Headlines for September 19, 2025 Israeli Forces Advance Deeper into Gaza City, Killing at Least 21 Palestinians Since Dawn, U.S. Vetoes U.N. Security Council Draft Resolution Calling for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli Far-Right Minister Smotrich Calls Gaza Strip a “Real Estate Bonanza”, Delivery Driver Kills Two Israeli Soldiers at Jordan-West Bank Crossing, Afghanistan Rejects Trump’s Calls for the U.S. to Retake Bagram Air Base, Trump Threatens to Revoke Broadcast Licenses of Networks over Negative Coverage, Trump Asks SCOTUS for Emergency Order to Remove Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve Board of Governors, At Least 11 Democratic Officials Arrested at Federal Plaza in Anti-ICE Protest in NYC, Report: ICE Placed More Than 10,000 People in Solitary Confinement, Trump-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Immediately Deporting Guatemalan Children, CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel Votes to Restrict Access to MMRV Vaccine, After Deadly U.S. Strikes on Boats, Venezuela Mobilizes More Than 2,500 Soldiers to La Orchila Island, Hundreds of Thousands of Protesters Take Part in Demonstrations in France http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/19/headlines

"I'm Not Going to Give Up": Leonard Peltier on Indigenous Rights, His Half-Century in Prison & More *Democracy Now!* host Amy Goodman sat down with longtime political prisoner and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier for his first extended television and radio broadcast interview since his release to home confinement in February. Before his commutation by former President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old Peltier spent nearly 50 years behind bars. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers. He is expected to serve the remainder of his life sentences under house arrest at the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Nation in Belcourt, North Dakota. In a wide-ranging conversation, we spoke to Peltier about his case, his time in prison, his childhood spent at American Indian boarding school and his later involvement in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and more. “We still have to live under that, that fear of losing our identity, losing our culture, our religion,” Peltier says about his continued commitment to Indigenous rights. “The fight for, the struggle still goes on for me. I’m not going to give up.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/19/leonard_peltier_interview_democracy_now_exclusive

Headlines for September 16, 2025 U.N. Inquiry Finds Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, Israel Launches Major Ground Offensive to Seize Gaza City, Lebanon Says Israeli Airstrike on Residential Building Injured 12 Civilians, Secretary of State Rubio Meets with Qatar’s Emir in the Wake of Israel’s Deadly Strike in Doha, Trump Says U.S. Strikes a Second Venezuelan Boat, Killing 3 People, JD Vance Vows to “Dismantle” Institutions on the Political Left in the Wake of Kirk’s Killing, Utah Law Allowing Open Carry on Campuses Criticized After Kirk’s Assassination, Trump Signs Order Deploying National Guard Troops to Memphis, Trump Lashes Out at New York Governor Hochul for Endorsing Mamdani in NYC Mayoral Race, NYT: UAE Chips Deal Linked to $2B Investment in Trump Family Cryptocurrency Firm, Billionaire Larry Ellison Could Add TikTok to Media Empire as U.S. and China Reach Deal, Senate Confirms White House Adviser Stephen Miran as Fed Governor, Maurene Comey, Who Prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein, Sues Over Her “Politically Motivated” Firing, On El Salvador’s Independence Day, Protesters Demand Release of Jailed Human Rights Defenders http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/16/headlines

