Democracy Now!
Are the U.S. & Europe breaking up over Iran?
- Title
- Are the U.S. & Europe breaking up over Iran?
- Runtime
- 1:21
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Has the Iran war caused a lasting rupture between the United States and Europe?
- Title
- Viktor Orbán faces his toughest electoral test in 16 years
- Runtime
- 1:04
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- The Trump administration has worked to strengthen ties with Hungary and its far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is facing his biggest electoral challenge in 16 years.
- Title
- Israel keeps attacking Lebanon despite U.S.-Iran ceasefire
- Runtime
- 2:17
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- With Lebanon seemingly left out of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, can direct talks between Israel and Lebanon bring peace? Or will Israel simply use the cover of negotiations to continue attacking its northern neighbor?
- Title
- Ahead of Hungary Election, JD Vance Campaigns with Orbán in Show of Support for Far Right in Europe
- Runtime
- 10:57
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Amid strains in U.S.-European relations, the Trump administration has worked to strengthen ties with Hungary and its far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is facing his biggest challenge in 16 years. With just days to go before parliamentary elections, Orbán's Fidesz party is trailing the center-right pro-EU Tisza party led by Péter Magyar. U.S. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Budapest this week and appeared alongside Orbán to openly campaign for his reelection.
"This election is really crucial, not just for Hungary, but for the international right wing," says Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University. "There's been a lot of American signaling that the U.S. would really love to have Viktor Orbán be reelected. The problem is the Hungarian people don't seem to agree."
Scheppele also discusses the role of Sebastian Go...
- Title
- Will the U.S. and Europe Break Up? Trump Says He May Pull Out of NATO as Iran War Criticism Mounts
- Runtime
- 10:58
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has deepened rifts with several European countries. The Spanish government has been most outspoken in its opposition to the war, and U.S. allies like Germany and the United Kingdom have voiced some criticism while providing logistical support for the assault on Iran. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has tried to smooth over differences and placate President Trump, even as he has mused about pulling the U.S. out of the military alliance and renewed his threats to seize Greenland.
"If there's one thing that actually one can say about President Trump, it's that he's been very consistent in his total disdain for Europe and for NATO," says Nathalie Tocci, an international affairs scholar based in Madrid, as well as a Guardian Europe columnist.
"Trust in the relationship seems to be broken. And, of course, once trust is broken, it's extremely difficult to put th...
- Title
- "10 Minutes of Terror": Lebanon Death Toll Tops 300 from Israel's "Black Wednesday" Attack
- Runtime
- 18:26
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
As the United States and Iran prepare to hold talks in Pakistan aimed at ending the war, Israel is continuing to bomb Lebanon, where the death toll from Wednesday's massive wave of attacks has topped 300.
"It was 10 minutes of terror, a day that the Lebanese are calling Black Wednesday," says Lebanese Australian journalist Rania Abouzeid, speaking with _Democracy Now!_ from Beirut. "It was hard to tell what was blowing up where, because those hundred or so attacks were all happening simultaneously."
Israel and the U.S. have claimed the Iran ceasefire deal struck this week does not include Lebanon, contradicting Iran's position. Abouzeid says direct talks between Israel and Lebanon are very "divisive" as many Lebanese fear being left out of a regional settlement, with Israel allowed to continue its attacks, displacement and occupation in the country.
Subscribe to our Daily E...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 10, 2026
- Runtime
- 14:20
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Israel pummels Lebanon despite Iran ceasefire
- Runtime
- 2:15
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Lebanon has declared a day of mourning after Israeli attacks on Wednesday killed over 250 people and injured 1,000 others. At one point, Israel launched a hundred strikes in just 10 minutes. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks as “barbaric” and accused Israel of carrying out a new massacre.
The strikes came as the Israeli government and the Trump administration claim the Iran ceasefire does not extend to Lebanon. Since Israel’s genocide of Gaza, “the silence of states and the continued flow of weapons has only emboldened Israel,” says Beirut-based Human Rights Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss.
