Contributing Writers

Illinois Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh was thrown to the ground by ICE agents on Friday during a protest outside the Broadview Processing Center in Chicago, where immigrant detainees are held. At least 10 people were arrested as federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas into the crowd, which was there to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown known as “Operation Midway Blitz.

President Trump says he is designating the decentralized anti-fascist movement known as “antifa” as a terrorist organization, as conservatives blame left-wing groups and ideas for creating the conditions that led to conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

President Trump is promoting unproven claims that both vaccines and the common painkiller acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol or by the brand name Tylenol, cause autism. Trump’s recent anti-vaccine and anti-autism stances have been influenced by his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist who unsuccessfully ran for president himself before throwing his support behind Trump’s reelection campaign.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly at its headquarters in New York City, criticizing the international governing body, immigration and the science of climate change, while boasting about his presidency and the military power of the United States. In what became the longest U.N. speech ever made by a U.S. president, Trump bragged about ending “seven unendable wars” and said countries that do not crack down on immigration “are going to hell.

The U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal took a historic step Sunday in formally recognizing the state of Palestine, but Palestinian physician and politician Mustafa Barghouti says “it’s not enough.” From Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Barghouti says sanctions against Israel are needed to bring an end to its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and other abuses across Palestinian territory.

Illinois Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh was thrown to the ground by ICE agents on Friday during a protest outside the Broadview Processing Center in Chicago, where immigrant detainees are held. At least 10 people were arrested as federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas into the crowd, which was there to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown known as “Operation Midway Blitz.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act into law this week, banning all law enforcement — including federal immigration agents — from covering their faces while conducting raids in the state.
“What this law is trying to do is to take us back from the era of routine masking based on completely foundationless officer claims of fear,” says Eva Bitran, the director of immigrants’ rights at the ACLU of Southern California.

Egypt’s best-known political prisoner, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, was granted a presidential pardon on Monday and has reunited with his family after spending most of the last 12 years in prison. The writer and political dissident was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled the Mubarak dictatorship, and he has been repeatedly targeted by the current authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal took a historic step Sunday in formally recognizing the state of Palestine, but Palestinian physician and politician Mustafa Barghouti says “it’s not enough.” From Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Barghouti says sanctions against Israel are needed to bring an end to its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and other abuses across Palestinian territory.

Following the U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal’s formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, Democracy Now! speaks with Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen in Tel Aviv. “This is a belated but blessed step forward,” says Zeigen. “We need to level the field in order for us, Israelis and Palestinians, to be able to shape the only viable future for us, which is a shared future.

As we broadcast today, Egyptian authorities announced a presidential pardon for Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a free speech and democracy activist imprisoned for six years on dubious charges of “spreading false news.” The blogger was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled the Mubarak dictatorship, and was repeatedly targeted by the current authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal and Canada have formally recognized Palestinian statehood, joining about 150 countries, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week, as France and five other states are also expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state on Monday. “This is an opportunity to renew our political solidarity,” says Jeremy Corbyn, member of the British Parliament and former leader of the U.K. Labour Party.

We look at how the assassination of Charlie Kirk has emerged as a tool for the Trump administration to crack down on dissent and free speech, as tens of thousands gathered Sunday in Arizona for a memorial for the conservative activist, including his wife Erika Kirk. While she called for forgiveness, President Trump and other top speakers, including Vice President JD Vance and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, reiterated calls for revenge on political opponents.

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers.

A powerful new documentary produced by Fault Lines on Al Jazeera English tells the story of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the Palestinian pediatrician and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza whom Israel has detained with virtually no contact to the outside world for almost nine months.

We speak with the secretary general of Amnesty International about the human rights group’s new report on the “global political economy enabling Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid” against Palestinians. Agnès Callamard says Israel’s “24 months of genocide” since October 2023 would not be possible without international support and the continued supplying of Israel’s war machine by major arms makers, technology firms and other companies. The report names the U.S.

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers.

A powerful new documentary produced by Fault Lines on Al Jazeera English tells the story of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the Palestinian pediatrician and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza whom Israel has detained with virtually no contact to the outside world for almost nine months.

We speak with the secretary general of Amnesty International about the human rights group’s new report on the “global political economy enabling Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid” against Palestinians. Agnès Callamard says Israel’s “24 months of genocide” since October 2023 would not be possible without international support and the continued supplying of Israel’s war machine by major arms makers, technology firms and other companies. The report names the U.S.

A powerful new documentary produced by Fault Lines on Al Jazeera English tells the story of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the Palestinian pediatrician and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza whom Israel has detained with virtually no contact to the outside world for almost nine months.

We speak with the secretary general of Amnesty International about the human rights group’s new report on the “global political economy enabling Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid” against Palestinians. Agnès Callamard says Israel’s “24 months of genocide” since October 2023 would not be possible without international support and the continued supplying of Israel’s war machine by major arms makers, technology firms and other companies. The report names the U.S.

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers.