“You can’t, as the president, engage in strikes on a foreign country when there’s no imminent threat, without coming to Congress for authorization,” says Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember and member of the House Armed Services Committee, criticizing President Trump’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites as “blatantly unconstitutional” and a clear instance of executive overreach. Khanna and Republican congressmember Thomas Massie recently introduced a bipartisan Iran War Powers resolution in a bid to prevent further U.S. involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict. Khanna shares how anti-war voices in U.S. politics are too often silenced by powerful and wealthy interest groups and urges the Democratic Party to harness widespread anti-war sentiment in opposition to Trump’s increasingly authoritarian foreign policy.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger (5/13/25) says the press should ask itself, “Were we open-minded enough to unexpected facts?” It’s a good question.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger delivered an impassioned defense of  press freedom to the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame, which later ran in the Times (5/13/25). At first glance, Sulzberger is repeating what many free press advocates, including myself (FAIR.org, 11/14/24, 2/26/25, 4/25/25), have said, which is that press freedom is under attack, and it is incumbent upon free society to fight back.

Of course, this is A.G. Sulzberger, who clings to the false god of journalistic neutrality at all costs, so his otherwise hard-hitting critique of Trump’s all-out assault on the press and his emphasis on “upsetting powerful interests of every type” is directly undermined by his insistence that “our job is to cover political debates, not to join them,” and that “we are nobody’s opposition” and “nobody’s cheerleader.” (FAIR dissected Sulzberger’s virtually identical arguments about the role of journalism under Trump back in September—see FAIR.org, 9/6/24.)

But the notion that journalists don’t play favorites is belied by another passage in Sulzberger’s updated manifesto. He wrote:

A record number of journalists have been killed or jailed in recent years. Many more are subjected to campaigns of harassment, intimidation, surveillance and censorship. Those efforts have been perhaps most obvious and intense in authoritarian states like China and Russia. But a more insidious playbook for undermining the press has emerged in places like Hungary and India. Places where democracy persists but in a more conditional way, under leaders who were elected legitimately and then set about undermining checks on their power.

What’s most striking about this description is what it leaves out. The link is to a press release by the Committee to Protect Journalists (1/16/25), titled “The Number of Journalists Jailed Worldwide Reached a Near All-Time High in 2024.” “China, Israel and Myanmar were the leading jailers of reporters, followed by Belarus and Russia,” the release stated.

Deadliest country for journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists (2/12/25): “The toll of conflict on the press is most glaring in the unprecedented number of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel/Gaza war, 85 in 2024, and 78 in 2023.”

The fact that Israel found itself in a grouping with authoritarian regimes (most of which dwarf it in population, no less) seems like it would be worth a mention, but Sulzberger didn’t agree. He noted the authoritarian turn in India and Hungary—countries that imprisoned three and zero journalists, respectively, according to CPJ—while ignoring Israel, which jailed 43.

Israel is often pitched to Americans as a Western democratic regime in a neighborhood full of backward autocracies. CPJ noted: “A total of 108 journalists were imprisoned in the Middle East and North Africa, almost half of those detained by Israel.” That means Israel’s jailing of journalists significantly overshadows the press repression in places like Egypt (Amnesty International, 7/25/24) and Iran (Reporters Without Borders, 9/11/23), both of which have far bigger populations than Israel.

But Israel’s imprisoning journalists turns out to be the more benign part of its program of suppressing the press. CPJ also released a report (2/12/25) titled “2024 Is Deadliest Year for Journalists in CPJ History; Almost 70% Killed by Israel.” The report said, “At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed last year, nearly two-thirds of them Palestinians killed by Israel.” The group also investigated Israel’s killing of journalists in Lebanon (CPJ, 10/10/24). Altogether, there were 82 journalists killed by Israel in 2024, 13 times as many as were killed in the next-deadliest countries for journalists, Sudan and Pakistan (with six each).

And the world has known about how dire the situation is for the press in this operation from its earliest stages. Less than two months after hostilities began, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (11/28/23) reported, in a piece called “Israel’s War on Journalists”:

Israel’s assault on Gaza has quickly become the deadliest for journalists covering conflict zones since 1992. No other war in the 21st century has been so lethal for journalists, with 34 killed just within its first two weeks.

I covered this issue for FAIR.org (10/19/23) in the Gaza assault’s early days. But downplaying Israel’s often lethal repression of journalism has been a pattern for the Times generally (FAIR.org, 5/1/24), not just for its publisher.

‘Would-be strongmen’

Sulzberger (Washington Post, 9/5/24) wrote that “my colleagues and I have spent months studying how press freedom has been attacked in Hungary—as well as in other democracies such as India and Brazil.” But not, apparently, in Israel.

