President Joe Biden on Sunday issued a “full and unconditional pardon” to his son Hunter, claiming the gun and tax cases against him — for which he faced possible prison time — were politically motivated. The outgoing president had repeatedly pledged not to use his office to help his son. Journalist Mehdi Hasan, founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo, says that while Biden’s move makes him a liar and hypocrite, Republican outrage over the pardon is also “ridiculous” given how expansively Donald Trump is expected to use the same authority. Hasan also notes ... continua

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In this special broadcast, we begin with an extended interview with Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha about the situation in Gaza and his new book of poetry titled Forest of Noise. He fled Gaza in December after being detained by the Israeli military, but many of his extended family members were unable to escape. He reads a selection of poems from Forest of Noise, while sharing the stories of friends and family still struggling to survive in Gaza, as well as those he has lost, including the late poet Refaat Alareer. He also describes his experiences in Gaza ... continua

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As the war on Gaza spans a second year, we continue our conversation with the acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. His new book, The Message, is based in part on his visit last year to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he says he saw a system of segregation and oppression reminiscent of Jim Crow in the United States. “It was revelatory,” says Coates. “I don’t think the average American has a real sense of what we’re doing over there — and I emphasize 'what we're doing’ because it’s not possible without American support.”

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Nearly two months after Israel invaded Lebanon, a “fragile” ceasefire has been reached between Israel and Lebanon. Under the deal, Israel says it will withdraw troops from Lebanon’s south over a 60-day period, though Lebanese writer Lina Mounzer says “this is already being contradicted by the behavior and the directives of the Israeli army,” which continued to bomb Lebanese civilian areas through the waning hours of official hostilities. Thousands of displaced Lebanese are now returning to southern Lebanon, hoping that their homes are still standing. Many ... continua

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Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 3,700 people in Lebanon, with most of the deaths occurring over the past 10 weeks. The attacks have forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes in Lebanon, where Israel has also repeatedly targeted journalists. In a new report, Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing an apparent war crime by killing three journalists and injuring four others last month, when it bombed the Hasbaya Village Resort in southern Lebanon, where more than a dozen journalists had been staying. The attack killed Ghassan Najjar and ... continua

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After wealthy countries refused to agree to a $1 trillion proposal from developing countries facing the brunt of climate change’s impacts, the COP29 U.N. climate summit concluded with a $300 billion climate finance deal that is “a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed.” For more, we hear from two climate activists who attended the conference and were among those calling for wealthier countries to contribute more to a global green energy transition. Brandon Wu, the director of policy and campaigns at ActionAid USA, says the U.S. in particular owes “a ... continua

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On the final official day of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, it is still unclear if this year’s United Nations climate summit will lead to an agreement before the end of the official conference or if talks will extend into the weekend. The COP29 presidency has released a draft text that calls for a $1.3 trillion in annual climate financing by 2035, but it only obligates rich countries to provide $250 billion of that total. Climate justice activists and members of civil society who held a protest at COP29 on Friday say that amount falls far short of what’s needed, ... continua

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The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Israel’s assault on Gaza. The court also issued a warrant for Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif, whom Israel said they killed in August. This is a major development on the international stage, says HuffPost correspondent Akbar Shahid Ahmed, particularly in its implications for U.S. culpability in Israeli war crimes. The Biden administration, as Netanyahu’s ... continua

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As Democracy Now! continues to broadcast from the U.N. climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, we speak with Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad, who chairs Colombia’s delegation here at COP29. She calls the return of Donald Trump to the White House “a disaster for global climate” due to his promise to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement again, discusses Colombia’s plan to phase out fossil fuels despite being a major exporter of coal, and says a recent biodiversity conference held in Colombia could point the way for how to finance a ... continua

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In Baku, Azerbaijan, Democracy Now! continues our coverage of the 2024 U.N. climate summit and its host country’s record on human rights. “Considering that our economy is completely relying on oil and gas sales and the COP29 is a great place to have a lot of oil and gas lobbyists, it’s actually a great chance for the Azerbaijani government to have more oil and gas contracts … and then to enrich the regime itself,” says Zhala Bayramova, a human rights lawyer focused on LGBTQ rights now. Their father Gubad Ibadoghlu is one of hundreds of Azerbaijani political ... continua

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