Democracy Now!

HOUSTON! In honor of @stealthisstoryplease opening in @kpfthoustontx , celebrate #independentmedia with this look back at an important part of radio history! Get tickets to see #StealThisStoryPlease at @theriveroakstheatre in #HoustonTX! #AmyGoodman and director #CarlDeal in person Saturday, May 16.

The Israeli government is threatening to file a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing a column by longtime opinion writer Nicholas Kristof about systemic sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

Foreign ministers from the BRICS group of nations have gathered in India’s capital New Delhi, with the issues of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz high on the agenda. On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the summit, appealing to BRICS countries to help resist U.S. and Israeli attacks. "To virtually everyone in this room, our resistance against U.S. bullying is not an unfamiliar battle. So many of us encounter slight variations of the same repugnant coercion," Araghchi said. "It is high time for us to jointly step up and work towards making clear that those practices belong in the dustbin of history."

[Scroll down for English] En la ciudad de Washington D.C., el juez federal de distrito Richard Leon ha ordenado al Gobierno de Trump traer de regreso a Estados Unidos a una mujer colombiana que el Servicio de Inmigración deportó en abril a la República Democrática del Congo, un país con el que no tiene vínculos. Leon dictaminó que es probable que Adriana María Quiroz Zapata haya sido enviada ilegalmente a la República Democrática del Congo, ya que las autoridades congoleñas se negaron a aceptarla por motivos médicos. Pese a dicha negativa, el Gobierno de Trump decidió enviarla al país africano. En febrero, un juez federal dictaminó que las llamadas "deportaciones a terceros países" constituyen violaciones ilegales del debido proceso, pero en marzo, un tribunal de apelaciones suspendió el fallo, mientras el Gobierno de Trump continúa con las batallas legales al respecto. // A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Trump administration to return a Colombian woman to the United States after ICE deported her to the Democratic Republic of Congo in April — a country to which she has no ties. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled that Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata had likely been sent to the DRC unlawfully, since Congolese officials refused to accept her on medical grounds. She was sent to the DRC anyway. In February, a federal judge ruled that so-called third-country deportations are unlawful violations of due process, but in March, an appeals court put the ruling on hold while the Trump administration continues legal challenges.

A Russian missile attack on a Kyiv apartment building has killed at least 24 people. It was one of the deadliest Russian attacks on Kyiv since the war began. The dead included three children. Another 47 people were injured. This comes just days after a brief three-day ceasefire between the two sides timed to coincide with the 81st anniversary of Victory Day, which celebrates the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, a massive fire broke out at one of Russia’s largest oil refineries following a Ukrainian drone attack. A separate drone strike targeted a Russian gas plant.

The head of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday and dismissed reports of civilian deaths from U.S. attacks on Iran. Asked by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about estimates that the U.S. military bombed at least 22 schools in Iran, Cooper said "there is no indication" of that happening and "no way to corroborate that." Cooper did acknowledge "one active civilian casualty investigation" related to the bombing of an elementary school on the first day of the war, which killed 175 people, but declined to accept U.S. responsibility for it.

Palestinians around the world are marking Nakba Day, 78 years after their forced mass displacement led to the establishment of the Jewish-majority state of Israel. Decades later, Palestinians still face widespread oppression and violence from the Israeli state as it continues its expansionary project. “Israel tried, since 1948 until today, to destroy us as a people, as a group, and they failed at it. Our people are still there, resilient,” says Palestinian writer Muhammad Shehada, who was born in Gaza and now lives in Denmark. See our full interview with Muhammad Shehada at the link in @democracynow 's bio.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana on Thursday to meet with Cuban officials as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the island. Ratcliffe’s trip came a day after Cuba announced it had run out of diesel and fuel oil due to the U.S. blockade and sanctions. For decades, the CIA has carried out covert operations inside Cuba, from orchestrating the Bay of Pigs invasion to repeatedly attempting to assassinate the late leader Fidel Castro. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reportedly taking steps to indict Castro’s 94-year-old brother Raúl, who served as Cuban president from 2008 to 2018. In related news, more than 30 House Democrats have signed a letter urging the Trump administration not to take military action on Cuba and to lift the blockade.

[Scroll down for English] David Venturella se desempeñó como vicepresidente senior de Geo Group, una compañía penitenciaria privada con fines de lucro que ha recibido cientos de millones de dólares en contratos gubernamentales para gestionar cárceles del Servicio de Inmigración y vigilar a inmigrantes por medio de tobilleras con sistema GPS. // David Venturella is the former senior vice president of private for-profit prison company GEO Group, which has received hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts to run ICE jails and track immigrants through GPS ankle monitors.

Soldiers. Riot police. Smooth-talking politicians. Nothing has stopped Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! from reporting the truth. “Steal This Story, Please!” is a gripping portrait of a journalist who spent three decades covering the stories others wouldn’t touch. And it’s exactly the film this moment demands, when news organizations are buckling under pressure or quietly writing checks to the president who is suing them. Watch it. Share it. We need 100 more Amy Goodmans for the next generation.

Artist and author @mollycrabapple discusses the largely forgotten history of the Jewish Labor Bund, the secular socialist revolutionary party that fought for Jews’ rights to live in freedom and dignity in Europe. As she details in her book, "Here where we live is our country," the Bund fought against both antisemitism and Zionism in the early 20th century, a legacy she says is more important than ever. Tap the link in @democracynow 's bio for more of our coverage.