As mentioned earlier, this is not the first time Sulzberger has made such an omission. Last year, he wrote a lengthy article in the Washington Post (9/5/24) about the decline of press freedom in Hungary, Brazil and India. He wrote that these countries are run by “would-be strongmen” who “have developed a style” of repression against the media that is “more subtle than their counterparts in totalitarian states such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, who systematically censor, jail or kill journalists.”

It was an interesting piece, but again, Israel’s war on the press went unmentioned, even though it is a key example of press freedom decline in a Western state where the government has become more illiberal and authoritarian (NPR, 1/12/23; New Statesman, 1/17/23; Foreign Affairs, 2/8/23).

Press freedom in Israel has been on the decline since the invasion of Gaza began in October 2023. In that time, the government has pushed a boycott of the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz (Guardian, 11/24/24), moved to privatize public broadcasting (Jerusalem Post, 11/24/24) and increased censorship (+972, 5/20/24). The country has banned the broadcaster Al Jazeera (5/6/24). After Sulzberger delivered his address, the Israeli government moved to take even more control over broadcasting (Times of Israel, 5/18/25).

Israel’s killing and jailing of journalists, as well as its domestic clampdown and censorship of the press, is arguably at the center of the global crisis in press freedom. The fact that Sulzberger omitted this undercuts his point, because it reinforces the perception that the Times goes out of its way to bury or sanitize unsavory details about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians (FAIR.org, 5/16/25) and advance Israel’s narrative (Literary Hub, 4/30/24)—calling into question his claim that a free press is essential to “arm everyone else with the information and context they need to understand and meet the moment.”

ACTION ALERT: You can send a message to the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com or via Bluesky: @NYTimes.com. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective. Feel free to leave a copy of your message in the comments thread here.

FEATURED IMAGE: The Committee to Project Journalists’ image of a van from the Al-Quds Al-Youm TV channel that was hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza in December 2024, killing four journalists and a media worker. (Photo: Reuters/Khamis Said)

This content originally appeared on FAIR and was authored by Ari Paul.

“Contrary to what Trump, Musk, and even neoliberals claim, a strong civil service is critical to the country. Few innovations have served the public interest more than the government permitting public employees to band together and create the protection of a union against politicians carrying water for America's most rapacious and least moral corporations. And the advent of DOGE makes the protections of a union even more critical to ensuring public servants can work for the broader public and rein in favors for Trump’s elite donors like Musk.

It is time for all decent forces to condemn Trump and Musk's unlawful actions and decry the assault on the right of public employees to organize.”

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

The New York-based global media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned a decision by the Palestinian Authority to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank and called for it to be reversed “immediately”.

“Governments resort to censoring news outlets when they have something to hide,” said CPJ chief executive Jodie Ginsberg in a statement.

“The Palestinian Authority should reverse its decision to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations and allow journalists to report freely without fear of reprisal.”

• READ MORE: Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera operations in the West Bank
• CPJ urges Palestinian Authority to lift ban on Al Jazeera’s operations in West Bank
• Killing of five Gaza journalists by Israel strike highlights weak NZ media response — David Robie, Pacific Media Watch

Ginsburg also strongly condemned the PA decision in a separate interview with Al Jazeera, calling for an immediate reversal of the “temporary” ban.

She described the move as “really disturbing”, but said it was not a surprise given the PA’s track record on press freedom.

Listen to Ginsberg’s full comments here.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported yesterday that the PA had suspended Al Jazeera on grounds of “inciting material”.

The ban comes after the authority criticised Al Jazeera’s last week coverage of a standoff between Palestinian security forces and militant fighters in Jenin camp, located in the West Bank, according to reports.

Israel raided Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices in September and ordered its closure for 45 days, accusing the broadcaster’s West Bank operations of “incitement to and support of terrorism”.

Israel banned Al Jazeera’s Israel operations in May, citing national security concerns.

Palestinian Authority suspends broadcast of Al Jazeera.  Video: Al Jazeera

In a statement, the Al Jazeera network has condemned the PA closure of its offices in the occupied West Bank, calling the move “consistent” with the Israeli occupation’s “practices against its crews”.

The network “considers the Palestinian Authority’s decision an attempt to dissuade it from covering the escalating events taking place in the occupied territories”, the statement said.

It added the move “comes in the wake of an ongoing campaign of incitement and intimidation by parties sponsored by the Palestinian Authority against our journalists”.

The network further called the ban “an attempt to hide the truth about events in the occupied territories”, particularly in Jenin.

Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera operations in the West Bank https://t.co/dHclCfcPXU

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 1, 2025

Political pressure ‘from Israel’
Political pressure from Israeli authorities on the PA is likely behind the temporary ban decision, claims the network’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara.

“There is no doubt pressure by the Israeli authorities to ban Al Jazeera like it was banned in Israel,” Bishara said.

“The PA is foolishly and short-sightedly trying to prove its credentials to Israeli authorities . . . because they want a role in Gaza and the only way they can do that is by appeasing the Israeli occupation.”

Bishara said the suspension would fail to curtail the channel’s coverage of events in Palestine, just as it had failed to achieve the same goal in Israel.

