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Democracy Now!
- MLK Day Special: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words
Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, which he delivered at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated.
- "All That's Left of You": Oscar-Shortlisted Film Traces Palestinian Family's Love & Loss Since 1948
All That’s Left of You is a new feature film that looks at 70 years of Palestinian history through the lens of one family’s experience over three generations. Democracy Now! speaks with Palestinian American director and actress Cherien Dabis, who says the film is about “looking for meaning in grief and choosing humanity even in the most difficult of circumstances, which Palestinians have done and do every single day.”
- Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Speaks Out as New Ruling Could Lead to His Rearrest, Deportation
A federal appeals court on Thursday delivered the Trump administration a victory in its efforts to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, opening the door for his rearrest. Khalil was a graduate student at Columbia University when he was arrested in March and detained for months. He missed the birth of his son, Deen, while in detention. “The Trump administration is trying everything in its power to come after me, to put the full weight of the government to actually make an example out of me,” Khalil tells Democracy Now! “The U.S. government has not brought a shred of evidence that I broke any laws.” The appeals court did not weigh in on the constitutional merits, instead saying Khalil should have appealed his removal order in […]
- "Autocratic Power Grab": Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act, Deploy Troops to Minnesota
Following Minneapolis protests in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act Thursday, a move that would allow him to send military forces to the city. Trump’s comments came after a second person was shot by ICE following a traffic stop. “Trump probably sees this as a civil war,” says Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights. “This, as we all know, is being leveraged as part of an autocratic power grab.”
- ICE Arresting U.S. Citizens, Using Banned Chokeholds: Explosive ProPublica Report
A new investigation by ProPublica finds over 40 cases of immigration agents using potentially fatal chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing. “These arrests are playing out around the country, and often in full view of cameras and witnesses,” says ProPublica reporter Nicole Foy. She also reports that at least 170 U.S. citizens have been arrested by immigration agents.
Anthropocene
- How seaweed farms could change the arithmetic of ocean carbon capture…for the better.
New research suggests that seaweed aquaculture boosts seawater alkalinity, enabling millions—and potentially tens of millions—of tonnes of carbon dioxide removal each year.
- Researchers turn avocado toast into biodegradable food packaging
A strong yet degradable bioplastic made from avocado peels and stale bread tackles two global challenges: food waste and plastic pollution
The Guardian
- US supreme court releases more decisions but does not rule on Trump tariffs – live
Court did not publish much-anticipated ruling on the legality of Trump’s tariffs as US president doubles down on Greenland threatsThe supreme court did not issue a decision today on the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.It’s not immediately clear the next date the court will issue opinions. Continue reading...
- Superstates and spheres of influence | Brief letters
Orwell’s insight | Antisocial media | AI takeover | Howff Club | Beyond the TamarInteresting article by Brendan Simms of Cambridge University on spheres of influence in the world (Has a Nazi theorist’s vision of a world divided into ‘great spaces’ found a new advocate in Trump?, 16 January). Is anyone else reminded of the three superstates in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia)?Carol Kewley Port Glasgow, Inverclyde• The government should not stop under-16s using social media. The government should stop social media using under‑16s (More than 60 Labour MPs urge Starmer to back under-16s social media ban, 18 January).Dr Charles SmithBridgend Continue reading...
- Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US ‘generosity’ despite aid cuts
Email sent to diplomats by state department office’s new boss is labelled ‘racist’ after dismissing Africa as a priorityUS diplomats have been encouraged to “unabashedly and aggressively” remind African governments about the “generosity” of the American people, according to a leaked email sent to staff in the US state department’s Bureau of African Affairs this January and obtained by the Guardian.“It’s not gauche to remind these countries of the American people’s generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine,” says the email. Continue reading...
- Why the Trump administration’s demand for a list of Jews at Penn is so dangerous | Sigal Ben-Porath, Serena Mayeri and Amanda Shanor
If history teaches us anything, it is that making lists of Jews, no matter the ostensible purpose, is often a prelude to their and others’ persecutionThis month, a judge ordered the University of Pennsylvania to justify its refusal to collect and disclose the names and personal contact information of Jewish faculty, staff and students to the federal government. Late last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Penn to force compliance with this chilling demand, made in the name of fighting antisemitism. Jewish and non-Jewish community members at Penn and beyond have united to support the university’s resistance to compiling and releasing data about members of campus Jewish organizations, the Jewish studies […]
- Judge allows Trump administration to block lawmakers’ access to ICE facilities
Judge rules homeland security can insist lawmakers provide week’s notice of intention to inspect facilities The Trump administration won a legal victory on Monday that temporarily allows it to keep elected officials out of immigration detention camps, while it advanced two other court actions in support of its surge into Minnesota.A federal judge in Washington DC ruled that the homeland security department (DHS) can continue to insist that lawmakers provide a week’s notice of their intention to inspect immigration facilities, even though she blocked an identical policy last month. Continue reading...
