Today's Liberal News

Gaza Takeover: Mouin Rabbani on Israel’s “Indefinite, Genocidal Military Campaign”

Israel’s security cabinet has announced the approval of a plan to occupy Gaza City, moving its ongoing military offensive north and displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians to camps in central Gaza. Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani emphasizes that the new strategy is simply “the first phase of a larger plan” for the permanent displacement, occupation and annexation of the entire Gaza Strip, as confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent interview with Fox News.

The New ChatGPT Resets the AI Race

Yesterday evening, Sam Altman shared an image of the Death Star on X. There was no caption on the picture, which showed the world-destroying Star Wars space station rising over an Earth-like planet, but his audience understood the context. In fewer than 24 hours, OpenAI would release an AI model intended to wipe out all the rest.
That model, GPT-5, launched earlier today with all the requisite fanfare. In an announcement video, Altman said that the product will serve as a “legitimate Ph.D.

A Political Game Could Redefine Voting in America

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Activists and organizers like to say that the world is run by those who show up, so the fact that what Texas’s Democratic legislators need to do to further their agenda is not show up is inauspicious for them.

Things Aren’t Going Donald Trump’s Way

Donald Trump has almost certainly complained more about journalists than any of his predecessors have, maybe more than all of them combined. So when Trump deemed a query “the nastiest question” he’s ever gotten from a member of the press, it was notable.
The moment came in May, when CNBC’s Megan Cassella asked Trump about “TACO,” an acronym for “Trump always chickens out.

Trump Just Did What Not Even Nixon Dared

“Is it Goldstein again?” Richard Nixon demanded.
In July of 1971, the president was infuriated that an unnamed official at the Bureau of Labor Statistics had seemed to downplay the administration’s progress on reducing unemployment while briefing reporters. His suspicions fell on Harold Goldstein, the longtime civil servant and BLS official in charge of the jobs numbers, who had attracted his ire for other comments earlier in the year.

Resist the Snark and Be Happy

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“A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness,” wrote Robert Heinlein in his 1982 futuristic novel, Friday. “A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.

The Global Plastic Threat: Research Finds Plastics Can Lead to Disease, Disability & Premature Death

Negotiations are underway in Geneva on a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty that has been in the works for several years, as the crisis of pollution from plastics worldwide has grown more acute. An estimated 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste now pollute the planet. Without changes, the production of plastic is expected to triple by 2060 — much of it driven by single-use plastics.

“Tightening the Chokehold”: Amjad Iraqi on Israel’s Plans to “Empty Out” Gaza and Annex West Bank

Israel’s security cabinet is considering plans to expand Israel’s assault on Gaza toward a full military takeover, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pushing for a monthslong offensive on Gaza City and central Gaza refugee camps. The cabinet meeting comes as Israel’s forced starvation of Gaza claimed at least four new victims over the past 24 hours, according to health officials.

From India to Brazil, Trump Intensifies Trade War Against BRICS Nations as New Tariffs Take Effect

Huge tariffs on more than 90 countries took effect shortly after midnight on Thursday. President Trump slapped one of the highest tariff rates of 50% on India — set to go into effect on August 27 — unless India stops buying Russian oil. Democracy Now! speaks with Jayati Ghosh, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, on the hypocrisy of the tariffs.

“War in Perpetuity”: M. Gessen Warns Putin Won’t Make Peace with Ukraine Because It Risks His Own Survival

White House officials have confirmed that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet as early as next week to discuss the war in Ukraine. It would be the first U.S.-Russia summit in more than four years. Trump reportedly plans to follow up that meeting with another three-way meeting between himself, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. We speak with The New York Times opinion columnist M.