“This is not going to stop us, this is not going to shut us up,” he said. “We question power and that’s what we do, we question the PA and every other authority in the world.”

Also condemning the PA ban, Mustafa Barghouti, the head of the opposition Palestinian National Initiative, said the ban was “a big mistake” and “should be reversed as soon as possible”.

“I think this is a wrong decision, especially in the light of the fact that Al Jazeera . . . has been at the avant garde in exposing the crimes against the Palestinian people, and continues to do so — especially the genocide that is taking place in Gaza,” said Barghouti, who had previously served as Palestinian minister of information.

“This is an issue of freedom of expression, an issue of freedom of press, an issue of freedom of media,” he told Al Jazeera.

He added that the Palestinian Authority was taking a “dangerous path” that underlines the lack of unified Palestinian leadership.

“At the end of the day, the Israeli occupation is targeting everybody, including Fatah and Hamas and everybody else,” he said.

“So our approach should be an approach of unity, encouraging freedom of expression, because at the end of the day, freedom of expression will only support the struggle against the occupation.”

Palestinian ban follows Israeli ban, killing of journalists
The PA’s temporary ban on Al Jazeera comes months after the network was banned from operating by the Israeli government.

Israel, which has sought to disrupt Al Jazeera’s coverage multiple times throughout its 18-year history, ordered the closure of Al Jazeera’s offices and a ban on its broadcasting in Israel in May.

A month earlier, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law that allowed Israel to temporarily shut down foreign media outlets deemed to be security threats.

Al Jazeera condemned the move as a “criminal act” and has stood by its coverage, particularly of Israeli operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

In September, Israeli authorities shut down Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a move decried by Amnesty International’s MENA director as a “shameless attack on the right to freedom of expression and a crushing blow for press freedom”.

Several Al Jazeera journalists and their families have been killed while reporting in the occupied Palestinian territories in recent years, including Shireen Abu Akleh, a renowned correspondent fatally shot by Israel while reporting in Jenin in May 2022.

Amid the war in Gaza, Israeli strikes have killed Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa, correspondent Ismail Al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi, cameraman Ahmed al-Louh, and journalist Hamza Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh.

Pacific Media Watch and news agencies.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance focused heavily on immigration policy. Walz promoted the asylum restrictions of the Biden administration and touted his running mate Kamala Harris’s bill to further militarize the southern U.S. border. Vance, meanwhile, continued Donald Trump’s demonization of immigrants, including the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, that they falsely accused of eating people’s pets. We get reaction from Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, which filed criminal charges against the Republican ticket over those lies. “We cannot allow this to continue,” Jozef says of the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

“It is impossible to reconcile Lord Neuberger’s judicial authority as part of a system that is politicized and repressive with his role overseeing a panel that advises governments to defend and promote media freedom. The Media Freedom Coalition should immediately review his role as chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom,” said CPJ Advocacy and Communications Director Gypsy Guillen Kaiser.

Lai, the 76-year-old founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been behind bars since 2020. On August 12, Hong Kong’s top court rejected his appeal against a conviction for taking part in unauthorized anti-government protests. Lai, whose trial on national security charges was adjourned again last month to late November, faces possible life imprisonment if convicted. He was honored by CPJ and the organization continues to advocate for his immediate, unconditional release.

The MFC is a group of 50 countries that pledge to promote press freedom at home and abroad. CPJ is a longstanding member of the MFC’s consultative network of nongovernmental organizations.

CPJ believes the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, which serves as the secretariat for the MFC’s panel of media freedom experts, should also review Neuberger’s role.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

President Biden is hosting heads of government from NATO member nations for a three-day summit in Washington, D.C., to mark the 75th anniversary of the expanding nuclear-armed military alliance as leaders pledge to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. We get response from German lawmaker Sevim Dağdelen, who is in D.C. to protest the summit and is the author of the new book NATO: A Reckoning with the Atlantic Alliance. She lays out how NATO is based on a series of myths about its purpose, respecting democracy and upholding human rights — as exemplified by member states’ staunch support for Israel’s war on Gaza. “You have rising contradictions and crisis within the European Union and the NATO states,” Dağdelen says.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Officers questioned nearly all of those detained about their connections to Shafiur Rahman, a U.K.-based Bangladeshi freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker whose reporting covers how Bangladesh government policies have negatively impacted the Rohingya population, according to Rahman and two of those detained, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. Several of those detained from the APNOR meeting were also shown Rahman’s photo and asked if they knew him.

Authorities also ordered participants to remove the passwords from their mobile phones and laptops, which remained in police custody as of June 25, according to the sources who spoke to CPJ.

Bangladesh hosts over one million Rohingya refugees in camps that human rights organizations say are characterized by poor conditions.

Rahman told CPJ that he was not associated with APNOR. Rahman added that the latest actions posed a threat to his safety and ability to work in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps, where journalists have reported receiving threats from the country’s authorities as well as from those living inside the camps.