- Title
- Can Gulf States Rely on U.S. Security Guarantees? How the War Empowers Iran & Remakes the Region
- Runtime
- 9:28
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
As Iran destroyed energy facilities and infrastructure in all six of its Persian Gulf neighbors and blocks their shipments of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — are reevaluating their strategic alliances with the United States. We speak to Yasmine Farouk, the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula project director at the International Crisis Group, about where else the Arab Gulf is looking toward in Asia and Europe to diversify its defense relationships, and what exactly the war has put at risk in the region. “Let’s remember the ceasefire came at a moment when energy infrastructures, desalination, power plants, nuclear plants could have been in the crossfire. So what is at stake here is an uncontrolled escalation that everyone, everyone wants to stop.”
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs o...
- Title
- "The War Is Turning Iran Into a Major World Power": U. of Chicago Professor Robert Pape
- Runtime
- 15:20
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Will Iran join China, Russia and the United States as a fourth major power on the world stage? Iran's resilience in the face of the U.S.-Israeli war is already shifting the global balance of power, says American political scientist Robert Pape. "What you are seeing with Iran is that its geography, in combination with a level of drone technology that we simply cannot destroy," is demonstrating to other countries that they may not have to stay beholden to U.S. hegemony. "What makes us think we're really going to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power in the next six months or a year?" asks Pape. "Iran is far stronger than it was just 40 days ago. It is in control of 20% of the world's oil. It is now an emerging fourth center of power. … The United States is on one side, and the rivals are China, Russia and now Iran."
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and ra...
- Title
- 10 Minutes, 100 Air Strikes: Israel Rejects Ceasefire for Lebanon, Kills 250+ in Massive Attack
- Runtime
- 15:57
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
On April 8, less than one day after the Trump administration agreed to a two-week ceasefire deal with Iran, Israel struck Lebanon in its heaviest and deadliest attack on the country since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began. At least 250 deaths have been reported. Israeli and U.S. authorities are insisting that the ceasefire proposal did not include Lebanon, where Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah. Iran and Pakistan, which brokered the deal, say the agreed-upon pause in hostilities applied to both countries. Since Israel's genocide of Gaza, "the silence of states and the continued flow of weapons has only emboldened Israel," says Beirut-based Human Rights Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss. "The response from the international community has been limited by words of condemnation, but no effective action has been taken yet in order to stop these atrocities from happening."
Democracy Now! is an independent...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 9, 2026
- Runtime
- 14:27
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- How Iranians are reacting to the war
- Runtime
- 1:48
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Naghmeh Sohrabi, professor of Middle East history at Brandeis University, has been translating articles from Persian to English by writers inside Iran.
- Title
- Documentary on Democracy Now! in theaters April 10
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- A new documentary about Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! called “Steal This Story, Please!” has won over a dozen audience favorite and jury prizes at major film festivals around the country. It hits theaters April 10. We speak with the film's Oscar-nominated directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin.
- Title
- Iran ceasefire is "extremely precarious"
- Runtime
- 1:51
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Although both the U.S. and Iran have "strong incentives" to maintain a ceasefire, the deal is "extremely precarious," says Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, professor of international relations of the Middle East at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
- Title
- "Steal This Story, Please!": Documentary on Amy Goodman & Democracy Now! in Theaters April 10th
- Runtime
- 11:43
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Amy Goodman, along with co-host Juan Gonzalez and Pacifica Radio, launched Democracy Now! on WBAI 30 years ago as the only daily election show in public broadcasting. It grew from 9 community radio stations to television as well the week of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. There’s a new Documentary about Amy and Democracy Now, called "Steal this Story, Please!", the new documentary about Democracy Now! and the life and career of Amy Goodman, we speak with the film's acclaimed directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. Their previous films include "The Janes," "Citizen Koch" and "Trouble the Waters." The film's executive producers include Jane Fonda and Rosario Dawson. The documentary has won over a dozen audience favorite and jury prizes at major film festivals around the country.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our li...
- Title
- "Sigh of Relief": U.S. & Iran Agree to 2-Week Ceasefire, But Israel Keeps Bombing Lebanon
- Runtime
- 31:11
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The United States and Iran have announced a two-week ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, under which Iran has agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Israel is also part of the agreement, but it has said it will continue its attacks and occupation inside Lebanon. The deal was reached less than two hours before President Trump's 8 p.m. ET deadline Tuesday for Iran to reopen the strait under threat of destroying every power plant and major bridge in Iran.
