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Democracy Now!
- Aliya Rahman v. DHS: Disabled Woman Dragged from Car Files Claim over Violent Arrest in Minneapolis
Aliya Rahman, a Minneapolis resident who was violently detained by ICE officers in January during “Operation Metro Surge,” filed a federal tort claim against the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, claiming the agency used excessive force and violated her rights. Rahman was never charged with any crime. “They battered Aliya. They assaulted Aliya. They were negligent in their medical care for Aliya,” says Jessica Gingold, one of Rahman’s attorneys. “All of those things are illegal, and this is our tool for making sure that they have to pay for that.” Aliya Rahman was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when her route was blocked by ICE vehicles. Rahman’s window was smashed, and she was violently pulled out of her […]
- Rami Khouri: U.S. & Israel Were "Forced into Two Ceasefires" as Regional Balance of Power Shifts
“We’ve seen now, in the last six weeks, Iran and Hezbollah almost single-handedly checking — not defeating, but checking — the two biggest military powers in the region, which is the U.S. and Israel,” says Rami Khouri. Khouri says the U.S. and Israel have been “forced into” ceasefires in Iran and Lebanon. This is all a sign “of the evolving balance of power across the region” and demonstrates that Iran’s Axis of Resistance “is still effective.” Khouri is a Palestinian American journalist and public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut.
- Report from Beirut: Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Met with "Cautious Optimism"
A 10-day ceasefire has begun in Lebanon. The news is being celebrated across the country, but major questions remain over what happens next. President Trump announced the deal between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday. Hezbollah, which is not a party to the agreement, says it will observe the ceasefire. The Israeli military is occupying a large swath of southern Lebanon, about 10% of the country. Early on in the current war, the Israeli military announced the intention to create a “security zone” from the Lebanese-Israeli border all the way to the Litani River, 20 miles north of the border. Many in the country are questioning whether Israel will abide by the ceasefire, says Beirut-based journalist Kareem Chehayeb. Israel continued […]
- As Iran Reopens Strait of Hormuz, Are U.S. & Iran Near Deal or Renewed Fighting?
President Trump on Thursday repeated his claim that a deal to end the war on Iran is “very close” and that direct talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan as soon as this weekend. Despite the claims, the Pentagon is surging thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, including an additional 6,000 sailors and aviators joining the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier battle group. Around 4,200 others with the Navy and Marines are expected to arrive near the end of the month. Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, says “we might be, at some point, returning to a hot war” because the Iranians, too, have “preserved a degree of retaliatory capacity.” The main question on the negotiating table is […]
- Headlines for April 17, 2026
Israel Agrees to 10-Day Ceasefire in Lebanon After U.S.-Brokered Talks, Israelis in Tel Aviv Protest Settler Violence After High Court Lifts Wartime Ban on Gatherings, House Votes 213-214 to Reject War Powers Resolution as Trump Claims Deal with Iran Is “Very Close”, Ukraine Strikes Black Sea Oil Refinery as Russian Attacks Kill 17, Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejía Wins Special Election for New Jersey House Seat, House Temporarily Extends FISA’s Mass Surveillance Powers in Late-Night Vote , House Votes to Extend Deportation Protections for 330,000 Haitian Immigrants, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Who Oversaw Mass Deportation Efforts, to Resign in May, Minnesota Prosecutor Brings Assault Charges Against ICE Agent Who Pointed […]
Anthropocene
- The world is sitting on $7 billion of wasted fertilizer
Researchers mapped the production of human and animal waste across the US and matched it against crop nutrient demand. The numbers work. The logistics don't. Can we fix that?
- This is junk science, in the best possible sense
A Cambridge team has discovered that two stubborn waste problems—spent lead-acid batteries and hard-to-recycle polymers—can be made to solve each other, with sunlight doing most of the work.
The Guardian
- Trump’s antipathy for Pope may have roots in childhood Protestant church
Manhattan church led by Norman Vincent Peale was known for opposing presidency of JFK – and Catholics in generalDonald Trump’s attacks this week on Pope Leo, for his criticism of the US attack on Iran and the US president’s decision to post an image of himself as Jesus Christ on social media, make a good deal more sense considering Trump attended services as a young man at the Protestant Marble Collegiate church in Manhattan, which was led at the time by an anti-Catholic pastor.That church’s pastor in Trump’s youth, Norman Vincent Peale, who would later officiate at Trump’s first wedding, is best-known today as the author of the Christian self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking, but when Trump was 14, Peale made national […]
- ‘Ignorance and cruelty’: former USAID official details devastation inflicted by Doge cuts
Nicholas Enrich was an eyewitness to the dismantling of the US foreign aid organization by the Trump administrationSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxNicholas Enrich was working in Kenya in 2003 when the then US president George W Bush signed a landmark $15bn, five-year commitment to combat HIV, the largest international health commitment by any nation to fight a single disease.It was the peak of the epidemic, and for the young American government aid worker “it clicked that my government was ready to join the fight against HIV and I was excited to be a part of that”, he says. Continue reading...