“These actions amount to harassment by proxy, as the authorities are using their influence to silence and intimidate me indirectly as well as intimidating [Rohingya] youth who have nothing to do with me,” the journalist said.

Rohingya journalists have told CPJ and other press freedom organizations that Bangladesh authorities have subjected them to surveillance, harassment, and threats in retaliation for their work.

Mohammad Ali Arafat, Bangladesh’s state minister for information and broadcasting, told CPJ that he would look into the matter but did not provide further information by the time of publication. Rashed Hasan, deputy director and public relations officer of National Security Intelligence, did not respond to CPJ’s messages requesting comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Israeli military on Sunday announced a daily “tactical pause” in its attacks on Rafah to allow humanitarian relief to enter the Gaza Strip, after systematically blocking aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. While a full ceasefire is still vital, “any pause in the bombing is good news for children,” says UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, speaking to Democracy Now! from Rafah. “The physical and psychological exhaustion they face is almost impossible to capture,” he says, characterizing Israel’s offensive as “a war on children.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

A Chinese navy Type 636A hydrographic survey vessel, the Hai Yang 26, has been operating in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, said the spokeswoman, Pham Thu Hang, on Thursday without giving details.

Hang told reporters in Hanoi that the Vietnamese government “has engaged in multiple diplomatic exchanges” with the Chinese to demand the ending of the Hai Yang 26’s “illegal activities.”

Radio Free Asia is not able to verify whether the vessel is still inside Vietnam’s waters as it has not turned on its AIS (automatic identification system) for tracking.

In 2000, Vietnam and China signed an agreement on the demarcation of the Gulf of Tonkin, which is shared by both countries.

An exclusive economic zone gives a coastal country exclusive access to natural resources in the waters and seabed so the Chinese vessel’s activities are deemed unlawful, according to Vietnam’s foreign ministry.

“Vietnam also demands that China not repeat such illegal activities, fully respect Vietnam’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction, respect international law,” the spokeswoman said.

In March, China released a new “excessive” baseline for its claims of sovereignty in the Gulf of Tonkin, known in China as Beibu Gulf. Vietnam responded with a request that China “respect international law and bilateral agreements.”

Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

Israel is intensifying its war across the Gaza Strip, with the official death toll now over 35,000, including more than 14,500 children. More than 360,000 Palestinians have now been displaced from Rafah as Israeli forces ramp up their attacks there despite warnings from the United States and others against an escalation in the southern city, where more than a million Palestinians had sought shelter. This comes as the United Nations General Assembly voted 143-9 on Friday in support of full membership for Palestine, with 25 countries abstaining. The measure grants new rights to privileges to Palestine, though it can’t become a full U.N. member without support from the Security Council, where the U.S. vetoed a Palestine statehood resolution last month. “The last seven months have unmasked, beyond doubt, many things, including the hypocrisy, selectivity, double standards of certain international actors, and I believe the U.S. administration is right at the top of that list​,” says senior Palestinian diplomat Husam Zomlot, currently serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom. Zomlot also casts doubt on the claim Israel lacks clear goals in its assault on Gaza. “Israel does have a plan, and Israel is executing the plan with almost perfection. And the plan is genocide.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Daniel Boguslaw.

Palestinian health authorities say the death toll in Gaza has passed 25,000. This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly affirmed in recent days that he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, saying Israel must maintain indefinite military control between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. We get an update and speak with Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who was detained by Israeli authorities as he and his family fled Gaza in late November. He says that while there must be an immediate ceasefire to stop the suffering, only “a just solution to the Palestinian case” will bring long-term stability to the region. “If there is no peace, … we will unfortunately witness more and more of the killings of innocent people everywhere,” he says.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

We are joined by 88-year-old Jewish German American Marione Ingram, who describes how her scheduled speaking tour in Hamburg — the city she fled in the Holocaust — was “postponed” this month amid a wider backlash against those speaking out against Israel’s assault on Gaza. Ingram has been protesting for months outside the White House calling for a ceasefire, and characterizes U.S. and German pro-Israel policy as “disturbing” and “frightening.” As a survivor of the Holocaust, Ingram says, “My childhood was spent in the first 10 years much the same way as the children of Gaza. I know exactly what they’re going through. I know exactly how they’re feeling.” She argues “it should be an absolute standstill of all governments that you are told over 10,000 children are being murdered. There is no excuse for that.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Zelenskiy met with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda on January 10 to discuss military aid, training, and joint demining efforts during the previously unannounced trip, which will also take him to Estonia and Latvia.

“We have proven that Russia can be stopped, that deterrence is possible,” he said after talks with Nauseda on what is the Ukrainian leader's first foreign trip of 2024.

"Today, Gitanas Nauseda and I focused on frontline developments. Weapons, equipment, personnel training, and Lithuania's leadership in the demining coalition are all sources of strength for us," Zelenskiy later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Lithuania has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since the start of Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion, which will reach the two-year mark in February.

