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Democracy Now!
- "Kings and Pawns": Howard Bryant on What Jackie Robinson & Paul Robeson Reveal About America
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Paul Robeson’s death on January 23, 1976. The actor, singer, athlete and scholar was once famous around the world, but he was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs. Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodgers star who had integrated the all-white major baseball leagues, was hailed as a national hero in 1949 for testifying against Robeson before the House Un-American Activities Committee associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy. For more, we speak with sports journalist Howard Bryant, author of the new book Kings and Pawns that looks at how Robeson and Robinson’s paths intertwined at the height of the McCarthy era. “History writes people out of the story, and it’s […]
- ICE Out of Minnesota: Unions & Churches Lead Economic Blackout in "Day of Truth and Freedom"
Hundreds of businesses in Minnesota have closed for the day as part of an economic blackout to protest the surge of ICE agents into the state. Organizers of the strike include faith leaders and unions, who are encouraging people to stay home from work, school and shopping. Kieran Knutson, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 7250, says the strike comes “after weeks of living under the heavy weight of this racist campaign of terror by ICE agents” in the Twin Cities area. “Nothing runs without the working class in this country, and today we’re going to show our power.”
- Nekima Levy Armstrong Jailed After Protesting ICE Official Who Also Serves as Pastor in St. Paul
The Justice Department said Thursday that it had arrested three people in Minnesota who interrupted a church service in St. Paul to protest a pastor’s role as a local ICE official. The activists involved in the protest now face charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law written to protect abortion clinics. One of the arrestees, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, had her appearance digitally altered in a photo posted online by the White House to make it look like she was crying while handcuffed. Her attorney, Jordan Kushner, tells Democracy Now! that Justice Department officials refused to let Levy Armstrong turn herself in, instead demanding an arrest at the hotel where she was staying. “This was their […]
- "Emperor" Trump's So-Called Board of Peace Erases Palestinians from Gaza Governance
As President Donald Trump formally inaugurated his so-called Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, his son-in-law Jared Kushner presented his vision of turning the Gaza Strip into an upscale seaside resort with gleaming skyscrapers and entirely new cities. The proposal is said to require an investment of at least $25 billion, and Kushner’s presentation showed a map of the besieged territory divided into different zones. This all comes as Palestinians in Gaza struggle to survive with little food or shelter amid ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid. “It’s hard to take these people seriously. I mean, they’re buffoonish. But the problem is, is that they control the largest military and economy in […]
- Headlines for January 23, 2026
Economic Blackout: Businesses Close for Day in Minnesota to Protest ICE Crackdown, Minnesota Activists Arrested for Anti-ICE Church Protest; White House Posts Doctored Photo, Outrage Grows over ICE Detaining 5-Year-Old Liam Ramos, Seven Democrats Back Spending Bill to Fund DHS & ICE, Israel Kills 4 in Gaza as Kushner Lays Out Plan for Turning Gaza into Seaside Resort, Russia, Ukraine & U.S. Negotiators Hold Trilateral Talks in Abu Dhabi, WSJ: U.S. Seeks Cuban Collaborators to Help Topple Government, Public Health Advocates Decry U.S. Leaving World Health Organization, Trump Orders Review of All Federal Funding Going to Democratic-Led States, Ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith: Not Holding Trump Accountable for Trying to Steal Election […]
Anthropocene
- Protecting forests is not just about biodiversity—it is now about protecting rain.
New evidence suggests that conserving forests, wetlands, and soils is critical not just for biodiversity, but for sustaining the rainfall that global agriculture depends on.
- Should the climate fight shift focus from curbing emissions to reducing human suffering?
Bill Gates’ provocative question
The Guardian
- Trump news at a glance: Starmer rebukes Trump for ‘diminishing’ British soldiers who fought and died in Afghanistan
Starmer suggested Trump should apologise for claiming Nato troops stayed ‘a little off the frontlines’ – key US politics stories from 23 January at a glanceThe UK prime minister Keir Starmer has accused Donald Trump of “diminishing” the sacrifice of fallen British soldiers, as the US president faced a fierce backlash from UK political leaders and families of veterans over his comments about Nato troops.In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said: “[Nato will] say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines.” Continue reading...
- US immigration agents detain two-year-old Minnesota girl: ‘depravity beyond words’
DHS detain a toddler and her father on Thursday and fly them to Texas before returning child on judge’s orderFederal immigration agents detained a two-year-old girl and her father in Minneapolis on Thursday and transported them to Texas, according to court records and the family’s lawyers.The father, identified in court filings as Elvis Joel TE, and his daughter were stopped and detained by officers around 1pm when they were returning home from the store. By the evening, a federal judge had ordered the girl be released by 9.30pm. But federal officials instead put both of them on a plane heading to a Texas detention center. Continue reading...
