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Venezuela approves counter-reform of hydrocarbons law
The sequence of events triggered by the imperialist aggression against Venezuela led to the Venezuelan National Assembly’s approval, on 29 January, of a partial reform of the country’s Chávez-era hydrocarbons law. Immediately afterwards, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is responsible for sanctions, published General License 46, partially lifting sanctions on Venezuelan oil, albeit with very strict restrictions. It is important to understand what this means. We publish here some initial observations, together with a previous comment on Marco Rubio’s appearance before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss the aggression against Venezuela.
https://marxist.com/venezuela-approves-counter-reform-of-hydrocarbons-law.htm

Governor Kathy Hochul Is Undermining Striking New York Nurses
On Monday morning, with temperatures below freezing, New York City nurses began the fourth week of the largest nursing strike in the city’s history, which has seen some fifteen thousand nurses across multiple Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian facilities walk off the job. Hundreds of nurses kicked off the week by gathering near Grand Central Terminal and marching to Governor Kathy Hochul’s nearby office, aiming pressure at a state leader who has repeatedly extended an executive order allowing hospitals to more easily hire temporary and out-of-state replacement staff (referred to in union parlance as “scabs”), blunting the leverage of the work stoppage. Nurses’ demand is specific: Hochul should not extend the executive order again, removing a measure that has made it easier for hospital systems to staff around the strike. The latest extension expires today. The striking nurses, represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), walked off the job at private hospitals across New York City on January 12. The strike does not include all NYSNA members statewide, nor nurses at public hospitals like those in the NYC Health + Hospitals system, who work under separate contracts. Bargaining between NYSNA and hospital management began months before those contracts expired at the end of 2025, stretching through the fall without an agreement. Nurses say hospital executives refused toPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Rubio Confirms End of New START, Sparking Calls for Nuclear Talks With Russia, China
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday implicitly confirmed that New START—a key arms control treaty between the United States and Russia—will expire Thursday, prompting renewed demands for what one group called “a more coherent approach from the Trump administration” toward nuclear nonproliferation. Asked about the impending expiration of New START during a Wednesday press conference, Rubio said he didn’t “have any announcement” on the matter, and that President Donald Trump “will opine on it later.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/new-start-expiring

Texas A&M professor files lawsuit after firing over gender identity lesson
Melissa McCoul was a senior lecturer in the English department with over a decade of teaching experience. Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, had called for her termination after seeing the video, which showed a student questioning whether the class discussion last July was legal under President Donald Trump’s executive order on gender.
https://apnews.com/article/texas-am-professor-lawsuit-fired-gender-lesson-76883420ae4547770af71120b3fd317d

Fulton county leader says he was warned he faced arrest before FBI raid
The Fulton county commission chair, Robb Pitts, said at a press conference this morning that he received a phone call last Monday – two days before the FBI served a criminal warrant to seize 2020 election documents – to warn that he, Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, former Raffensperger deputy Gabriel Sterling and others in the state were at risk of imminent arrest by federal agents. “That did not happen on Monday,” Pitts said. “It didn’t happen on Tuesday, but lo and behold on Wednesday, the FBI shows up.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/04/fulton-county-georgia-fbi-election-warns-office-raid

New York governor picks a new running mate, as herPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

The shadow of ᴉuᴉlossnW: Italy alarmed as students encouraged to report ‘left-wing’ teachers
STUDENTS in Italy have been urged to expose their “left-wing teachers” for the first time since ᴉuᴉlossnW’s fascist dictatorship collapsed in 1943. Last month, Student Action (Azione Studentesca), an Italian youth association linked to Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, encouraged high school students aged between 14 and 19 to profile and denounce their teachers who supposedly espoused left-leaning ideas. Questions like, “Do you have at least one left-wing teacher who is making political propaganda during their lessons?” and, “Describe one of the most emblematic cases [of left-wing propaganda],” were part of a six-question survey that Student Action administered to teenagers in schools. While the government and the Ministry of Education defined the right-wing students’ group as a harmless initiative, hundreds have spoken out against it. A total of 305 teenagers, schoolteachers and school staff signed a public statement to oppose the discriminatory action. It comes amid a series of “self-denouncing videos” published online by hundreds of “left-wing schoolteachers,” after a 35-year-old Venetian schoolteacher, Giorgio Peloso Zantaforni, started the trend.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/shadow-ᴉuᴉlossnW-italy-alarmed-students-encouraged-report-left-wing-teachers