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- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 8, 2026
- Runtime
- 12:08
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- "A Moral Obscenity": White House Demands $1.5 Trillion Pentagon Budget, Largest Increase Since WWII
- Runtime
- 16:39
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The White House is seeking a record-shattering Pentagon budget of $1.5 trillion for the next fiscal year, the largest year-over-year increase in a presidential military spending request since World War II. The United States already has the world’s largest military budget at roughly $1 trillion, more than the combined budgets of the next nine highest-spending countries. The Trump administration’s budget request includes funding for F-35 stealth fighter jets, new warships and President Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, among other priorities.
“All it means is buying more weapons for more,” says Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen. “It’s beyond the wildest dreams of the military-industrial complex.” The budget proposal also includes deep cuts to social programs.
We also speak with Josh Paul, a former State Department official involved in arms sale...
- Title
- Iran will use Strait of Hormuz as "strategic lever" even after the war: analysts
- Runtime
- 1:22
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Iran will continue to use control over the Strait of Hormuz as a "strategic lever" even after the war, say two Iranian scholars of international affairs.
- Title
- Juan González: "Latinx Freedom" Conference Will Be Landmark Gathering in NYC April 9-10
- Runtime
- 4:28
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! co-host Juan González discusses the Latinx Freedom Movement Conference, taking place this week at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. The conference will be a landmark gathering of 1960s movement veterans, scholars, cultural leaders and more.
González, who co-founded the Young Lords, a revolutionary group that fought for Puerto Rican rights in the 1960s and ’70s, says the CUNY conference will kick off a series of events in cities across the United States, presenting “sort of an alternative view of the 250th anniversary of Declaration of Independence” that aims to “bring to a new generation this story of how the Latinx freedom movement developed.”
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- Title
- Report from Tehran: "Hormuz Is Not a Tool to End the War But How Iran Wins the Aftermath"
- Runtime
- 23:17
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We speak with two Iranian scholars ahead of an 8 p.m. ET deadline set by President Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face destruction of all its power plants, bridges and other civilian infrastructure. Twelve hours ahead of the deadline, the president posted on social media, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
Iran has blocked most maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war, leading to a sharp increase in oil and gas prices around the world. Mohammad Eslami, a research fellow at the University of Tehran, and Zeynab Malakouti, a senior fellow at the Global Peace Institute at the National University of Singapore, say Iran is likely to maintain long-term control over the strait even after the fighting stops.
“While Donald Trump and ...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 7, 2026
- Runtime
- 11:19
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- How the U.S. made Iran’s anti-government protests more violent
- Runtime
- 1:56
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- President Trump recently revealed that the United States helped supply armed elements of the anti-government protests in Iran this past winter, telling Fox News that the U.S. "sent a lot of guns to the Iranian protesters. We sent guns through the Kurds. I think the Kurds kept them."
- Title
- Israeli support for war on Iran is rapidly falling
- Runtime
- 1:37
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- At least 17 people were arrested Saturday as Israeli police violently cracked down on an antiwar protest in Tel Aviv, where hundreds had gathered condemning the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Israeli peace activist Alon-Lee Green, who helped organize the protest and was among those arrested, says the Israeli public’s initial support for the war has rapidly declined in recent weeks, as the quick, decisive engagement that was promised has not come to fruition.
Green spoke to Democracy Now! from a courthouse where he is filing for a restraining order against right-wing extremists who have harassed him at his home. Israeli peace activists are accusing both law enforcement and right-wing groups in the country of violating their constitutional right to protest.