Nauseda said EU and NATO member Lithuania will continue to provide military, political, and economic support to Ukraine, and pointed to the Baltic country's approval last month of a 200-million-euro ($219 million) long-term military aid package for Ukraine.

Russia's invasion has turned Ukraine into one of the most mined countries in the world, generating one of the largest demining challenges since the end of World War II.

"Lithuania is forming a demining coalition to mobilize military support for Ukraine as efficiently and quickly as possible," Nauseda said.

"The Western world must understand that this is not just the struggle of Ukraine, it is the struggle of the whole of Europe and the democratic world for peace and freedom," Nauseda said.

Ukraine has pleaded with its allies to keep supplying it with weapons amid signs of donor fatigue in some countries.

There is continued disagreement between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress on continuing military aid for Kyiv, while a 50-billion-euro ($55 billion) aid package from the European Union remains blocked due to a Hungarian veto.

But a NATO allies meeting in Brussels on January 10 made it clear that they will continue to provide Ukraine with major military, economic, and humanitarian aid. NATO allies have outlined plans to provide "billions of euros of further capabilities" in 2024 to Ukraine, the alliance said in a statement.

Zelensky warned during the news conference with Nauseda that delays in Western aid to Kyiv would only embolden Moscow.

"He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely," Zelenskiy said.

"And sometimes, the insecurity of partners regarding financial and military aid to Ukraine only increases Russia's courage and strength."

Since the start of the year, Ukraine has been subjected to several massive waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have caused civilian deaths and material damage.

Zelenskiy said on January 10 that Ukraine badly needs advanced air defense systems.

"In recent days, Russia hit Ukraine with a total of 500 devices: we destroyed 70 percent of them," Zelenskiy said. "Air defense systems are the number one item that we lack."

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, an all-out air raid alert was declared on the morning of January 10, with authorities instructing citizens to take shelter due to an elevated danger of Russian missile strikes.

"Missile-strike danger throughout the territory of Ukraine! [Russian] MiG-31Ks taking off from Savasleika airfield [in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region].

Don't ignore the air raid alert!' the Ukrainian Air Force said in its warning message on Telegram.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

On October 23, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Weekly Blitz, published a separate article in the right-wing digital media outlet HinduPost, reviewed by CPJ, alleging Saer Khan had been deported from Hungary to the United Kingdom, where he was “funding and promoting pro-Hamas and anti-Israel rallies.”

Saer Khan, an independent investigative journalist, told CPJ by phone that he denied all allegations, which also extended to accusations of involvement in drug trafficking and fraud. He said he has been targeted in a campaign that seeks to discredit his work and could potentially endanger his safety.

Saer Khan said he believed he was being targeted in retaliation for his upcoming report on alleged high-level government corruption in Bangladesh to be published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). On September 25, two days before the latest round of Weekly Blitz articles against him, the journalist sent a series of emails requesting comment from the subjects of his investigative article.

In recent years, the Weekly Blitz has repeatedly published articles, reviewed by CPJ, accusing Saer Khan, along with other journalists critical of the Bangladesh government, of criminal activities.

On March 17, four unidentified men beat Mahinur Khan, Saer Khan’s brother, with iron rods in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, accusing the latter of “writing about the PM [prime minister]” and “against the government.” As of November 22, no suspects had been held accountable, Saer Khan said.

Choudhury told CPJ via email that the Weekly Blitz stood by its reporting and was unaware of Saer Khan’s upcoming report for the OCCRP.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

The Israel military raid on Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, is an “unprecedented attack on civilian society” in the “darkest time in modern history,” that is being justified in the West by “a deep-rooted and frightening racism,” says Dr. Mads Gilbert, who worked at Al-Shifa. “You don’t do these things to people you consider equal.” Dr. Gilbert is a Norwegian physician who just spent weeks in Cairo trying to enter Gaza to help his colleagues and has worked extensively in Palestine since 1981. “The civilian population of Gaza [have] done nothing wrong other than being born Palestinians in Gaza,” he says. “Israeli impunity has reached a new level, and we are all sinking into that abyss of disregard for human life.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

President Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday in an unprecedented show of support for the country following last week’s surprise attack by Hamas that killed over 1,400 Israelis, including many civilians. The United States continues to rush ammunition, air defenses and other weaponry to Israel ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. To end this conflict, former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy says, the U.S. must change course to end Israel’s impunity toward Palestinians. If Biden refuses to recognize Palestinian suffering, “then he is, by sins of omission, encouraging the kind of … genocidal language that is proliferating right now and that is incredibly dangerous to everyone,” says Levy.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Raz Segal, an Israeli expert in modern genocide, calls Israel’s assault on Gaza a textbook case of “intent to commit genocide” and its rationalization of its violence a “shameful use” of the lessons of the Holocaust. Israeli state exceptionalism and comparisons of its Palestinians victims to “Nazis” are used to “justify, rationalize, deny, distort, disavow mass violence against Palestinians,” says Segal.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Ecuador is reeling from the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead Wednesday after a campaign rally in the capital Quito less than two weeks before the August 20 general election. Villavicencio was running on a platform opposing corruption and organized crime. Authorities have arrested six Colombian nationals and say they are members of a drug trafficking group, but many questions remain about who was behind the murder. “We see that there are clear links between the current government and these mafia organizations,” says vice-presidential candidate Andrés Arauz, who is running mate to Luisa González of the Citizen Revolution Movement. “We need to take care of our democracy. We are really in a moment of great despair in Ecuador.” Arauz ran for president in 2021 and previously served as director of Ecuador’s central bank and a minister in former leftist President Rafael Correa’s government.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Sweden may soon join NATO after over a year of negotiations with Turkey over its bid for accession to the transatlantic military alliance. Turkey’s right-wing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had staunchly opposed Sweden’s bid due to the country’s strong presence of Kurdish exiles, including members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey considers a “terrorist” organization. Erdoğan attributed his unexpected change of heart to Turkey’s own bid to join the European Union, which has been stalled for years, suggesting he will open the doors to Sweden in NATO if Turkey is in turn granted entry to the EU. We hear from Swedish peace activist Kerstin Bergeå in Stockholm, who says the decision to join NATO has lacked sufficient public debate in the country and who calls the move “a historic mistake.” Bergeå is president of the 140-year-old Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, one of the oldest peace groups in the world.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Thousands of screenwriters behind Hollywood movies and TV shows are on strike as of midnight on Tuesday. The Writers Guild of America says its members are struggling to make a living, as rates have fallen and writers have less job security — even as the streaming era has led to an explosion in TV and film production. The strike is set to bring most TV production to a halt immediately, with some films also likely to be delayed if the impasse continues. The WGA previously went on strike in 2007-’08, which lasted 100 days and had a significant impact on the entertainment industry. “We are demanding that this industry be one that can sustain a career,” says Brittani Nichols, captain for Writers Guild of America West and a writer on Abbott Elementary. “The studios have devalued our contributions. They have shifted the industry to prioritize streaming while not … making sure that our pay reflects those changes.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

On Sunday, Israeli settlers ransacked and torched Palestinian homes in Huwara, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, killing at least one Palestinian resident and injuring dozens of others. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of backing a pogrom in Huwara. Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday that Huwara needs to be “wiped out” and that the state of Israel should do it. In response, 22 Israeli international law experts sent a letter to Israel’s attorney general demanding an immediate investigation against Smotrich for potential war crimes. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also condemned Smotrich’s comments, though he framed the conflict as bilateral by referencing the need to condemn Palestinian “incitement to violence.” Meanwhile, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on the U.S., as the Israeli government’s most powerful international ally, to take action to stop its violence. For more on this latest escalation of the Israeli occupation, we’re joined by Saddam Omar, a Huwara resident who witnessed the settler attacks, and Gideon Levy, an award-winning Israeli journalist and columnist for Haaretz.

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We look at a new investigation into the collapse of an LGBTQ+ unit at the massive Rikers Island jail in New York City that was meant to help protect incarcerated trans women, stranding many in male units where they have been harassed and raped. The changes at Rikers came after Mayor Eric Adams appointed a new jails commissioner who pushed out leaders supportive of the unit and shelved a draft policy directive aimed at getting more trans and gender-nonconforming detainees into gender-aligned housing. Data shows trans women jailed in men’s facilities are many times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other incarcerated people. We are joined by George Joseph, a senior reporter at The City focusing on criminal justice and courts, who exposed the collapse of the unit, and by Robin Robinson, a former services coordinator with the LGBTQ+ unit at Rikers who quit in protest this past June.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

The head of the United Nations on Monday condemned the "unacceptable escalation of the war" in Ukraine after Russia bombed Kyiv and other major cities, a far-reaching attack that Russian President Vladimir Putin said was launched in retaliation for a deadly blast that damaged a bridge to Crimea over the weekend.

"As always, civilians are paying the highest price."

"The secretary-general is deeply shocked by today's large-scale missile attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on cities across Ukraine that reportedly resulted in widespread damage to civilian areas and led to dozens of people being killed and injured," said a spokesperson for António Guterres, the U.N. chief.

"As always," the spokesperson added, "civilians are paying the highest price."

According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 11 people were killed, dozens were injured, and many were left without power as a result of Russia's latest wave of airstrikes, the most intense bombing in months as Ukraine continues to recapture swaths of territory.

During a meeting of his security council on Monday, Putin insisted that the targets of the massive attack were military-related—a message echoed by Russia's defense ministry. But press reports and video footage posted online indicate that Russia's missile strikes inflicted significant damage on civilian areas, including a popular park in Kyiv.

