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Democracy Now!
- Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" Faces Boycott Calls over Filming in Occupied Western Sahara
Hollywood’s blockbuster adaptation of the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey premieres around the world today amid growing calls for a boycott. Human rights campaigners are criticizing director Christopher Nolan over his decision to film part of the film in Western Sahara, a vast territory in northwestern Africa that Morocco has occupied for the past half-century. “This occupying force is practicing cultural genocide against the Sahrawi people, ethnic cleansing,” says María Carrión, the executive director of the Western Sahara International Film Festival. “By staying silent for one year and then using this footage, Nolan has basically become an accomplice to Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.” Abidin Mohamed Hamudi, a Sahrawi […]
- "Disrupt, Identify, Defund, Debank, Arrest & Prosecute": Trump Admin Threatens Leftist Groups
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top White House adviser Stephen Miller are pushing for a global crackdown on leftist organizations. The State Department on Thursday hosted a summit “on the resurgence of political terrorism,” where Miller described the left as “enemies of civilization” and described efforts to “disrupt, identify, defund, debank, arrest and prosecute these political terrorists that are operating in our country.” Rubio announced the U.S. would soon designate more left-wing groups as terrorist organizations. Also on Thursday, the State Department announced new visa restrictions targeting what it calls “members of Far-Left Terrorist and other aligned groups.” “They’re putting political groups in the […]
- Report from Houston: Family of ICE Shooting Victim Lorenzo Salgado Araujo Holds Public Viewing
Hundreds of community members gathered in Houston on Thursday evening for a public viewing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the 52-year-old Mexican man shot and killed by an ICE agent on July 7. His sons stood by their father’s casket for hours greeting mourners who wore blue, Salgado Araujo’s favorite color. A mariachi band played, and several altars adorned the chapel: One table held Salgado Araujo’s construction tools and hard hats, while another displayed two of his Mexico soccer jerseys. Photos and videos of some of the family’s most joyful moments were projected in the background. Democracy Now!’s María Inés Taracena spoke to some of the attendees outside of the funeral home. “Looking back at history, it brought back memories […]
- Trump's Election Integrity Speech Lays Groundwork for Midterm Interference: Ari Berman
In a primetime address on Thursday, President Trump accused China of meddling in U.S. elections in his latest effort to spread doubt about the U.S. voting system ahead of the midterm elections in November. Trump announced he was declassifying documents that show what he called “shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure,” but offered no evidence that China or any other country directly interfered with recent elections. “If Trump was trying to build … a smoking gun case that the 2020 election was stolen, he failed miserably,” says Ari Berman, the national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones. “I am still very concerned that this speech is intended to lay the groundwork for the administration to interfere in […]
- Denise Oliver-Vélez, Pioneering Young Lord & Black Panther, Dies at 78
Lifelong activist, organizer and educator Denise Oliver-Vélez has died at the age of 78. She was a central figure in the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s and was the first woman elected to the Young Lords Central Committee, a radical Puerto Rican human rights group modeled on the Black Panther Party, which Oliver-Vélez was also a member of. She later became the first Black female program director in public radio and taught at SUNY New Paltz. As a founding member of the Young Lords, Democracy Now!'s Juan González worked alongside Oliver-Vélez. “She helped develop many of [the Young Lords'] Serve the People programs and helped to shape and write some of the key literature we produced back then,” says González, adding […]
Anthropocene
- A new entrant in the plant-protein race: The marigold
With as much protein as quinoa, marigolds are a surprising untapped nutritional resource, research finds. What’s more their emulsifying and foaming properties make them a boon for the food industry.
- Scientists turned coffee grounds into biochar fuel in 90 seconds
A plasma pyrolysis breakthrough turns soggy spent grounds into coal-grade biochar without pre-drying—opening the door to distributed waste-to-energy systems
The Guardian
- Cuba edges toward breakdown as power cuts and US meddling push society to brink
As Cuba swelters under six-month oil blockade imposed by US, tempers are fraying and unrest is growingWhen Cuba’s national grid collapses, as it did for the third time in 10 days on Tuesday, a collective groan spreads across its cities and people wonder, again, whether the island’s antiquated electricity system may soon become unrecoverable.The 777-mile Caribbean island of 9.5 million people has been sweltering under a six-month-long oil blockade imposed by the US, part of a pressure campaign to bring down its communist government. But the parlous state of Cuba’s infrastructure goes far further back. Continue reading...