- Title
- Israel’s War on Lebanon Is a Consequence of “No Accountability” for Gaza: Human Rights Watch
- Runtime
- 7:06
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We go to Lebanon, where an Israeli invasion is in full swing along the southern border. Israel has announced the expansion of its so-called buffer zone and issued mass evacuation orders as its military destroys homes and infrastructure throughout the region. A humanitarian crisis is brewing as hospitals have been blocked from receiving medical supplies and as healthcare workers, as well as other civilians, have been killed in targeted Israeli strikes. “This is a war again that’s been ongoing since October 2023, and over the past two-and-a-half years we’ve documented repeated, apparently deliberate, attacks on civilians,” says Human Right Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss, speaking from Beirut. “But what’s different this time around is that there’s a new brazenness in the statements issued by the Israeli military, where they are simply stating that they intend to commit more war crimes … perhaps a refle...
- Title
- “He Is Increasingly Desperate”: Trita Parsi on Trump’s Expletive-Laced Threats Against Iran
- Runtime
- 16:43
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We get the latest analysis on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran from Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Parsi discusses the increasing “desperation” of U.S. strategy, Iran’s long-term economic control over the Strait of Hormuz and growing “hawkishness,” and the dangerous possibility of nuclear warfare.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Israeli Peace Activist: Gaza, Iran & Lebanon Are All Part of “One Forever War” That Must End
- Runtime
- 16:17
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
At least 17 people were arrested Saturday as Israeli police violently cracked down on an antiwar protest in Tel Aviv, where hundreds had gathered condemning the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli peace activist Alon-Lee Green, who helped organize the protest and was among those arrested, says the Israeli public’s initial support for the war has rapidly declined in recent weeks, as the quick, decisive engagement that was promised has not come to fruition. “I think the Israeli public is waking up. A lot of people are angry. It’s been three years now of constant war. People are tired. People want different realities for their families.” Speaking from a courthouse where he is filing for a restraining order against right-wing extremists who have harassed him at his home, Green calls for an end to Israel’s “forever war” and says that both Israeli law enforcement and right-wing groups have violated peace ac...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 6, 2026
- Runtime
- 13:41
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Environmental cost of war on Iran
- Runtime
- 0:56
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- The environmental cost of war on Iran will be felt for generations to come, says the renowned U.N. scientist and former Iranian politician Kaveh Madani.
“All the weapons that have been produced have had carbon footprints — the missiles that fly, the jets, the tanks that are burned, the oil fields that are being attacked and the gas fields that are being burned. All of these are producing a lot of greenhouse gas emissions."
Kaveh Madani was recently awarded the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize for his pioneering work on the concept of water bankruptcy. He served as the deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment, but went into exile after his work on water scarcity brought accusations of sabotage.
- Title
- Leqaa Kordia speaks after one year in “ICE dungeon”
- Runtime
- 2:26
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia was freed on March 16 after spending more than a year in an ICE jail in Texas. She was arrested in 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to target student activists and others who advocated for Palestinian rights.
- Title
- Pam Bondi fired despite never saying no to Trump
- Runtime
- 2:12
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- President Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi amid reports of his growing frustration with her failure to prosecute his political enemies and her handling of the Epstein files. “She came in and did the master’s bidding, and she did it poorly,” says legal expert David Cole.
- Title
- Meet Leqaa Kordia: Palestinian Protester Freed After a Year in "ICE Dungeon"
- Runtime
- 31:31
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We speak with Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia, who was freed on March 16 after spending more than a year in an ICE jail in Texas. She was arrested in 2025 as part of the Trump administration's campaign to target student activists and others who advocated for Palestinian rights.
Kordia was born in the occupied West Bank and lives in New Jersey. She was arrested in 2024 during the Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. The charges against her were dropped the next day, but she was detained in March 2025 by ICE during a routine immigration check-in. "It was supposed to be just a regular meeting with my lawyer [and the] ICE agents. It led to arrest," says Kordia. "They took me in an unmarked car directly to the airport, and they had informed my lawyer that I'm going to upstate New York, but they took me to Texas instead."
While in custody, Kordia experienced destitute conditions...
- Title
- Arizona Secretary of State: Trump Is "Trying to Pick His Own Voters" by Restricting Mail-in Ballots
- Runtime
- 10:19
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democrats and voting advocacy groups have filed lawsuits against President Trump's sweeping new executive order to limit mail-in voting ahead of this year's midterm elections. "This is clearly an attempt for the president to pick his own voters," says Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who is legally challenging Trump's order.