"Though some missiles apparently targeted energy facilities, others struck civilian areas during the morning rush hour. One hit a playground in downtown Kyiv and another struck a central building of a local university," the Associated Press reported. "Witnesses said one missile landed in front of a bus."

Analysts and peace advocates argued Monday that the war's intensification in recent days and the complete absence of diplomatic negotiations are deeply alarming and heighten the prospects of a nuclear disaster.

"There are no winners in this situation," Lindsey German of the United Kingdom-based Stop the War Coalition said in a statement. "Stop the War has called for a cease-fire and peace negotiations from the start because we feared precisely this danger. We urgently need this war to stop before it spirals even further."

"We are especially concerned about the potential of this turning into a nuclear conflict, with horrific consequences for the whole region," German added. "The British government should be urging peace not war."

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has authorized billions of dollars in weapons and other military aid to Ukraine despite repeated warnings that such shipments are worsening the conflict, said in a statement that "the United States strongly condemns Russia's missile strikes today across Ukraine, including in Kyiv."

"These attacks killed and injured civilians and destroyed targets with no military purpose," said Biden. "These attacks only further reinforce our commitment to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

The adult son of former NFL star and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker accused his father of violence and dishonesty late Monday following The Daily Beast's bombshell report that the self-styled purveyor of "family values" and fervent enemy of reproductive rights paid for a former girlfriend's abortion in 2009.

Citing the unnamed ex-girlfriend's account, a receipt from the abortion clinic, a "get well" card from Walker, and a bank deposit receipt, The Daily Beast reported that Walker "reimbursed" the woman for the abortion and "told her it would be more convenient to terminate the pregnancy, saying it was 'not the right time' for him to have a child."

Walker is now running to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) on a platform that includes support for a federal ban on all abortions, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the person giving birth.

Shortly after The Daily Beast's story—which Walker denied—was published, Walker's 23-year-old son Christian took to Twitter to decry what he said were his father's lies and past violent behavior.

"I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us," wrote Christian Walker, a right-wing social media personality. "You're not a 'family man' when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over six times in six months running from your violence."

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported Monday that "Christian Walker is the son of Cindy Grossman, an ex-wife of Walker who has accused the Republican of threatening to choke and shoot her."

"She obtained a restraining order against him in 2005 after he allegedly threatened to kill her and her then-boyfriend," the newspaper noted. "'He held the gun to my temple and said he was gonna blow my brains out,' Grossman said in a CNN interview in 2008."

The abortion report marked the latest revelation in a campaign that's been plagued with scandals largely related to Walker's family life and personal conduct, including allegations that he has tried to hide his other three children—stories seen as politically relevant given his "family values" posturing and criticism of "the fatherless home."

The Georgia Senate seat for which Walker is contending—and, if recent polling is any indication, has a shot at winning—is crucial, as it helped Democrats gain their slim majority in 2020. Walker has continued to receive raucous applause from right-wing religious audiences on the campaign trail in Georgia despite the accusations against him.

Asked about The Daily Beast's story, Warnock—a proponent of abortion rights—told reporters Monday that he will "let the pundits decide how they think it will impact the race."

"But I have been consistent in my view that a patient's room is too narrow and cramped for space for a woman and the government," Warnock added. "My view on that has not changed."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Climate activists from as far away as Alaska, Indigenous peoples and Appalachians rallied in Washington, D.C., Thursday against the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The protest — No Sacrifice Zones! — spoke out against concessions to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin included in the Inflation Reduction Act that would expedite the pipeline slated to cut through Appalachia, as Senator Bernie Sanders gave an address on the Senate floor calling it a “disastrous side deal” to the Inflation Reduction Act that undermines climate activism. We speak with two environmental activists in D.C. who helped organize the protest, Crystal Cavalier-Keck and Russell Chisholm. “We do not want this dirty deal that Senator Joe Manchin is pushing forward,” says Cavalier-Keck. “This project must be stopped, and these extractive industries that create sacrifice zones must also be stopped,” says Chisholm.

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The niece of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli occupation forces in May, spoke out Thursday against U.S. President Joe Biden's failure to hold her aunt's killers accountable.

"Most importantly, he isn't upholding the values that he continues to preach."

Speaking at a National Press Club news conference in Washington, D.C., Lina Abu Akleh renewed calls for the Biden administration to launch a "thorough, independent, transparent investigation" into the May 11 killing of her aunt.

Shireen Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was covering an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the illegally occupied West Bank when she was fatally shot in the head, despite wearing a helmet and vest identifying her as press. Israel subsequently blamed the attack on Palestinian militants before walking back the allegation.

Lina Abu Akleh said "it's been disappointing and frustrating" that "there hasn't been any meaningful action" taken to ensure justice for her aunt.

"It's been almost four months now with no accountability and no action from the U.S. administration," she lamented.

Referring to Biden, Abu Akleh added that "he still has not taken action, he continues to ignore the importance of this case, and most importantly, he isn't upholding the values that he continues to preach."