ICE Kills Immigrant Father After Traffic Stop, Detains Day Laborer Who Sued Chicago Police ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago is entering its second week of ramped-up immigration enforcement. Community members are mourning the loss of Silverio Villegas Gonzales, a 38-year-old single father and Mexican immigrant who was shot and killed by ICE agents while trying to avoid arrest at a traffic stop. Villegas Gonzales was unarmed and had no criminal record. His family has organized a [fundraiser][1] to help cover the costs of his funeral and burial. ”ICE stopped a man right after he dropped off his child at school, because he’s Brown, because maybe he looked like he worked a minimum-wage job, and then shot him to death,” says Congressmember Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, who is calling for a full investigation into Villegas Gonzales’s death and for ICE to be defunded. “The footage, the witnesses we have talked to do not match what the ICE reports show,” she says, calling ICE a “terror organization” with “no guardrails.” Meanwhile, ICE agents have “abducted” a man who is suing a group of off-duty Chicago police officers, working as security for Home Depot, for abuse. Kevin Herrera, the legal director of Raise the Floor Alliance and an attorney for Willian Giménez González, says Giménez is being retaliated against for his lawsuit, which accuses the security guards of beating and bringing trespassing charges against immigrant day laborers in order to push them into the criminal legal system. “Willian was double-profiled, and now he’s suffering consequences within the ICE detention system,” says Herrera. [1]: https://www.gofundme.com/f/silverio-villegas-gonzalez http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/16/chicago_ice_raids_trump_national_guard

Block the Bombs to Israel: Rep. Delia Ramirez Denounces Genocide in Gaza Congressmember Delia Ramirez, one of the co-sponsors of the Block the Bombs Act, which would withhold offensive weapons that violate international law and humanitarian norms deals from Israel, responds to a U.N. commission’s recent conclusion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. She provides an update on the bill and says, “It’s indefensible for anyone to, in this moment, try to make an excuse of what’s happening and allowing it to happen under our watch.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/16/delia_ramirez_block_the_bombs_israel

Bishop William Barber Condemns Charlie Kirk Murder and the Right's Religious Nationalism We speak to Bishop William J. Barber II about conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk’s killing and the right-wing weaponization of his death. Barber says outrage over political violence should also extend beyond Kirk’s assassination, to what he refers to as the political violence of policy, including the hundreds around the world who die of poverty, war and disease every day. “You cannot claim that you believe in a god or Christ of love and justice and mercy and grace and truth, and then you push policies that *prey* on the very persons, in the very communities, that the Scriptures, that the example of Jesus and the prophet tells us we should not only *pray* for, but we should also be lifting up and helping up and protecting.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/16/william_barber_charlie_kirk_assassination

U.S. Acts As "Judge, Jury & Executioner" in Venezuelan Boat Strikes, Killing at Least 14 On Monday, President Trump announced the U.S. bombed a boat in international waters, killing three people. The attack was the second to target what the Trump administration claims are drug smugglers from Venezuela. A previous strike on another boat killed 11 people. In a third incident, the U.S. Navy raided a fishing boat in Venezuelan waters, detaining nine fishermen for eight hours. This escalating U.S. military action follows a secret directive that Trump signed approving the use of military force in Latin America and an ongoing buildup of U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. “We have a very clear example of political theater, an attempt at provocation, an ongoing effort at regime change, and the strategy of trying to use the military to interdict drug trafficking, which has failed incredibly in Mexico, Colombia, everywhere else the U.S. has applied it,” says Venezuelan historian Miguel Tinker Salas, who adds the Trump administration is “misleading the public in indicating that these were drug traffickers with no evidence whatsoever.” He says its attempt to manufacture a crisis in Venezuela is reminiscent of the lead-up to the U.S. war on Iraq. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/16/venezuela_miguel_tinker_salas

Headlines for September 26, 2025 Ex-FBI Director James Comey Indicted as Trump Escalates Campaign of Retribution on Opponents, Israeli Attacks Kill Dozens in Gaza City as Some Palestinians Resist Forced Evacuation, Israel Bombs Yemen’s Capital, Killing 8 and Wounding 142, “No Justice If Palestine Is Not Freed”: Mahmoud Abbas Addresses U.N. General Assembly, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jet Is Diverted to Evade Potential Arrest in Europe on ICC Warrant, Microsoft Cuts Off Some Services Used by Israeli Military Unit to Spy on Palestinians, Russia’s Foreign Minister Says NATO and EU Have Declared a “Real War” on Russia, Trump Administration Readies $20 Billion Bailout of Argentina and Trump Ally Javier Milei, Video Shows ICE Agent Assaulting Ecuadorian Mother Inside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, Amazon Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Trump Signs Executive Order Allowing TikTok to Keep Operating in the U.S. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/26/headlines