On tirades against China, silence towards the US(Communist Party of the Philippines)
The past few days saw an intense word war erupting between certain politicians and Philippine government officials and a Chinese embassy officer. This word war was ignited by Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for the West Philippine Sea, who made use of mock images that ridiculed Chinese leader Xi Jinping, provoking a strong reaction from Chinese officials. Guo Wei, deputy spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Manila, questioned whether Tarriela, a uniformed officer of the Philippine government, is allowed to attack a foreign leader, and whether this is representative of Philippine diplomatic policy. The Chinese official denounced Tarriela for political provocation and violation of China’s political dignity, and, stepping on the boundPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Human Rights Watch researchers resign after report on Palestinian right of return blocked
In separate resignation letters obtained by Jewish Currents and the Guardian, Omar Shakir, who has headed the team for nearly the last decade, and Milena Ansari, the team’s assistant researcher, said leadership’s decision to pull the report broke from HRW’s customary approval processes and was evidence that the organization was putting fear of political backlash over a commitment to international law.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/03/human-rights-watch-researchers-resign-palestine

Trump DOJ Plotting to Parachute In Prosecutors Across US to Bring Cases Against Anti-ICE Protesters
The US Department of Justice is reportedly setting up a new program that would create a team of prosecutors who can parachute into different areas throughout the country to bring charges against protesters who have allegedly assaulted or obstructed law enforcement officers.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-doj-leaked-memo

ICE arrests man in raid of Amazon facility in Hazel Park, Michigan
A video posted on Instagram by the Metro Detroit News shows the interior of the Amazon facility during the raid. One individual, apparently Romero Guttierez, is shown surrounded by four or five agents. Comments on the video were overwhelmingly hostile to ICE. “We have to stand against this,” one worker wrote. Another commented, “Why would Amazon allow them on the premises?” Another declared that “the whole shift should’ve walked out with [Guttierez].”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/02/03/zkqv-f03.html

More departures at the US attorney’s office in Minnesota, AP sources say
The latest departures are on top of a half-dozen attorneys who left the office last month amid disagreements over the Justice Department’s response to the shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. At least one supervisory agent in the FBI’s Minneapolis office is known to have Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

"Leadership Would Like Your Help": Indian Billionaire Tapped Jeffrey Epstein Before Modi's Visits to U.S. and Israel
Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday reveal previously unreported details about financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s role as a backroom power broker amid the rapid strengthening of India-Israel ties in 2017. Epstein connected an Indian billionaire close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak ahead of the first ever trip by an Indian PM to Israel. Days later, that billionaire, Anil Ambani, told Epstein after a visit to Delhi that “Leadership” wanted Epstein’s help for Ambani to meet “jared and Bannon asap,” and requested his “assistance” regarding Modi’s upcoming meeting with Trump. Modi’s landmark visit to Israel in 2017 helped accelerate the burgeoning relationship between the three countries. Afterward, Epstein celebrated in an email that Modi had “danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president.” On Saturday, the Indian government responded to the revelations about Modi’s visit to Israel in Epstein’s communications. “We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel,” said a statement by India’s foreign affairs ministry. “Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt.”
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/modi-epstein-files-bannon-billionaire-anil-ambani-india-israel-united-states-justice-department

Strategic Shift and Kinetic Action: The U.S. Approach Against the Islamic State in Nigeria
Nigeria’s domestic insecurity has increasingly been instrumentalized within U.S. foreign policy discourse. In November last year, President Donald Trump threatened direct kinetic intervention to counter a so-called “Christian genocide” in Nigeria. Despite these claims, insecurity is driven by overlapping and long-standing land disputes, herder-farmer tensions, communal violence, and organized crime, with the vast majority of victims of miliPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

DHS’s account of two Venezuelans shot by border patrol falls apart in court: ‘A smear campaign’
Court records obtained by the Guardian reveal a Department of Justice prosecutor later directly contradicted DHS’ Tren de Aragua statements in court, telling a judge, “We’re not suggesting … [Niño-Moncada] is a gang member.” An FBI affidavit issued following the incident also suggests that in the previous shooting cited by DHS, Zambrano-Contreras was not a suspect, but rather a reported victim of a sexual assault and robbery. Neither Niño-Moncada or Zambrano-Contreras have prior criminal convictions, their lawyers have said.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/portland-venezuelans-shot-border-patrol-court

Judge lifts order to preserve evidence in Alex Pretti shooting
“Though the record is not one-sided, the greater weight of the evidence shows Defendants are not likely to destroy or improperly alter evidence related to Mr. Pretti’s shooting during the life of this case, and other relevant considerations do not on balance favor a continuing preservation order,” the Trump-appointed judge wrote.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/02/minnesota-judge-alex-pretti-gun-00761319