- Why the Trump administration is detaining immigrant children – and what happens to them next
The detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, age five, marks the turbocharging of a policy discontinued five years agoThis week, ICE’s detention of a five-year-old boy wearing a Spider Man backpack in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights quickly became a defining image of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration enforcement. Furious critics, including many local politicians, seized on Liam Ramos’s ordeal as glaring evidence that Trump’s mass deportation campaign has little to do with crime and a lot to do with terrorizing children and their families.A homeland security spokesperson said ICE officers took the boy into custody only after his father fled during an attempted arrest. The superintendent of the school district in […]
- ICE arrests 100 people three days into Maine immigration crackdown, DHS says
Organizers say ICE agents have been targeting African nationals amid surge focused in Portland and LewistonPeople affected by the US visa freeze: share your experienceThree days into its immigration crackdown in Maine, the Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had arrested “more than 100 illegal aliens”.In a statement to the Guardian on Friday, the DHS assistant secretary of public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, said some of those taken into custody were “the worst of the worst” and had been “charged and convicted of horrific crimes”, but cited the same four examples it released earlier in the week. Continue reading...
- The Guardian view on Syria’s crisis: Islamic State fighters are not the only concern | Editorial
As a lightning government offensive leaves the Kurdish-dominated SDF reeling, the political horizon needs attention as well as securityIn little more than a fortnight, a dramatic Syrian government offensive appears to have undone over a decade of Kurdish self-rule in the north-east and extended President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s control. The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) held around a quarter of the country and many critical resources – but were forced out of much of it within days. Though the SDF has effectively agreed to dissolution in principle, it has not shown it will do so in practice: a worrying sign for a fragile truce. A peaceful resolution is in everyone’s interests. Forcible integration by Damascus would risk […]
Aeon
- Computers can’t surprise
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer- by Richard BeardRead on Aeon
The Conversation
- ICE immigration tactics are shocking more Americans as US-Mexico border operations move north
Militarized immigration enforcement used to be confined to near the US-Mexico border, far away from most Americans’ front lawns.
- ‘We want you arrested because we said so’ – how ICE’s policy on raiding whatever homes it wants violates a basic constitutional right, according to a former federal judge
Since the republic’s beginning, it has been uncontested law that to invade someone’s home, the government needs a warrant reviewed and signed by a judicial officer. ICE is turning that law on its head.
- Your brain can be trained, much like your muscles – a neurologist explains how to boost your brain health
Challenging the brain by exposing it to new situations, tasks and skills can improve its efficiency, much like strength training does for our muscles. But maximum efficiency requires optimal rest.
- Dogs can need more than kibble, walks and love − consider the escalating expenses of their medical care before you adopt
The decision to bring a dog into the family should recognize that, like other family members, they will require medical care.
- Doing things alone is on the rise, and businesses should pay more attention to that – even on Valentine’s Day
With solo living on the rise, more consumers are dining, traveling and spending on their own. Yet most brands still design their offerings year-round for couples.
Inter Press Service
- ‘Freedom Always Returns – but Only If We Hold Fast to Our Values and Sustain the Struggle’
CIVICUS speaks with Belarusian activist, blogger and journalist Mikola Dziadok about his experiences as a two-time political prisoner and the repression of dissent in Belarus. Mikola was jailed following mass protests in 2020. Amid continued repression, Belarus experienced two limited waves of political prisoner releases in 2025. In September, authorities freed around 50 detainees
- Systemic Infrastructure Attacks Push Ukraine Into Its Deepest Humanitarian Emergency Yet
Nearly four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine faces another winter marked by widespread humanitarian suffering and continued indiscriminate attacks. The final months of 2025 were particularly volatile, characterized by routine bombardment of densely populated areas and repeated strikes on residential neighborhoods, critical civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian facilities. As hostilities expanded into new territories over
- Moving Towards Agroecological Food Systems in Southern Africa
In a quiet village known as Nkhondola, in Chongwe District, Eastern Zambia, Royd Michelo and his wife, Adasila Kanyanga, have transformed their five-acre piece of land into a self-sustaining agroecological landscape. With healthy soils built over time, the farm teems with diverse food crops, fruit trees, livestock and birds, nourishing their family and the surrounding
Grist
- Europe gets ‘green energy.’ These Southern towns get dirty air.
In Louisiana and Mississippi, people living near wood-pellet mills say they’re getting sick.
- A melting Greenland is easier to exploit — but also more perilous
Climate change is opening up previously inaccessible land and sea, boosting global interest in Greenland.
- The climate contradictions in MAHA’s new food pyramid
A Q&A with Sam Kass, a former Obama nutrition advisor, on the Trump administration’s new dietary guidelines and what they mean for the climate.
Truthout
- State Dept Memos Admit It Had Almost No Grounds to Deport Pro-Palestine Students
The memos were released by a judge who, last week, slammed Rubio, Noem, and Trump for “unconstitutional” actions.
- Thousands of Minnesotans Are Taking Part in General Strike Against ICE
“It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions,” organizers said.
- 149 House Democrats Join 192 Republicans to Pass Sweeping Military Spending Bill
Progressive critics say the vote exposes the fecklessness and hypocrisy of what claims to be an opposition party.
Labor Notes
- Portland Grocery Workers Score Big First Contract Win
Workers at the upscale grocery chain New Seasons have won a first contract, after more than three years of organizing. The contract covers 850 workers at the 10 stores in Portland, Oregon, that have joined the New Seasons Labor Union. The chain has 22 stores in Portland and Vancouver, Washington.
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