"On Our Way to Annihilation": Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud Reports Live from Outside Gaza City Israel’s military has issued new evacuation orders for neighborhoods of Gaza City as Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into the Gaza Strip’s largest urban area. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have already fled Gaza City for overcrowded areas further south, as Israeli forces systematically flatten much of the city. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continues to kill dozens of Palestinians every day amid widespread famine. “People feel now it’s a permanent state of displacement,” says leading Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud, who has just left Gaza City. “People have been herded from one area to another.” Mahmoud also discusses the toll of reporting on the genocide despite Israel’s repeated targeted assassinations of journalists in Gaza, including many with Al Jazeera. “We believe the world deserves to learn the truth,” he says of his choice to keep working despite the risks. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/26/gaza_city

As Trump Vows War on Left, Ken Klippenstein Reveals Kirk & ICE Shooters Were Disengaged with Politics President Donald Trump is escalating his attack on progressive groups following the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and a deadly shooting that targeted an immigration jail in Dallas. White House officials have repeatedly blamed Democrats and left-wing groups for contributing to political violence, but investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein says the motivations of people who commit such acts are often more complicated. Klippenstein has reported on the backgrounds of Kirk’s accused killer and the gunman who targeted the Dallas ICE facility, and says friends described both young men as somewhat isolated and largely uninterested in partisan politics. “That was perhaps the most normal thing about these two shooters, that they were disengaged with politics,” he says. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/26/ken_klippenstein_dallas_ice

"They're Assassinating People for No Reason": Cuban Minister Condemns U.S. Strikes in Caribbean As the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign on Venezuela, we speak with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. In recent weeks, the U.S. has bombed multiple alleged Venezuelan “drug boats” at sea, killing at least 17 people without providing any clear evidence that they were involved in drug trafficking or linked to the government in Caracas. The U.S. has also increased its military footprint in the Caribbean and placed a $50 million bounty on President Nicolás Maduro for information leading to his arrest for narcotrafficking. The U.S. military presence in the Caribbean “is a threat to Venezuela and to the countries of the region,” says Fernández de Cossío. “There’s no real reason for that to be there, and the justification that they’re fighting drugs or organized crime is believed by no one. … They’re assassinating people for no reason.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/26/trump_administration_venezuela

Headlines for September 25, 2025 Israeli Military Strikes Have Killed at Least 30 Palestinians Since Dawn, Spain and Italy Send Naval Vessels to Protect Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla, Major News Outlets Call on Israel to Allow International Journalists into Gaza, Macron Claims Trump Assured Him West Bank Annexation Would Be a Red Line, Drone Attack in Israel Injures at Least 22 as Israelis Protest Netanyahu Before Departure to U.S., Trump Blames “Radical Left Democrats” After Video Game Enthusiast Fires on Dallas ICE Facility, 39-Year-Old Prisoner Dies in California ICE Jail Days After Days of Medical Neglect, Journalist Mario Guevara Faces Deportation After Arrest While Documenting Anti-Trump Protest, Nearly 2 Million Evacuate as Typhoon Ragasa Batters Southern China, China’s Leader Makes Landmark Pledge to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ukraine’s Zelensky Tells General Assembly Russia Will Expand Aggression Unless It’s Stopped, Trump’s Newly Appointed U.S. Attorney to Bring Charges Against Former FBI Director James Comey, Oklahoma High Schools Ordered to Install Chapters of Charlie Kirk’s Youth Organization, U.S. Park Police Remove Statue of Trump Holding Hands with Jeffrey Epstein from National Mall, GOP Nominee in NYC Mayoral Race Says He Was Offered Money to Drop Out, French Ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy Sentenced to 5 Years for Campaign Finance Conspiracy, New Mexico Lawmaker’s Daughter Calls Him “Total Loser” over “Propaganda Trip” to Israel http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/25/headlines