Biden was criticized for failing to press Israel on Abu Akleh's killing and Saudi Arabia on the gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi—a permanent U.S. resident—during his July trip to the Middle East.

The president has also declined to speak with Abu Akleh's relatives. After meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in late July, Lina Abu Akleh said her family is "still waiting to see if this administration will meaningfully answer our calls for justice for Shireen."

Investigations by international media outlets, rights groups, the United Nations Human Rights Office, and others concluded that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli fire. In a move critics condemned as a "whitewash" of the killing, the Biden administration said in July that Abu Akleh was "likely" but unintentionally shot by an Israeli soldier.

Lina Abu Akleh implored journalists to keep covering her aunt's story and her family's pursuit of justice.

"It's very important that journalists continue to speak about Shireen because she was a journalist herself," she said, "and it's important that they press on the U.S. administration to take a more serious role and take action."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Brett Wilkins.

We speak with Texas Democratic state Senator Roland Gutierrez about how the police botched the response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a small town that is part of Gutierrez’s congressional district. The shooting left 19 fourth graders and two teachers dead after the police waited over an hour before anyone confronted the gunman. Gutierrez says he can “get no answers” from the state’s Department of Public Safety about why the police waited or which officials were present in the school in response to the shooting. He is calling on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to hold a special legislative session to pass comprehensive gun safety measures in response to the massacre.

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The voting for local councils in rural and urban precincts was seen as a tests of support for opponents of the CPP five years after Hun Sen had the largest opposition party banned after a strong showing in the previous election.

The National Election Commission has yet to release preliminary results, but said the ruling CPP was leading an election in which 77.91 percent, or about 7.1 million of 9.2 million registered voters turned out to elect 11,622 commune council members.

“It’s been a successful electoral process with a calm environment, security, public order, no violence and no intimidation,” NEC President Prach Chan told a news conference after the polling stations closed Sunday afternoon.

“The voters voted overwhelmingly––77 percent voted. The preliminary results are showing the CPP is the leading in all provinces and municipalities,” said CCP spokesman Sok Ey San.

“This is a big success for the CPP,” he said.

RFA has not independently confirmed the turnout and preliminary results. The official election results will be announced on June 26.

“It was not a free and fair and just election,” said Thach Setha, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, the most prominent of 16 non-CPP parties competing.

“There was pressure and intimidation,” he said, noting that the NEC was dominated by the ruling party, when the law stipulates a neutral body.

Thach Setha said his party will file complaints with the NEC over the alleged election irregularities, including CPP village chiefs who violated the election law by sitting at the polling stations. 

He said authorities arrested two of his election observers, releasing one later.

Voters did not turn out in as great a number as in 2017 and many polling stations were quiet, said Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for the rights group Adhoc.

“Fewer people went to polling station to find their names. And to the ballot counting stations, I didn’t see many people monitoring the process,” he said.

“This shows that people didn’t actively participate in the process like the previous commune election,” added Soeung Sengkaruna.

Kem Sokha, the former leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who was arrested months before the party was banned in 2017, declined to vote on Sunday and was joined by many of his followers.

“We didn’t vote because if we have voted it would been seen like we supported the CNRP’s dissolution,” said close Kem Sokha ally Khou Haingmeang.

The former CNRP representative from Siem Reap said Kem Sokha, who is embroiled in a slow-moving treason trial on charges from 2017, also feared that getting involved Sunday could violate court orders banning political activities.

On the last day of two weeks of campaigning Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Office criticized what it called a “systemic shrinking” of political space in the country, leaving room only for the CPP.

“We are disturbed by the pattern of threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates ahead of communal elections in Cambodia on 5 June,” office spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement.

“Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning,” she said.

Translated by Samean Yun. Written by Paul Eckert.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Khmer.

As Russian forces continue to besiege Ukrainian cities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused them of reducing the southern city of Mariupol to ashes. All foreign journalists have fled the city as heavy shelling has driven most remaining civilians into hiding in their basements. We speak to Belkis Wille, who just left Ukraine after spending over three weeks documenting the effects of the war and describes “an absolute hellscape” in Mariupol. Disabled people and seniors are often unable to retreat into safe hiding places, says Wille, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The people that we spoke to were the lucky ones. They were the ones with the means and the ability to get out of the city.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

As the U.S. and U.K. push for Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to offset a rise in global energy prices amid sanctions on Russia, the kingdom on Saturday announced it had executed 81 people — the country’s largest mass execution in decades. Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, says the muted criticism of Saudi abuses reveals a double standard when it comes to how Western countries deal with the absolute monarchy, which has been waging a brutal assault on neighboring Yemen for almost seven years with U.S. support. If the U.S. wants the world to oppose Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, “then it’s got to stop supporting the war in Yemen,” says Whitson, who adds that disparate coverage of the wars in Ukraine and Yemen point to “inherent racism” in Western media.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.