Contributing Writers

ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago is entering its second week of ramped-up immigration enforcement. Community members are mourning the loss of Silverio Villegas Gonzales, a 38-year-old single father and Mexican immigrant who was shot and killed by ICE agents while trying to avoid arrest at a traffic stop. Villegas Gonzales was unarmed and had no criminal record. His family has organized a fundraiser to help cover the costs of his funeral and burial.

Following massive, youth-led anti-corruption demonstrations in Nepal, the country’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki looks set to become interim prime minister. This week, protesters set fire to the Parliament and other government buildings, and at least 21 people were killed in a police crackdown. The protests continued even after the government lifted its ban on social media platforms and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned.

The University of California, Berkeley has provided Trump officials with the names of at least 160 students, faculty and staff in cases of alleged antisemitism on campus, in response to the administration’s sweeping crackdown on Palestinian solidarity activism. The administration has already threatened to cut off federal funding from academic institutions and has targeted international students involved in the pro-Palestine movement.

Journalist Chris Hedges warns that President Trump and his allies are “weaponizing” the shocking assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk to crush dissent.
“We’ve reached a very frightening turning point,” says Hedges. “We’ve already seen an assault on civil liberties, on institutions, universities, the media, that are tasked with maintaining an open society. That will now be accelerated.

As Israel continues its campaign to erase Gaza City by systematically bombing residential buildings, schools, homes and tent encampments, we speak with Dr. Mohammed Saqr, the director of nursing at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza. He says medical workers, who are starving like the rest of the population, have nothing left to give amid hundreds of deaths and injuries each day.

Following massive, youth-led anti-corruption demonstrations in Nepal, the country’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki looks set to become interim prime minister. This week, protesters set fire to the Parliament and other government buildings, and at least 21 people were killed in a police crackdown. The protests continued even after the government lifted its ban on social media platforms and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a military coup and seeking to “annihilate” democracy in Brazil following his election defeat in 2022. The sentencing marks the first time a former Brazilian head of state is brought to trial and convicted for attempting to overthrow the government.

Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, about Israel’s recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. “They are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen,” says Hasan.
Hasan also comments on the deadly U.S. attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. “There’s no scenario in which you can say it was an imminent threat to the U.S.,” he says.

President Trump announced on Friday that a suspect was in custody for the killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. Although the motive has not yet been established, Trump has escalated his attacks on the political left, saying, “We just have to beat the hell out of them.” Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, who says that the right is using Kirk’s killing to smear the left.
“There’s a real rewriting of history going on.

Following massive, youth-led anti-corruption demonstrations in Nepal, the country’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki looks set to become interim prime minister. This week, protesters set fire to the Parliament and other government buildings, and at least 21 people were killed in a police crackdown. The protests continued even after the government lifted its ban on social media platforms and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a military coup and seeking to “annihilate” democracy in Brazil following his election defeat in 2022. The sentencing marks the first time a former Brazilian head of state is brought to trial and convicted for attempting to overthrow the government.

Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, about Israel’s recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. “They are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen,” says Hasan.
Hasan also comments on the deadly U.S. attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. “There’s no scenario in which you can say it was an imminent threat to the U.S.,” he says.

President Trump announced on Friday that a suspect was in custody for the killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. Although the motive has not yet been established, Trump has escalated his attacks on the political left, saying, “We just have to beat the hell out of them.” Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, who says that the right is using Kirk’s killing to smear the left.
“There’s a real rewriting of history going on.

Following massive, youth-led anti-corruption demonstrations in Nepal, the country’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki looks set to become interim prime minister. This week, protesters set fire to the Parliament and other government buildings, and at least 21 people were killed in a police crackdown. The protests continued even after the government lifted its ban on social media platforms and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a military coup and seeking to “annihilate” democracy in Brazil following his election defeat in 2022. The sentencing marks the first time a former Brazilian head of state is brought to trial and convicted for attempting to overthrow the government.

Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, about Israel’s recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. “They are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen,” says Hasan.
Hasan also comments on the deadly U.S. attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. “There’s no scenario in which you can say it was an imminent threat to the U.S.,” he says.

President Trump announced on Friday that a suspect was in custody for the killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. Although the motive has not yet been established, Trump has escalated his attacks on the political left, saying, “We just have to beat the hell out of them.” Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, who says that the right is using Kirk’s killing to smear the left.
“There’s a real rewriting of history going on.

As the Trump administration grows increasingly hostile to renewable energy, we speak with acclaimed environmentalist Bill McKibben about his new book, Here Comes the Sun, in which he lays out a hopeful vision for the future that includes avoiding climate catastrophe, reshaping the economy and saving democracy. He says the key to unlock that future is fully embracing renewable energy over the fierce opposition of the fossil fuel industry and its political enablers.

We speak to two activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla as it prepares to set sail for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade. In recent days, two drone attacks on the flotilla ships, which are docked in Tunisia, have been reported. “We know who has interest in stopping these flotillas,” says Mariana Mortágua, a Portuguese parliamentarian who has joined the Global Sumud Flotilla and suspects the strikes were the work of the Israeli military.

Is President Trump working to build his own personal army? Investigative reporter Radley Balko responds to Trump’s new executive order for a “standing National Guard quick reaction force” that the president can deploy at will.

The conservative activist Charlie Kirk, founder of right-wing student organization Turning Point USA, was assassinated Wednesday as he spoke before a crowd at Utah Valley University as part of a fall campus tour. Kirk was 31 years old and founded Turning Point when he was just 18. A major cheerleader for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, he was killed by a single shot fired from a roof as he was responding to a question from an audience member about mass shootings.

Just days after President Trump threatened to wage war on the city of Chicago, ICE launched what it called “Operation Midway Blitz,” and President Trump claimed the city was “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR” — a reference to his order to rename the Department of Defense. On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to resume indiscriminate immigration raids in Los Angeles.

As the Trump administration grows increasingly hostile to renewable energy, we speak with acclaimed environmentalist Bill McKibben about his new book, Here Comes the Sun, in which he lays out a hopeful vision for the future that includes avoiding climate catastrophe, reshaping the economy and saving democracy. He says the key to unlock that future is fully embracing renewable energy over the fierce opposition of the fossil fuel industry and its political enablers.