- ‘It becomes inevitable’: the toxic mix fuelling deadly political violence around world
After killing of a British former MP, experts say dehumanising rhetoric, declining institutional trust and disinformation fuelling a global problemOn 9 July, the body of Ann Widdecombe, an uncompromising, staunchly conservative former UK government minister turned TV personality and spokesperson for the radical-right Reform UK party, was found at her home in south-west England.Two days later, a man was arrested in South Yorkshire. Believed to be previously unknown to the local police force and thought to have acted alone, he is suspected of driving 270 miles (435km) to the 78-year-old politician’s home and causing her catastrophic blunt-force injuries. Police have been examining whether a leftwing or single-issue cause may lie behind her […]
- Wife of US heir and activist donor on fighting his extradition to US: ‘It’s incredible that this can happen’
Stella Schnabel says Trump administration is falsely accusing James ‘Fergie’ Chambers of contributing to HamasAlthough her husband, James “Fergie” Chambers, had been locked up in Spain for nearly a week, Stella Schnabel didn’t break down and cry until Thursday, when she finally got to speak to him for several minutes – enough time, she said, “for us to say we love each other and for him to say: ‘Tell the kids I love them.’”Spanish authorities, operating on a US extradition request, arrested the 41-year-old Chambers, a US citizen and wealthy donor to leftwing and humanitarian projects worldwide, last Friday in Ibiza. He has been transferred to a prison in Madrid. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice is […]
- White House backs Argentina players over Falklands banner in World Cup semi-final
White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speechThe White House has backed Argentina’s footballers who displayed a banner supporting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England.After Argentina’s 2-1 win in a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner that said: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – using the country’s term for the South Atlantic islands. Continue reading...
- A year into a national guard deployment, DC residents say they live in ‘a city under siege’
Since Trump deployed troops last August, Washingtonians have banded together to resist and support one anotherEvery night as dusk settles in Lincoln Park, the sound of spoons and ladles banging metal pots and pans fills the air for five minutes straight, followed by the chant “We’ll be back.”This nightly ritual is known as a cacerolazo, a form of resistance that dates back to the 1830s, from France to Latin America. Residents all over Washington DC have been participating in it almost every night for nearly a year, starting when Donald Trump deployed thousands of national guard troops to the city. Continue reading...
The Conversation
- Republicans control Congress, so why is Trump’s SAVE America Act stuck?
Republicans hold both chambers and publicly back the president’s signature bill that would curtail mail-in voting and enforce strict voter ID laws. Here, a public policy and politics scholar explains why it still isn’t law.
- Why you let down your guard on ads when scrolling on social media
When you’re tired and distracted, an online ad’s claims can be more effective in pitching a product when they’re assertive and explicit.
- Pittsburgh wants to tax skill games – but the real question is whether to limit them
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court says skill games are gambling. As lawmakers rush to tax them, a CMU scholar says the debate skips a more fundamental question.
- The Trump administration’s global campaign against ‘radical left terrorism’ is built on a national security memo without congressional approval
Almost a year after President Trump authorized preemptive law enforcement measures based on political or ideological beliefs, a wave of terrorism prosecutions against left-wing protesters has begun.
- Autistic children drown at alarming rates - swim lessons and water safety strategies can save their lives
Water activities provide a refreshing escape from the heat, but without proper safety precautions, they can be a source of danger for autistic kids.
Inter Press Service
- The Oil Market Absorbed the War Shock, but Buffers Are Running Low
The largest disruption to the global oil market in decades should have sent prices soaring. But after spiking at the start of the war in the Middle East, crude prices soon settled in a range of $90 to $100 per barrel, much lower than many had feared. Why didn’t prices climb higher? The answer is
- SERBIA: ‘We Are Becoming an Electoral Autocracy, a System Where the Government Cannot Lose’
CIVICUS discusses the prospects for elections in Serbia with Rasa Nedeljkov, Programme Director at the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, a civil society organisation that monitors electoral processes and the rule of law in Serbia. Following mass protests demanding restoration of the rule of law, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on 27 June
- As Gold Prices Soar, Communities Pay the Price in Poisoned Rivers, Vanishing Forests and Organized Crime
The sweltering heat inside a London conference hall did not deter Indigenous leader Jackeline Mendoza Díaz from condemning the sheer destruction of the Peruvian Amazon. Her voice occasionally trembled with emotion but delivered a strong message — painting a picture far removed from the glittering gold bars traded in the world’s financial capitals. Behind the
Sludge
- AI Companies Are Funding the AGs Investigating Them
OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others sent a wave of donations to both parties’ attorney general groups as AGs move to regulate the AI industry. Elon Musk's xAI contributed as well.
Grist
- New York governor orders first statewide data center moratorium
Data centers have drawn vocal opposition at local public meetings and in state capitols across the U.S.
- Thousands flee as First Nations bear the brunt of Canada’s wildfires
Residents of one First Nations community went door-to-door warning neighbors before fleeing by boat. More than 900 fires continue burning across Canada.
- Wildfire smoke threatens the World Cup final. FIFA still doesn’t have a plan.
There’s no way to close off the open-air stadium where stars Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal are slated to square off.
Truthout
- Many Call Authoritarianism “Un-American.” 250 Years of History Show Otherwise.
A group of Indigenous scholars are countering erasures in US history in Rebecca Nagle’s new “First America” podcast.
- South Korea’s Far Right Is on the Rise — With the MAGA Movement’s Backing
The retail tycoon who owns Starbucks Korea, a longtime friend of Donald Trump, is stoking the country’s far right.
- Republicans Want to Punish Canada for “Exporting” Its Wildfire Smoke Into the US
The Republicans make no mention of experts’ warnings that the climate crisis is supercharging the wildfires.
Labor Notes
- Viewpoint: What Amazon Workers Can Learn from the Successes (and Failures) of the Fight for 15
If the labor movement is to maintain and raise standards, then we must organize Amazon—one of the largest employers and most powerful corporations in the U.S. today.
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