Where Are the Detainees? Hundreds of "Alligator Alcatraz" Prisoners Disappear from ICE Database Hundreds of people who were once detained at the troubled immigration jail in the Florida Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” have disappeared. *Democracy Now!* speaks with Shirsho Dasgupta, a *Miami Herald* reporter who found that, as of late August, about two-thirds of the 1,800 immigrants who were held there in July have gone missing from ICE’s online database, with their families and attorneys unable to locate them. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled the jail could continue to operate despite reports of abuse. “What we’re seeing at Alligator Alcatraz is basically a new model of immigration detention, where a state-run facility is operating as an extrajudicial black site, completely outside of the previous models of immigration detention in this country. And it’s making what was already a terrible system somehow even worse,” says Thomas Kennedy, policy analyst at the Florida Immigrant Coalition. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/25/alligator_alcatraz

West African Asylum Seekers Sent Home Despite Risk of Torture, After Being Deported by U.S. to Ghana More than a dozen West African men who were deported to Ghana by the United States have since been returned to their home countries by the Ghanaian government, despite legitimate fears of torture or persecution at home. Ghana is one of a growing list of countries that have signed “third country agreements” with the United States to accept U.S. deportees. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, notes that in many cases judges have ordered the Trump administration not to deport immigrants to countries where they may face persecution. “It’s a complete ruse to get around the order from the immigration judge,” he says. “This fits a pattern of the Trump administration trying to evade court orders.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/25/lee_gelernt

Israel Killed 31 Journalists in Yemen in Deadliest Attack on Press in 16 Years The Committee to Protect Journalists says recent Israeli strikes on newspaper offices in Yemen killed 31 journalists and media support workers, making it the deadliest attack on journalists anywhere in the world in 16 years. CPJ said the attack was the second-deadliest attack on the press ever recorded by the organization. “These are civilians,” says Niku Jafarnia, Middle East and North Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch. “We have documented, like many other organizations, war crime after war crime after war crime, as well as acts of genocide and extermination, in the context of Gaza.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/25/yemen_journalists

Italy, Spain Deploy Naval Ships After Drones Repeatedly Attack Gaza-Bound Flotilla Spain and Italy are sending naval vessels to protect the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla after activists said drones repeatedly attacked their boats near Greece on Wednesday. Activists said the most recent strikes marked the seventh attack on the solidarity movement’s vessels. The Global Sumud Flotilla is the largest humanitarian convoy in history to traverse the Mediterranean Sea, says David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, who joins *Democracy Now!* from the flotilla. “We are not here to drop the aid and go home and pat ourselves on the back. We are here to establish a humanitarian corridor for states themselves to assume their responsibilities and to deliver the aid at the scale that Gaza requires.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/25/sumud_flotilla

Headlines for September 24, 2025 Trump Blasts the United Nations, Saying “Your Countries Are Going to Hell”, Israel Intensifies Bombardment of Gaza City, Killing More Than 50 People Today, Global Sumud Flotilla Under Attack from Drones and Explosions, U.N. Commission: Israel Establishing Permanent Control in Gaza and Jewish Majority in West Bank, Trump Says Ukraine Could Win Back Territory Captured by Russia, Syrian Interim President al-Sharaa Interviewed by Former CIA Director David Petraeus, EU and WHO Dispute Trump’s Claims Linking Acetaminophen During Pregnancy With Autism, Trump Suggests He Will Sue ABC After Jimmy Kimmel Returns to the Airwaves, At Least 11 People Killed After a Drone Attack Strikes a Birthday Party in Haiti, Immigrants Deported to Ghana Were Sent to Home Countries Despite Safety Concerns, Trump Admin Sanctions Wife of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Who Led Probe of Bolsonaro, Ryan Routh Found Guilty of Attempting to Assassinate President Trump, House Democrats Launch Probes Against Border Czar Tom Homan, Department of Agriculture Places Hunger Researchers on Leave, Democrat Adelita Grijalva Wins Special Election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District http://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/24/headlines