Today's Liberal News

Iran’s War Is Not Only With the West

When Israel assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, one of the many people who celebrated the death of the supreme leader was a Syrian surgeon not far from Damascus. He had lived through four years of siege and bombardment by pro-Iranian militias.

“Mr Nobody Against Putin” Wins Oscar; Meet the Russian Teacher in Film Who Confronts State Propaganda

Mr Nobody Against Putin won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature on Sunday. Democracy Now! recently spoke with co-director David Borenstein and the subject of the film, the Russian teacher Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, who personally documented Russia’s use of wartime propaganda. “I need for as many people as possible to see what is happening inside of Russian schools,” says Talankin. “Putin is forcing propaganda into their schools, and [the children are] absorbing all of this.

Report from Jerusalem: As Israel Keeps Bombing Iran, Palestinians Face Growing Violence in West Bank

Democracy Now! speaks with Iranian Israeli political activist Orly Noy about her recent piece, “Longing for My Tehran.” “It’s been a very emotional time since the beginning of the war, not just because we are constantly running in and out of shelters,” says Noy, “but because this time, the footage of the bombing that I grew accustomed to seeing for over two years from the genocide in Gaza was now coming from my homeland.

“A Sense of Despair”: Many Iranians Fear a Prolonged War — and What Comes After

As the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran extends into a third week, President Trump is demanding other countries send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut, as oil prices keep rising. This comes as the U.S. and Israel continue to launch major strikes on Iran, while Iran has retaliated by repeatedly striking Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs: U.S.-Israeli “War of Choice,” Assault on U.N. Charter Could Lead to WWIII

The global economy has been rocked by the war in the Middle East, with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatening energy flows and sending the price of oil soaring to its highest level in years. The United Nations Security Council responded to the unprovoked U.S.-Israeli war by passing a resolution this week condemning Iran — specifically for its attacks on U.S.

Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy: Israel Will Not Stop Wars & Occupation Until U.S. Pulls Support

Inside Israel, “there is no room for any question marks or doubts about this war,” says journalist Gideon Levy, a columnist for Haaretz and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. He says war fever has taken over the country, with polls showing 93% support for the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Lebanon and beyond — at least among the Jewish public. “Israel is doing as much as it can,” he says. “As long as the American support is so massive, so blind and so automatic, this will go on.

Report from Beirut: Israel Expands Bombing Campaign & Mass Displacement in Lebanon

We speak with journalist Lylla Younes in Lebanon, where she says Israel’s “massacres are multiplying” amid the broader U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli strikes have killed nearly 700 people in Lebanon over the past two weeks, while attacks have expanded to include areas of central Beirut, which Israel claims are aimed at the powerful Hezbollah militia. This comes as Israel has vowed to expand its incursion into southern Lebanon.

Amnesty Head Agnès Callamard on Iran War, Global Fight for Gender Justice & Killing of Yanar Mohammed

Democracy Now! recently sat down with Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International and a former United Nations special rapporteur, while she was in New York City to mark International Women’s Day and attend the U.N.’s annual conference on women’s rights. Callamard responded to the assassination of Iraqi feminist Yanar Mohammed, U.S. sanctions against U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the rise of Christian nationalism under the Trump administration.

What Are the Oscars for, if Not This?

The narrative of this year’s Oscars was: how to pick? Between Sinners and One Battle After Another, voters put two majorly successful, critically beloved, star-driven studio releases at the top of the nominations pile. While One Battle After Another had seemed like the odds-on Best Picture favorite for months, Sinners was collecting enough trophies, and getting so much love at precursor ceremonies, that it felt impossible to fully count out.

A Hilarious—And Poignant—Oscars Moment

It was one of the funniest lines of the night: “This is freaking insane, and I have one before you, which is also crazy.” Toward the end of her acceptance speech, Cassandra Kulukundis, onstage as the winner of the Oscars’ first casting award ever for her work on Once Battle After Another, shouted out the movie’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson.

The Clever Insight of the SNL ‘MAHAspital’ Sketch

Any fan of medical dramas would know the scene well. An elderly woman is being wheeled hurriedly into the emergency room; she collapsed, we’re told, at her birthday party. She has delayed breathing, her blood pressure is through the roof, and the doctors and nurses are catching one another up, trying to figure out the right course of action.
And then the head doctor, someone usually strong of chin, steps in. As expected, he instantly assesses the situation and knows exactly what to do.