‘Surveillance Is Not Accountability’: Noem Sending DHS Agents in Minnesota Body Cameras
Critics of the administration cast doubt on whether adding more bodycams to the mix will reduce violence by DHS. Campaign for New York Health executive director Melanie D’Arrigo said that immigration agents “murdered two people on video since the beginning of the year, and the Trump administration still lied about what happened and tried to justify it. I don’t think cameras are the solution.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-body-cameras

Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to testify in House Epstein investigation
Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed on Monday to testify in a House investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, days before the chamber was expPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Coupang, South Korea’s Amazon, Is Copying Its Worst Habits
Coupang, an e-commerce platform that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has been stirring public outrage over the past few months in South Korea, home to most of its colossal operations, amid revelations of massive data breaches and unsafe workplace practices. What is happening to the South Korean multinational should reverberate beyond the country’s borders. The ways in which it has been shirking accountability and regulatory oversight, and resisting unionization efforts, speaks volumes about the future trajectory of global e-commerce platforms and their workers. Coupang is South Korea’s answer to Amazon and Uber Eats combined. Its labor malpractices were already clear back in 2021, when the company went public on the NYSE. The past two months have validated the concerns expressed at the time. In December, Coupang disclosed a massive data breach that exposed almost thirty-four million customer accounts. The national ID numbers and financial details of about three-quarters of South Korea’s population above the age of twenty are likely to have been compromised. Public anger has brought the platform’s mistreatment of its workforce into focus. In 2025 alone, eight Coupang workers died of overwork-related conditions such as cerebral hemorrhages, with six of them working on a nighttime or predawn shift.
https://jacobin.com/2026/01/coupang-amazon-korea-financialization-precarity

Canada’s elite media wants you to serve in the military
When Canada ended conscription after the Second World War, Canadians breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the elite media want it back. With Prime Minister Mark Carney embarking on a massive, unprecedented expansion of Canada’s military, the media has been publishing articles calling for a mandatory national service, fawning over conscription in Nordic countries, and uncritically interviewing military leaders who are hand-wringing about falling enlistment. These articles make the case that a military build-up is necessary to ward off a U.S. invasion. The reality is that Carney has boosted military spending to kowtow to Trump, and major military spending hikes have long been on the wish-list of the corporate elite and defence lobby. Instead of acting as critics or invePost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Minnesota ICE surge upheld as judge finds 'balance of harms' lacking
Menendez noted that plaintiffs "made a strong showing" that Operation Metro Surge "will likely continue to have, profound and even heartbreaking, consequences." She said, "Additionally, there is evidence that ICE and CBP (border patrol) agents have engaged in racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions." "However, those are not the only harms to be considered," the judge later added.
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/31/ice-trump-alex-pretti-minneapolis-shooting
https://archive.ph/URjTs

St. Peter police chief intervened and got federal agents to release resident, sources say
The woman, who did not want to be identified because she fears for her safety, is a U.S. citizen and a resident of St. Peter. She told MPR News in an interview that she was out in the community in her car, tracking the movements of federal agents, and recording them on a dash cam. She shared that video with MPR News. Agents in three vehicles began chasing her and trying to force her to pull over. Eventually they box her in, three agents get out of the car in front of her, with their guns drawn and they try to force her out of her vehicle.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chief-intervenes-prevents-federal-agents-from-arresting-resident

Chicago Orders Police to Document Potentially Illegal Federal Immigration Tactics
Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago ordered city police on Saturday to begin formally documenting instances of aggressive and potentially illegal federal immigration enforcement actions, looking to build cases for prosecution against the most egregious actions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/us/chicago-police-federal-immigration.html
https://archive.ph/blce1

Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Episode 519: Mask Off (TrueAnon)
We talk through the shooting of Alex Pretti, the internal war at DHS, and the reactions across the spectrum. Plus: What the hell is going on in Syria?
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-519-mask-149423058

Labour Would Rather Lose Elections Than Give an Inch to the Left
Could the Labour party’s national executive committee (NEC) be poised to inflict the biggest act of self-harm since Sideshow Bob stepped on all those rakes? Allies of Keir Starmer (yes, apparently he still has them) are mulling over whether to block Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from being selected as the candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election. Because sure, on the one hand you’ve got one of the few Labour names that doesn’t make people spit after uttering it, that outpolls the party and could shave a few points off both Reform and the Greens. He could gun for the top job, and possibly spare Labour the electoral humiliation that’s currently pencilled in for 2029. But, on the other hand, a popular and well-regarded MP saving the party from political annihilation would mean Starmer and his merry band of control freaks would be out of power and influence. Hmm, tricky one that.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/01/23/labour-would-rather-lose-elections-than-give-an-inch-to-the-left/

