Facing Voter Pressure, Swing-State Democrat Swears Off AIPAC Cash

Rep. Deborah Ross became the latest Democrat to swear off AIPAC amid pressure to hold Israel accountable for its genocide in Gaza.

The Intercept

Chicago’s Public Defender on Why Illinois Should Fight Trump’s Threats on Cashless Bail

As the president tries to punish jurisdictions with bail reform, Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr., explains why Illinois ended cash bail—and what he hopes to see next.

Bolts Mag

Trump administration cancels $679 million for offshore wind projects at ports

Offshore wind is still a developing industry in the U.S., while Europe already has thousands of wind turbines in deep ocean waters. Those offshore turbines are dramatically larger than ones on land and require substantial infrastructure at ports for construction, from large assembly facilities to deepwater docks for ships that carry turbines out to sea.

NPR

Tribes Condemn Trump for Backing Out of Columbia River Deal for Salmon Recovery

Tribal leaders and environmental advocates warn salmon populations will go extinct without remediation efforts.

Truthout

Racism Wrapped in Rural Warmth

Rural Texas wears a friendly facade. You know everyone, and everyone treats each other so kindly, but, if you’re Black, you just ignore the stares when you walk into the local steakhouse for fish fry night.

Texas Observer

Sept. 11 Victims’ Lawsuit Against Saudi Government Can Go to Trial, Judge Rules

Information uncovered by plaintiffs has already undermined the FBI’s conclusion that two U.S.-based Saudi officials “unwittingly” helped al-Qaida hijackers after they arrived in America.

ProPublica

FEMA Staff Warn Trump Cuts Could Spell Disaster, 20 Years After Katrina

“Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,” the letter states.

Mississippi Free Press

Mayor Brandon Johnson signs executive order to resist Trump’s plans to deploy feds, troops to Chicago

“The order demands that President Donald Trump stand down from his threat to deploy National Guard personnel to Chicago and affirms that Chicago Police Department (CPD) will remain a locally controlled law enforcement agency under the authority of the City of Chicago and Mayor Johnson,” the press release reads.

The Tribe

Appeals court upholds ruling rejecting sweeping Trump tariffs

The International Economic Emergency Powers Act does not give the president the power to impose tariffs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in a 7-4 decision upholding a May decision from the U.S. Court of International Trade and dealing a blow to Trump’s signature trade policy.

Nebraska Examiner

Confusion, explosive anger and waiting: NPR spent a day in New York immigration court

Eight months ago, the courts were a little-known part of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), where judges oversee the cases of individuals living in the country illegally. This summer, however, the halls of 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway in lower Manhattan, along with dozens of other courts nationwide, became the epicenters of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase the rate of immigration arrests.

NPR

Texas GOPer Who Blocked Filibuster Shared Approach to Immigrants: ‘Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up’

The comments could boost the legal challenge to the gerrymander, by helping to establish a climate of racial animus against Latinos among white legislators, voting rights advocates said.

“I’ve got a phrase I want to say so bad. But I won’t throw you under the bus. It was extremely good,” state Sen. Charles Perry said at a 2022 Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs hearing on the cattle industry.

Democracy Docket

For New York’s Muslims, Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy is a reckoning on 9/11 backlash

The mayoral candidate’s popularity is a reflection of 9/11’s impact on New York’s political and cultural landscape.

Religion News Network

Contract breach or banditry? Inside the collapse of the Taliban’s oil deal with China

Afghan officials accused the Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co., the Chinese company that had signed the 2023 deal, of breaching the contract, while some Chinese employees with AfgChin Oil and Gas Ltd., the joint venture that ran the oil wells, likened the Taliban’s actions to “robbery.”

NPR

How villagers in Kazakhstan fought against a Chinese cement plant and lost

Between 2019 and 2024, the residents of a small village in Kazakhstan named after Shegen Kodamanov in the southern Kyzylorda province fought against a Chinese cement plant located on the outskirts of their village. Tired of dealing with pollution from the plant and worried about the community’s health, the villagers took the matter into their own hands and filed a formal complaint in court in 2021.

Global Voices

An ethnic cleansing of Muslims is happening right now in India’s Assam state

Since early June, the state government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has forcibly evicted nearly 6,000 Bengali-origin Muslim families, displacing men, women and children. Bulldozers have flattened homes, mosques and small businesses. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, leaving tens of thousands homeless and huddled under tarpaulin sheets in the monsoon rains. On July 17, during an eviction drive, local police opened fire on protesters, killing a 19-year-old Muslim youth and injuring several others.

Religion News Network

Pakistan’s Punjab province battered by its biggest flood with 2 million people at risk

Global warming has worsened monsoon rains this year in Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study. Downpours and cloudbursts have triggered flash floods and landslides across the mountainous north and northwest in recent months.

AP News

China’s Xi and India’s Modi vow to resolve border differences at meeting in Tianjin

Modi is on his first visit to China since relations between the two countries deteriorated after Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in deadly border clashes in 2020. Modi is visiting as part of India’s membership into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional political, economic and security group founded by China.

NPR

In Bolivia, Indigenous radio stations are at the mercy of cyberhacks

In June 2024, the official Facebook page of Radio Chiwalaki, an Indigenous, rural radio station located in the province of Vacas in Cochabamba, Bolivia, was hacked. Far from being a small issue, this event showed how fragile the digital presence of Indigenous and rural media can be, and the concrete risks they face when relying on digital platforms without a solid security strategy.

Global Voices

Australia accuses Iran of organizing antisemitic attacks and expels ambassador

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization, or ASIO, concluded that Iran had directed arson attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company in Sydney, in October 2024 and on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue two months later, Albanese said.

Religion News Network

Populist Right-Wing Parties Lead Polls in Europe’s Biggest Economies

Surge in immigration and weak economic growth spark voter backlash in France, the U.K. and Germany

Wall Street Journal

Indonesia’s Leader Says He Will Bow to Some Protester Demands After Riots

President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia acknowledged the concerns of the protesters and said his government would make concessions.

New York Times

Displaced twice: Syrian refugees in Sudan face a new war

In 2025, Syrian refugees in Sudan continue to face renewed displacement amid the country’s deteriorating conflict. According to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, more than 10.7 million people have been forcibly displaced across Sudan, the largest internal displacement crisis in the world, and the refugee population, including Syrians, remains largely underserved and at risk, with limited access to protection or basic services.

Global Voices