Voting rights experts have decried the order as an unconstitutional attempt by Trump to seize control of election administration from the states and Congress. It directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a "state citizenship list" and the U.S. Postal Service to mail ballots only to "verified" voters.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https:/...
- Title
- Pam Bondi Fired as AG Despite Never Saying No to Trump: Law Prof. David Cole
- Runtime
- 19:12
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
President Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi amid reports of his growing frustration with her failure to prosecute his political enemies and her handling of the Epstein files.
Bondi, Florida's former attorney general, was a Trump loyalist who openly heaped praise on the president and did away with the long-standing Department of Justice practice of maintaining political independence from the White House. "She came in and did the master's bidding, and she did it poorly," says David Cole, law professor at Georgetown University and former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Her firing comes just months after a heated congressional hearing in which she refused to apologize to Epstein survivors for the DOJ's failure to fully redact their names in released documents. Bondi was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee on April 14 to speak ab...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 3, 2026
- Runtime
- 13:11
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Israel's death penalty law entrenches apartheid system
- Runtime
- 1:12
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- A new death penalty law passed by the Israeli Knesset is "basically specifically written to apply only to Palestinians," says Sarit Michaeli from the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
- Title
- Can Trump force open the Strait of Hormuz?
- Runtime
- 0:58
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has become a major pain point for the United States and the global economy. But President Trump has "no military way of forcing it open," says journalist Spencer Ackerman.
- Title
- How the war destroyed space for reform inside Iran
- Runtime
- 1:15
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Whatever room there was for dissent and social progress inside Iran has been destroyed by the U.S.-Israeli war, says Iranian historian Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi.
- Title
- Israel's Death-by-Hanging Law Marks Further "Dehumanization of Palestinians": B'Tselem
- Runtime
- 5:46
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We speak with Sarit Michaeli from the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem following the Knesset’s passage of a new law mandating death by hanging for Palestinians who are convicted of murdering Israelis. Jewish Israelis will not face the same punishment for similar crimes. The law, which further cements Israel’s apartheid system, has drawn condemnation from rights groups and other countries.
“This egregious, draconian law pretends to be somehow … grounded in some sort of objective criteria,” says Michaeli, B’Tselem’s international outreach director. “But essentially, it’s basically specifically written to apply only to Palestinians.”
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- Title
- "Born in the U.S.A.": Supreme Court Appears Skeptical of Trump's Birthright Citizenship Ban
- Runtime
- 13:08
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday about President Donald Trump’s attempt to abolish birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Several justices seemed highly skeptical of the administration’s arguments, though a final ruling is not expected for months.
“I think the oral arguments went really well for our side,” says Aarti Kohli, the executive director of the Asian Law Caucus and co-counsel in the Supreme Court case.
We also speak with Norman Wong, a descendant of Wong Kim Ark, whose landmark 1898 Supreme Court case affirmed birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. Citing the Bruce Springsteen song, Wong says that being “Born in the U.S.A.” means someone is part of the national community. “We need to stand as Americans together, regardless of color or religion or where we came from,” he says. “We have...
- Title
- "This War Is Already Lost": Spencer Ackerman & Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi on Trump's Iran Debacle
- Runtime
- 26:48
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
President Donald Trump gave a primetime televised address Wednesday to discuss the war on Iran, his first since the United States and Israel launched attacks on February 28. Trump gave few clues about when or how the war could end, but he boasted about killing top Iranian leaders and degrading the country’s military. He threatened to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages, where they belong.”
Despite the grandiose claims, built on “lies and delusions,” Trump “did not add anything new,” says Iranian American scholar Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, who calls Trump’s shifting justifications an admission of “defeat in the war of narratives.”
We also speak with journalist Spencer Ackerman, who says the U.S. has already lost the war. “Iran has changed the entirety of this conflict,” he says. “It has pivoted this conflict onto its own territory and its own goals, and the United St...
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 2, 2026
- Runtime
- 10:32
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
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- Title
- Why are meatpackers in Colorado on strike?
- Runtime
- 2:07
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- More than 3,000 meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado, have been on strike since mid-March, the first major labor strike in the U.S. meatpacking industry since 1985.
