Today's Liberal News

Goodbye, FEMA. Hello, Disaster Consultants.

Derrick Hiebert had planned to stick it out at FEMA. He was an assistant administrator working on hazard mitigation—he specialized in getting communities prepared for disasters—and like many emergency-management experts I’ve spoken with, he thinks that the American approach to administering disasters needed an overhaul, even a radical one. The systems had gotten “clunky over time,” he said. Something needed to change. So Hiebert was open to seeing how President Donald Trump might change it.

Army Vet Charged with “Conspiracy” for ICE Protest as Trump Expands War on Dissent

A 35-year-old former U.S. Army sergeant, Bajun “Baji” Mavalwalla II, faces up to six years in prison for protesting against ICE deportations in what legal experts are calling a test case for the Trump administration’s attempts to criminalize and punish dissent. Mavalwalla was arrested and charged with “conspiracy to impede or injure officers” after he was identified in a video taken at the protest and shared on Instagram.

“The Border Is Invading America”: Jean Guerrero on the Bipartisan Failures of Immigration Policy

We speak to journalist Jean Guerrero about the Trump administration’s ongoing anti-immigrant crackdown and the bipartisan roots of “anti-immigrant cruelty” in the United States. Guerrero’s latest opinion piece in The New York Times is titled “The Border Is Invading America” and traces the development of U.S. border policies since the Clinton administration.

The Trump Administration Gets a Serious Scolding

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.
The Trump administration broke the law. Its officials knew they were breaking the law. And they’ll likely try to do so again.

The Arrest That Demonstrates Europe’s Free-Speech Problem

The Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan was once known for his charming, sometimes surreal sitcoms—Father Ted, Black Books, The IT Crowd—on British TV. These days, however, he is better known for his online crusade against transgender activism. His X feed takes the same approach as Libs of TikTok, cherry-picking videos of criminals and fetishists in a full-scale assault on “gender ideology.”
He is obsessive and offensive. But is he a criminal? The British police seem to think so.

Putin and Xi Are Holding the West Together

At their meeting in Beijing today, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin made a show of how close they’ve become. Putin and Xi, referring to each other as friends, praised the strength of their relationship as their two countries advanced an agreement to build a gas pipeline that would bind their economies even more tightly together.

Dear James: I’m Stuck Caring for a Husband I No Longer Love

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at dearjames@theatlantic.com.
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Dear James,
I’ve been married to my husband for 35 years. He is 88 and I’m 79. I was in love with him during our courtship.

How Trump Gets His Way

Last week, I paid a $26.05 tariff on a small purchase from the United Kingdom. On August 29, a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. government had no right to take that money. It allowed the tariff to remain in place until October, pending further litigation. But the Trump administration has lost every round of this fight to date. If it keeps losing, the question will sooner or later arise: What happens to my $26.

“Will Western Powers Take Action?”: Rami Khouri on Scholars Declaring Genocide in Gaza

In Gaza, Israeli attacks since dawn have killed at least 54 Palestinians, including people seeking food. The attacks came as Gaza health officials recorded another 13 deaths due to starvation — three of them children. That brings the number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza to more than 360. According to a leading global monitor, more than half a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are suffering “catastrophic” levels of hunger due to Israel’s blockade.

Israel’s Killing of Yemen’s Houthi PM May Expand Regional War: Rami Khouri

Thousands of mourners attended a funeral for 12 senior Houthi figures in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a on Monday after they were killed by Israel in an airstrike last week. The dead included the Houthi prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi. The Houthis have ruled the capital and much of northern Yemen for over a decade. For the last two years, Houthi fighters have regularly launched missiles at Israel and attacked ships in the Red Sea in what they described as actions in solidarity with Gaza.

Judge Blocks Trump’s Late-Night Deportation of Hundreds of Guatemalan Children

A federal judge stopped the Trump administration from illegally deporting as many as 700 Guatemalan children over the Labor Day weekend, ordering a last-minute block on their removals even as some children had already been boarded onto planes. The National Immigration Law Center filed an emergency request to stop the deportation flights, arguing that the children would face harm and abuse if they were returned to Guatemala.