Today's Liberal News

Contributing Writers

Brazil: Murders of Dom Phillips & Bruno Pereira Tied to Bolsonaro Dismantling Indigenous Protections

We look at the recent murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous researcher Bruno Pereira in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and what it says about Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who once vowed, “There won’t be one more inch of Indigenous reserve.” Phillips and Pereira went missing in June, and their remains were found dismembered about two weeks later.

“Brazil on Fire”: Lula Launches Campaign to Unseat Bolsonaro & End His Authoritarian Rule

This week former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva formally launched his campaign to challenge Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro this October. Fear is growing Bolsonaro might try to stay in office even if he loses, possibly with help from the Brazilian military. Lula, a union leader who held office from 2003 through 2010, is running on a platform to lift up Brazil’s poor, preserve the Amazon rainforest and protect Brazil’s Indigenous communities.

John Nichols: “Standing Up to Donald Trump in the Republican Party … Leads to Your Defeat”

We look at the outcome of Tuesday’s primaries for opponents of former President Trump. In Wyoming, Liz Cheney, Trump’s chief House Republican foe, lost her primary to a Trump-backed challenger. In Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski, another Republican Trump critic, will move forward to the general election alongside a Trump challenger who also advanced under the state’s ranked-choice voting system.

Inflation Reduction Act “Biggest Step Forward” on Climate, Says Biden Amid Calls for Renewable Energy

President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law Tuesday, a sweeping $739 billion bill to address the climate crisis, reduce drug costs and establish a 15% minimum tax for large corporations. Biden has praised the IRA as one of the most significant measures in the history of the United States, though many climate groups and Indigenous land and water defenders have criticized the package for including major handouts to the fossil fuel industry and other corporate entities.

Medea Benjamin on U.S. Cuban Sanctions & Biden’s Embrace of Saudi Arabia Despite Horrid Rights Record

We speak with CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin on the aftermath of the largest oil fire in Cuba’s history, the sentencing of Saudi women rights activist Salma al-Shehab and the ballooning of the Pentagon budget. Benjamin is calling on the Biden administration to remove Cuba off a state sponsor of terrorism list — which she says is holding up the transfer of humanitarian funds to the country’s people.

“Will We Become Our Enemy?”: After Salman Rushdie Assassination Attempt, See Rare Free Speech Address

Renowned Indian British novelist Salman Rushdie is in critical condition and faces a long road to recovery after he survived an assassination attempt Friday morning in western New York. Rushdie is one of the most highly acclaimed writers in the world today and has lived underground for many years after facing systematic threats of assassination for his writing.

Free Mutulu Shakur: Calls Grow for Compassionate Release for Dying Black Liberation Activist

Dozens of civil rights groups have joined an urgent push for the compassionate release of longtime political prisoner Mutulu Shakur from prison. The 72-year-old Black liberation activist is said by prison doctors to have less than six months to live, after being diagnosed with stage 3 bone marrow cancer. Shakur was part of the Black nationalist group Republic of New Afrika that worked with the Black Panther Party and others, and is the stepfather of the late rapper icon Tupac Shakur.

Mike Pompeo & CIA Sued for Spying on Americans Who Visited Julian Assange in Ecuadorian Embassy in U.K.

Lawyers and journalists sued the CIA and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo Monday for spying on them while they met Julian Assange when he was living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had political asylum. The lawsuit is being filed as Britain prepares to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act by publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Filipino Activist Walden Bello Speaks Out After Arrest Just Weeks After Marcos Jr. Inauguration

We speak to Walden Bello, the longtime Filipino activist and former vice-presidential candidate. He was arrested Monday on “cyber libel” charges, which he says was just a tactic by the new administration to suppress his vocal criticism of them. The arrest took place just weeks after the inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the former U.S.-backed dictator. Bello says people are “worried that this is a foretaste of things to come.