- War isn’t a ‘moral’ issue – at least not for the Trump administration | Dave Schilling
The US president’s grudge match with the pope underlines how religion really functions in American politicsI’m not a particularly religious person, even though everyone tells me how cool believing in God is now. Every so often, we get a new trend piece about how rad and chill Christianity has become. All the skateboarders and chads are churchmaxxing. Only atheists wear skinny jeans any more. Christopher Hitchens would totally get mogged by Pat Robertson. Personally, I don’t buy it. Influencers like Logan Paul and IShowSpeed aren’t going on Twitch to tell their viewers to tithe 10% of their earnings to the Lord. They’re encouraging them to buy cases and cases of Prime Hydration Drink and watch WrestleMania.In my research on the […]
- Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on?
Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakersSixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did.These bets and other well-timed wagers accurately predicted the precise timing of major developments in the US-Israel war with Iran, creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers and experts over potential insider […]
- ‘It’s kind of a tough situation’: US Catholics torn in feud between president and the pope
Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV polarizing the diverse community as faith and politics come to a headMaryellen Lewicki meets once a week for Bible study with a group of Catholic women in Decatur, Georgia, in a space they try to keep clear of politics. But Donald Trump’s name arises nonetheless.“We have one person that we pray for during the course of the week,” she said. “What my friend said is that she prays for the president every day, that God will remove that hard heart of his and replace it with a softer one that has love.” Continue reading...
Aeon
- The invention of the soul
Humans weren’t given souls by God or genes. We made them ourselves with language – turning sentience into something sacred- by Nicholas HumphreyRead on Aeon
The Conversation
- Hampshire College’s demise is yet another blow to creative, outside-the-box options in higher education
Hampshire College’s studen-driven, unorthodox approach to education has roots in the early 1900s and a belief that students should be active, engaged learners.
- Why the future of marijuana legalization remains hazy despite high public support
A cannabis legalization movement that for a decade rode a wave of success has stalled amid failed ballot initiatives, rising health concerns and a frayed coalition of supporters.
- Trump sidelined Congress’ authority over war on Iran – and lawmakers allowed it, extending a 75-year trend
Congress has refused to exercise oversight of the Iran war, with Republicans nixing Democrats’ attempts to exercise legislators’ power over military engagements. That’s nothing new.
- Ancient teeth reveal clues to the environment humans’ early ancestors evolved in millions of years ago
Through fossilized tooth enamel, scientists are reconstructing the diets and landscapes that existed millions of years ago. We really are what we eat.
- About half of young Americans can’t name a single Holocaust site, repeating a pattern of ignorance seen in postwar Germany
West Germany’s educational reforms in the 1960s and ‘70s show that gaps in knowledge can sometimes create opportunity for rethinking educational methods.
Inter Press Service
- Gaza Crisis Deepens as Aid Restrictions and Ongoing Strikes Strain Humanitarian Operations
Roughly six months after the ceasefire in the Occupied Palestinian Territory went into effect, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains precariously fragile, despite a ...
- The Grocery Bill Is Calm – The AgriFood System Is Not
Máximo Torero Cullen is Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Global Shocks Push Geoeconomics to the Center Stage at Foreign Policy Forum
As war in the Middle East ripples through global markets, policymakers, economists, and industry leaders gathered in Washington this week to agree that economics ...
Sludge
- Spouse of Intel Committee Member Makes Timely Quantum Stock Purchase
MAGA Rep. Greg Steube’s spouse bought stock last month in a quantum computing company whose share price boomed when it reached a technical milestone and was awarded a defense contract.
Grist
- A more troubling picture of sea level rise is coming into view
Scientists have uncovered a “blind spot” in the research on rising seas, revealing that tens of millions of people thought safe from coastal flooding are at risk of inundation.
- Deep-diving robots help crack the mystery of Antarctica’s vanishing sea ice
A decade ago, southern sea ice suddenly and dramatically declined. Scientists say the culprit was a "very violent release" of deep, pent-up heat.
- American farmers bet on solar. Then Trump changed the rules.
We tracked how the collapse of federal rural energy support is ending solar projects across farm country — and costing some developers millions they'll never get back.
Truthout
- RFK Jr. Refuses to Acknowledge He Called for “Re-Parenting” Black Kids in 2024
Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell responded to Kennedy's denial by saying, “I am absolutely not making this up.”
- Israel Killed Nearly 100 People in Lebanon in Day Leading Up to Ceasefire
The Lebanese military has also already reported violations of the ceasefire by Israel.
- Minneapolis Woman Violently Dragged From Car by ICE Files Claim Against DHS
Aliya Rahman hopes to highlight tools that could “make mass acts of racial violence seem too expensive for these folks.”
Labor Notes
- Starbucks Is Bargaining Backwards, Baristas Say
Union baristas are finally back to the negotiating table with Starbucks, but the workers charge that rather than progressing, the company is reopening already agreed-upon issues. “They're trying to move backwards on issues we've already settled instead of settling the few that we have left,” said Mina Leon, a barista in downtown Manhattan who struck for two months to get the company back to the table.
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