A new book tells the inside story of the second Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID. Its author, Nicholas Enrich, worked at USAID for over a decade before he was pushed out of the agency in early 2025, when the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency summarily cut its staff and funding. An estimated 14 million people are projected to die “unnecessarily” over the next five years due to these cuts, and nearly a million, mostly children, already have, says Enrich. His new memoir, Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower’s Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID, is named after one of Musk’s social media posts from that period, when the South African […]

Sudan marked four years since a bloody civil war began between its national army and the powerful Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. The RSF revolted against the Sudanese Armed Forces after a 2021 military coup left it with diminished political power. The coup itself upended the civilian-led democratic revolution that ousted Sudan’s longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Both the RSF and SAF have been accused of major war crimes since the conflict began, reportedly carrying out ethnic cleansing, systemic sexual violence and starvation tactics on the country’s civilian population. “This war is not just fought on the bodies of civilians by happenstance. It’s not incidental to the fighting. It is precisely the point. This war […]

Amid the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, we speak with Laleh Khalili, a professor of Gulf studies who researches the shipping and logistics industry and its impact on the global economy. The U.S. implemented a naval blockade on Iran earlier this week, which Khalili says could lead to its military “firing on ships that it assumes are Iranian or carrying oil from Iran or other cargo to Iran.” Iran, in response, could “interpret this as a belligerent action,” ending the fragile ceasefire agreed to by both parties. “Iran is going to defend itself against this imperial imposition, and how it’s going to do that remains to be seen.” Meanwhile, explains Khalili, shipping disruptions in the Gulf have affected the supply chains […]

Senate Narrowly Rejects Resolutions to Halt Iran War and Arms Sales to Israel, Iran Warns It Will Blockade the Sea of Oman and Red Sea Unless U.S. Ends Its Naval Blockade, Israel Continues Deadly Strikes on Lebanon Even as Diplomats Hold First Direct Talks in Decades, Palestinians Hold Funeral Procession for Five Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza City, Pentagon Announces Fifth Deadly Strike on Alleged Drug Boat in a Week, Democrats File Articles of Impeachment Against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, The Guardian: Top Oil and Gas Companies Made $30M Per Hour in Windfall Profits from Iran War, Nine Killed as Turkey Suffers Second School Shooting in Two Days, Oklahoma High School Principal Tackles School Shooter While Suffering Gunshot Wound, […]

Maoz Inon’s parents were killed in the October 7 attacks in 2023. Aziz Abu Sarah’s brother died after being tortured in an Israeli prison. The two have closely worked together calling for peace in Israel and Palestine over the past two years. They just released a book titled The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land. “I grew up angry. I grew up believing peace is impossible. But at some point, I realized — when I was 18 — that Maoz and I are not on the opposite side. To bring justice, to bring peace, to bring equality and dignity to all of us, we have to work together,” says Abu Sarah. “We need enough people that realize that we have the agency to change the future, to create the future we deserve to live […]