California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act into law this week, banning all law enforcement — including federal immigration agents — from covering their faces while conducting raids in the state.
“What this law is trying to do is to take us back from the era of routine masking based on completely foundationless officer claims of fear,” says Eva Bitran, the director of immigrants’ rights at the ACLU of Southern California.

Egypt’s best-known political prisoner, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, was granted a presidential pardon on Monday and has reunited with his family after spending most of the last 12 years in prison. The writer and political dissident was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled the Mubarak dictatorship, and he has been repeatedly targeted by the current authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal took a historic step Sunday in formally recognizing the state of Palestine, but Palestinian physician and politician Mustafa Barghouti says “it’s not enough.” From Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Barghouti says sanctions against Israel are needed to bring an end to its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and other abuses across Palestinian territory.

Following the U.K., Australia, Canada and Portugal’s formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, Democracy Now! speaks with Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen in Tel Aviv. “This is a belated but blessed step forward,” says Zeigen. “We need to level the field in order for us, Israelis and Palestinians, to be able to shape the only viable future for us, which is a shared future.

As we broadcast today, Egyptian authorities announced a presidential pardon for Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a free speech and democracy activist imprisoned for six years on dubious charges of “spreading false news.” The blogger was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled the Mubarak dictatorship, and was repeatedly targeted by the current authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal and Canada have formally recognized Palestinian statehood, joining about 150 countries, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week, as France and five other states are also expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state on Monday. “This is an opportunity to renew our political solidarity,” says Jeremy Corbyn, member of the British Parliament and former leader of the U.K. Labour Party.