a federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man in the Bronx on Thursday afternoon. As masked agents reportedly posing as construction workers attempted to arrest 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, they opened fire on his car. Belgal was shot in the neck. His 5-year-old child, who was in the back seat, was physically unharmed.

This week marks 25 years since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the beginning of what would become the longest war in U.S. history. After installing a pro-Western government in Kabul in December 2001, U.S. and other NATO troops would remain in the country for the next two decades battling a stubborn insurgency — until a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 that saw the Taliban return to power.

This week marks 25 years since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the beginning of what would become the longest war in U.S. history. After installing a pro-Western government in Kabul in December 2001, U.S. and other NATO troops would remain in the country for the next two decades battling a stubborn insurgency — until a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 that saw the Taliban return to power.

University students across the United States held a national day of action in solidarity with “Jane Doe,” the anonymous former student whose lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped by seven Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity members in 2024 has reignited outrage over how campuses and local law enforcement mishandle sexual assault cases and fail survivors.

The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the South African jurist who led the United Nations commission of inquiry that concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Pillay’s long career in international human rights law includes work as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a former judge at the International Criminal Court and the U.N.

Protests have erupted in New York City after a federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man in the Bronx on Thursday afternoon. As masked agents reportedly posing as construction workers attempted to arrest 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, they opened fire on his car. Belgal was shot in the neck. His 5-year-old child, who was in the back seat, was physically unharmed.

In Gaza, October 7, 2023, is viewed as the beginning of the genocide. Over the past three years, Israel killed over 74,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, but many believe that number is a vast undercount. The killing continues despite a so-called ceasefire that took effect about a year ago.
“Every single aspect of the life of the people of Gaza has changed once and forever,” since October 7, says Akram al-Satarri, a Gaza-based journalist.

This week marks 25 years since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the beginning of what would become the longest war in U.S. history. After installing a pro-Western government in Kabul in December 2001, U.S. and other NATO troops would remain in the country for the next two decades battling a stubborn insurgency — until a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 that saw the Taliban return to power.

As the development of artificial intelligence accelerates, more voices inside and outside the industry are warning that the technology poses major risks to humanity. The new film, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, features interviews with leading AI executives, researchers, as well as critics, who all voice similar concerns. Since the film’s release earlier this year, a number of AI-driven hacks and other incidents have further alarmed people studying this topic.

The 87-year-old pensioner in Spain whose eviction from her lifelong home sparked nationwide protests has died. María del Carmen Abascal, better known as Maricarmen, died on Wednesday just hours before she was set to sign a new rental agreement. She was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment last month on a stretcher after the private investment company that owns the building hiked her rent. After massive public outcry, the landlord had agreed to allow her back into her apartment.