Today's Liberal News

Mohsen Mahdawi, Palestinian Columbia Student Targeted by Trump, Hails Court Ruling Blocking Deportation

An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University graduate and green card holder who was detained last April at what he thought was a citizenship interview. Mahdawi grew up in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and was an outspoken critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza while attending Columbia. He spent two weeks in ICE custody before a federal judge ordered his release.

“Colonial Apartheid Regime”: Jeremy Scahill on Trump’s “Board of Peace” & Plans For Gaza

Journalist Jeremy Scahill says the Trump administration’s vision for the Gaza Strip is of a continued “colonial apartheid regime” with Israel and U.S. interests controlling the lives of millions of Palestinians in perpetuity. “Palestinians are being told that they must completely surrender,” says Scahill. President Trump chaired the first meeting of his so-called Board of Peace this week, a body established for Gaza but whose remit has already expanded.

Jeremy Scahill: Despite Ongoing Talks, Trump Admin Is “Obsessed” with Destroying Iran

Despite chairing the first meeting of his newly formed Board of Peace on Thursday, President Donald Trump continues to threaten war against Iran as the Pentagon positions a massive fighting force in the Middle East. Trump said he would give Tehran about two weeks to reach a deal on its nuclear program, but media reports indicate that he could launch an attack within days. Iran maintains its nuclear enrichment program is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Carole Cadwalladr on Epstein Fallout: As U.K. Arrests Ex-Prince, Where is the Accountability in U.S.?

British police released former Prince Andrew on Thursday after 11 hours in custody, with his shocking arrest earlier in the day making him the first senior British royal to be arrested in nearly 400 years. Police are probing his connections to the deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and whether he shared classified government information with him while serving as a U.K. trade representative from 2001 to 2011.

The Buzz in Kristi Noem’s Home State

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans and calls for her firing from Democrats since the January 24 shooting of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Now Noem’s tenuous standing with the Trump White House is creating concern in her home state of South Dakota that she might leave the Cabinet to challenge Senator Mike Rounds in the state’s June Republican primary.

The DOJ Isn’t Built for This

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
For several hours last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi sat before the House Judiciary Committee with one apparent mission: Don’t back down.

Let’s Talk About RFK Jr.’s Workout Pants

A post on X claimed to be a simple message from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Stay active; eat well. But the 90-second video it shared, called “Secretary Kennedy and Kid Rock’s Rock Out Work Out,” seems designed to be bewildering. Here was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Does Writing Have to Be Hard?

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
ChatGPT and food-delivery droids came to my campus at roughly the same time, in the 2022–23 academic year. My response—cranky, tweedy—was hopelessly on brand for a history professor. The chatbot and the droid appeared to be in league, robotic species on the vanguard of civilizational collapse.

Today’s Atlantic Trivia: A Country-Capital Clue

Updated with new questions at 2:50 p.m. ET on February 19, 2026.
If you put any stock in the ability of IQ tests to assess intelligence, we humans have spent the past century steadily getting smarter. (And if you don’t put any stock in them, well, we humans have steadily gotten better at IQ tests.)
Because IQ is a standardized measure, humankind’s average score still sits at 100—but this isn’t your granddaddy’s 100.

Former Prince Andrew Arrested in U.K. as Global Fallout from Epstein Files Grows

U.K. police have arrested the former Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was previously sued in 2021 by Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of multiple instances of sexual assault when she was underage. The lawsuit was settled out of court shortly after it was filed, but Mountbatten-Windsor was allowed to keep his royal title and privileges at the time.

Courts Have Ruled 4,400+ Times That ICE Jailed People Illegally; Despite Rebukes, ICE Keeps Doing It

Following violent and indiscriminate sweeps of immigrant communities across the United States, the number of people in ICE detention has increased 75% since President Trump returned to the Oval Office. Yet, as the number of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign skyrockets, the federal government has continued to jail people indefinitely. Although judges across the U.S.

Social Media Addiction: Facebook Whistleblower Says Big Tech Has Known & Ignored Problem for Years

We continue our conversation with attorney Laura Marquez-Garrett and victim advocates Lori Schott and Lennon Torres about their fight to hold tech giants accountable for the damaging and even deadly effects of social media addiction on children and young adults. We’re also joined by Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who blew the whistle on several of the company’s harmful and manipulative practices in 2021.