Trump’s maritime strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean amount to extrajudicial killings, says HRW

Trump’s maritime strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean amount to extrajudicial killings, says HRW

The New York Times reports: The United States killed six men aboard a boat in international waters “just off the Coast of Venezuela,” President Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, asserting without evidence that they had been transporting drugs. The strike was the fifth known attack by the U.S. military on such boats since Sept. 2. The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. “Intelligence confirmed…

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After 250 years, the beacon of democracy goes dark

After 250 years, the beacon of democracy goes dark

Anne Applebaum writes: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Within weeks of their publication in July 1776, those words spread around the world. In August, a London newspaper reprinted the Declaration of Independence in full. Edinburgh followed. Soon after that, it appeared in Madrid, Leiden, Vienna, and Copenhagen. Before long, others drew on the text in more substantial ways. Thomas Jefferson himself helped draft the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of…

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John Roberts’ decades-long project designed to legalize corruption

John Roberts’ decades-long project designed to legalize corruption

David Sirota and Jared Jacang Maher write: On the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Roberts Supreme Court, one point of consensus persists: Most Americans believe money corrupts the political process — and they want to overturn the Citizens United precedent that empowers oligarchs to buy elections. And yet, in two little-noticed cases — including one spearheaded by Vice President J.D. Vance — the high court could soon do the opposite, eliminating the last restrictions on campaign donations and…

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As the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland

As the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland

Nesrine Malik writes: Today, Sharm el-Sheikh will host the most high-profile gathering of global leaders in the Middle East of recent years. Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sánchez and others are meeting “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”. If the ceasefire holds, this language is an augur of the future. One where there is…

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Pro-King Party is afraid of No Kings protesters

Pro-King Party is afraid of No Kings protesters

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now — they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people … " [image or embed] — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Oct 10, 2025 at 7:28 AM @sanders.senate.gov: "No, Speaker Johnson, the #NoKings Rally on October 18th is not a 'hate America'…

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Chicago chooses justice over fear, as it has in the past

Chicago chooses justice over fear, as it has in the past

Claudia M. Fegan and Linda Rae Murray write: When federal agents storm a South Shore apartment complex by helicopter, deploy chemical agents near a school in Logan Square and handcuff a Chicago City Council member inside a Humboldt Park hospital, something fundamental has gone wrong. What we are witnessing in Chicago today — the increasingly militarized immigration raids — is not simply a matter of law enforcement. It is a test of conscience. This is not the first time Chicago…

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Growing number of veterans face arrest while protesting ICE raids

Growing number of veterans face arrest while protesting ICE raids

The Guardian reports: US military veterans increasingly face arrest and injury amid protests over Donald Trump’s deportation campaign and his push to deploy national guard members to an ever-widening number of American cities. The Guardian has identified eight instances where military veterans have been prosecuted or sought damages after being detained by federal agents. The latest incident occurred in Broadview, outside Chicago, where 70-year old air force veteran Dana Briggs was charged with felony assault on a federal officer on…

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Originalist ‘bombshell’ article complicates case on Trump’s power to fire officials

Originalist ‘bombshell’ article complicates case on Trump’s power to fire officials

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court will hear arguments in December about whether President Trump can fire government officials for any reason, or no reason, despite laws meant to shield them from politics. There is little question that the court will side with the president. Its conservative majority has repeatedly signaled that it plans to adopt the “unitary executive theory,” which says the original understanding of the Constitution demands letting the president remove executive branch officials as he…

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Generative AI has access to only a small slice of human knowledge

Generative AI has access to only a small slice of human knowledge

Deepak Varuvel Dennison writes: A few years back, my dad was diagnosed with a tumour on his tongue – which meant we had some choices to weigh up. My family has an interesting dynamic when it comes to medical decisions. While my older sister is a trained doctor in Western allopathic medicine, my parents are big believers in traditional remedies. Having grown up in a small town in India, I am accustomed to rituals. My dad had a ritual too….

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Trump’s militarization and fear-mongering won’t stop No Kings 2.0 from dwarfing the original

Trump’s militarization and fear-mongering won’t stop No Kings 2.0 from dwarfing the original

Adam Klasfeld writes: Donald Trump’s efforts to demonize and try to criminalize peaceful protest have grown more flailing and desperate as No Kings 2.0 approaches on Sat., Oct. 18. There’s been Trump’s absurd campaign to brand “antifa” as terrorists, even though anti-fascist activists are not a formal group and there is no such thing as a domestic terrorist organization under U.S. law. The First Amendment wouldn’t allow it, which is why Trump’s identical declaration about antifa during his first term…

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Trump is creating an omniforce of armed loyalists to establish his police state

Trump is creating an omniforce of armed loyalists to establish his police state

Don Moynihan writes: As Trump deploys a combination of ICE, National Guard troops and other paramilitary forces to multiple American cities, he is implementing a three-step plan. The plan involves different parts of the national security state, immigration enforcement, and the military: Purge – eliminating those deemed not to be aligned with Trump. Merge – combine different components into a single omniforce. Surge – impose Trump’s control over Democratic cities; instigate enough unrest to justify escalation; find examples to brutalize…

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Immigrant advocates face escalating consequences and threats from Trump

Immigrant advocates face escalating consequences and threats from Trump

Caitlin Dickerson writes: Since immigration-enforcement agents began their descent on Chicago, acting with seemingly unprecedented speed and ferocity, Evelyn Vargas and her colleagues at Organized Communities Against Deportation have been in a frenzy. They help run an emergency hotline that refers people who have been detained to immigration lawyers and directs their families to support services such as food pantries, emergency housing, and mental-health care. (On a single day last week, it took 800 calls.) And they oversee a team…

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Trump’s immigration crackdown diverts U.S. agents from drug, money and sex-crime cases

Trump’s immigration crackdown diverts U.S. agents from drug, money and sex-crime cases

The Wall Street Journal reports: A federal team in El Paso that once pursued child traffickers has been disbanded. A Kansas task force focused on stemming the flow of fentanyl has been redirected. Highway checkpoints near the southwest border—some on roads long identified as major drug-trafficking routes—have gone unstaffed. The shift reflects a broader realignment in federal law enforcement. Thousands of federal agents once tasked with investigating drug smuggling, sexual exploitation and organized crime have been redirected to immigration enforcement…

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