Aeon
- A light from the periphery
The life of Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose illuminates how scientific genius can emerge from the most unexpected quarters- by Somaditya (Soma) BanerjeeRead on Aeon
The Conversation
- Trump’s Greenland ambitions could wreck 20th-century alliances that helped build the modern world order
How the US treats its allies has been a crucial question for every president. What evolved over the centuries into an official embrace of friendly nations is now being reversed by Donald Trump.
- An ultrathin coating for electronics looked like a miracle insulator − but a hidden leak fooled researchers for over a decade
A new study investigated the source of a leak in a ‘miracle measurement’ from 2010 – and engineers found a potential solution.
- Are there thunderstorms on Mars? A planetary scientist explains the red planet’s dry, dusty storms
A rover recently captured sounds of lightning crackling on Mars, over a decade after scientists uncovered the first evidence for electric discharges on the planet.
- For 80 years, the president’s party has almost always lost House seats in midterm elections, a pattern that makes the 2026 congressional outlook clear
As the 2026 midterm elections edge closer, most people know the party that controls the White House is likely to lose seats in Congress. They usually do not know just how entrenched that pattern is.
- Chavismo has adapted before – but can Venezuela’s leftist ideology become US friendly and survive?
The ideology named after former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez became more authoritarian under Nicolás Maduro. Can the country’s new leader steer it back toward democracy?
Inter Press Service
- Guinea’s Path to Electoral Autocracy
In December, the dust settled on Guinea’s first presidential election since the military took control in a 2021 coup. General Mamady Doumbouya stayed in power after receiving 87 per cent of the vote. But the outcome was never in doubt: this was no a democratic milestone; it was the culmination of Guinea’s denied transition to
- World Living Beyond Its Means: Warns UN’s Global Water Bankruptcy Report
The world has entered what United Nations researchers now describe as an era of Global Water Bankruptcy, a condition where humanity has irreversibly overspent the planet’s water resources, leaving ecosystems, economies, and communities unable to recover to previous levels. The new report, released by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, titled Global Water
- Global Survey Finds Citizens back a World Parliament as Trust in International System Erodes
As democracy faces pressure around the world and confidence in international law drops, a new global survey reveals that citizens in a vast majority of countries support the idea of creating a citizen-elected world parliament to deal with global issues. The survey, commissioned by Democracy Without Borders and conducted across 101 countries representing 90% of
Sludge
- No Labels’ Israel Push Follows Foreign Agent Work by Spouse’s Firm
The group's leader is married to Mark Penn, whose Stagwell Group companies have recently been working as registered foreign agents for Israel.
Grist
- In Bangladesh, thousands of volunteers are battling climate-fueled disease at its source
As mosquitoes spread dengue and chikungunya, Bangladeshi cleanup crews are taking public health into their own hands.
- Trump is keeping coal on life support. How long can it last?
In 2025, regulatory rollbacks and surging power demand helped buoy an industry in trouble.
- Red-state Republicans seek climate ‘liability shield’ for fossil fuel industry
If enacted, the Utah and Oklahoma measures would restrict litigation against oil companies over their role in the climate crisis.
Truthout
- Unionized Veterans Are Joining Labor’s Fight Against Trump
At agencies like the VA, more than 100,000 former service members have been adversely affected by Republican attacks.
- How Ciji Graham Died While Waiting for an Abortion in North Carolina
The young mother was denied urgent treatment for her heart condition due to her pregnancy.
- First US Sale of Seized Venezuelan Oil Goes to Company of Trump Megadonor
Proceeds from the oil sale are being stashed in Qatar, an arrangement critics say opens the door to more corruption.
Labor Notes
- Will ICE Ignite a Mass Strike in Minnesota?
Minnesota appears to be in gear for a mass uprising. Unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses there are calling for a statewide day of “no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping” on January 23.
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