Workers at JBS USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Brazilian-based multinational JBS, are protesting unfair and dangerous labor conditions, including low wages, lack of personal protective gear and discrimination against its majority-immigrant workforce.
“This company is one of the richest companies in the world, and the wage increases that they’re offering simply just don’t keep up with the economy and the high cost of living,” says Kim Cordova, president of the union that represents JBS workers in Greeley.
“These workers literally feed America,” adds organizer Caitlyn Clark, director at the labor rights nonprofit Essential Workers for Democracy. “This is really a historic strike. These workers are standing up not just for their own plant, but the meatpacking industry as a w...
- Title
- Rev. Munther Isaac on Christian Zionism & Iran War
- Runtime
- 1:07
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly framed the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in extremist religious terms, citing Biblical scripture about retribution in public statements about U.S. military engagement.
Palestinian Christian theologian Reverend Munther Isaac, based in Ramallah and Bethlehem, joins many other Christians around the world, including Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church, in rebuking Hegseth's nationalist rhetoric.
- Title
- Immigrant Workers in Colorado Lead "Historic Strike" at JBS, Largest U.S. Meat Processor
- Runtime
- 7:19
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
More than 3,000 meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado, have been on strike since mid-March, the first major labor strike in the U.S. meatpacking industry since 1985. Workers at JBS USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Brazilian-based multinational JBS, are protesting unfair and dangerous labor conditions, including low wages, lack of personal protective gear and discrimination against its majority-immigrant workforce. "This company is one of the richest companies in the world, and the wage increases that they're offering simply just don't keep up with the economy and the high cost of living," says Kim Cordova, president of the union that represents JBS workers in Greeley. "These workers literally feed America," adds organizer Caitlyn Clark, director at the labor rights nonprofit Essential Workers for Democracy. "This is really a historic strike. These workers are standing up not just for their own plant, but the meatpa...
- Title
- "Two Versions of Christianity": Pope Leo Calls for Peace as U.S. Uses Religion to Justify Iran War
- Runtime
- 11:15
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter Sunday, we go to Palestine to speak to Reverend Munther Isaac, pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ramallah and director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, located in the city of Jesus Christ's birth. This year's Easter preparations come against the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, which many Christian nationalists in the U.S., including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are framing in extremist religious terms. Reverend Isaac calls the Christian Zionism espoused by Hegseth and others "a theology of war, of violence" and highlights the efforts of Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church who has come out stridently against both the war and Hegseth's rhetoric, to promote peace in the region.
Isaac also comments on Israeli authorities' recent attempt to prevent the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the ...
- Title
- War's Environmental Fallout: U.N. Expert Decries Targeting of Oil Sites & Desalination Plants
- Runtime
- 11:59
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
We take a look at how war in the Middle East is impacting the environment in "one of the most water-stressed regions in the world," with Kaveh Madani, the renowned U.N. scientist, former Iranian politician and recipient of the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize. Madani discusses threats to civil water infrastructure in the Gulf region, how the Strait of Hormuz crisis highlights consumer countries' overreliance on oil and gas, and his prize-winning work on the global effects of "water bankruptcy." Madani ties the antiwar and climate struggles together and calls for wider popular resistance to the long-term environmental harms of global warfare. "All the weapons that have been produced have had carbon footprints — the missiles that fly, the jets, the tanks that are burned, the oil fields that are being attacked and the gas fields that are being burned. All of these are producing a lot of greenhouse gas emissions," he say...
- Title
- Another Vietnam? Trump Sends Mixed Messages on Iran, from Ending War to Sending in Ground Troops
- Runtime
- 14:08
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, says the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has transformed from a "war of choice" to a "war of necessity" as Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz sparks a worldwide oil crisis. Vaez discusses President Donald Trump's "mixed messages" about U.S. military strategy and warns that "mission creep" could set in if Trump refuses to "exit this war and accept that he hasn't been able to achieve most of his strategic objectives."
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
- Title
- Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 1, 2026
- Runtime
- 12:24
- Date posted
- 6 months ago
- Description
- Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.
Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