An organisation of workers’ autonomy? – Historical texts and current considerations (1)
The question of political organisation is pressing and we have to pose it precisely: how should a political organisation relate to the class movement? In order to approach this question we have a look at the organisational efforts that existed at a peak moment of class movement, the 1970s in Italy and try to draw conclusions from that. We find a seemingly contradictory situation. The two national extraparliamentarian organisations that were formed after the upheaval of 1968/69, namely Lotta Continua and Potere Operaio, entered a deep crisis exactly at a point when the class conflict intensified in the 1970s. Both organisations were questioned from within, primarily by local autonomous organisations of workers’ committeesPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

From Maine to Minnesota and Beyond, Tens of Thousands March to Demand ‘ICE Out!’
Popular outrage over President Donald Trump’s deadly campaign targeting immigrants and their defenders sparked a National Shutdown day of protests across the United States on Friday, as people from coast to coast took to the streets demanding an end to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “reign of terror.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/anti-ice-protests-nationwide

It’s a ‘Cover-Up,’ Says Khanna, If Official FBI Survivor Statements Not Included in Epstein File Dump
Files that were released and circulated on social media on Friday afternoon included multiple descriptions of sexual assault in which President Donald Trump was named. Those did not appear to be official 302 forms from an FBI interview with victims, which typically contain the name of the agent who conducted the interview, the date, and other information. The New York Times noted that “a significant number of uncorroborated tips” were included in the release.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ro-khanna-epstein-files

Atlanta FBI boss reportedly ousted after questioning DoJ’s renewed interest in 2020 election
The agent, Paul W Brown, had expressed concerns around the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton county, which have been perpetuated by Donald Trump since he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to an MS NOW report on Friday. Citing sources, MS NOW also reported that Brown refused to carry out searches and seizures of records connected to the election that Trump lost four years before winning a second presidency in 2024.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/30/atlanta-fbi-boss-reportedly-ousted-fulton-county

Luigi Mangione will not face death penalty after US judge dismisses murder charge
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan said she felt constrained by Supreme Court precedents to dismiss the murder charge, calling it legally incomPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

If Cuba falls, the Global South is to blame, too
On Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump had a good laugh with members of the press in the US state of Iowa as he issued a rather serious decree regarding the short-term future of Cuba: “Cuba will be failing pretty soon. Cuba is really a nation that’s very close to failing.” To be sure, this is not the first time that Trump has predicted the downfall of the Caribbean island nation, which the US has effectively been trying to destroy for no fewer than 67 years – ever since the triumph in 1959 of Cuba’s communist revolution that overthrew the brutal right-wing dictator and US buddy Fulgencio Batista. This time around, however, the threat carries a bit more weight in light of the Trump administration’s abduction earlier this month of Nicolas Maduro, the leftist president of Venezuela. To date, the US has not been held accountable for this utterly illegal and patently batty act, which Trump on Tuesday invoked as alleged proof of Cuba’s impending demise: “You know, they got their money from Venezuela. They got the oil from Venezuela. They are not getting that any more.” One would hope, then, that other countries – particularly the self-declared allies of Cuba – might step up to defend the island against US predations or at least credibly register their opposition to imperial impunity. Instead, all Cuba has really gotten are some perfunctory professions of support – such as from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who, like her ostensibly leftist predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has perfected the art of pretending to counter US machinations while doing exactly what the gringos want.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/1/29/if-cuba-falls-the-global-south-is-to-blame-too

Brutal austerity and unprecedented strike wave shatters Belgian social model
The bosses’ organisation, Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB), dubbed it the “€1 billion strike”. They were referring to the supposed financial loss caused by the three-day strike on 24, 25, and 26 November. This bosses’ propaganda, aimed at frightening workers, instead resulted in many people thinking: “Wow, is this the wealth that our work produces in just three days? And what would happen if the CEOs and shareholders stopped Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Senate Democrats reportedly reach deal to avert partial government shutdown
The deal, if confirmed, would avert a partial shutdown that would have affected many of the governments function. However, it would not stop a temporary lapse in funding for DHS, because any changes to the DHS funding bill would have to be approved by the House of Representatives, which is out of session until Monday. The impact of such a lapse was not immediately clear.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/senate-democrats-deal-dhs-funding-bill

Patel defends FBI raid as Georgia officials demand answers
Local officials vehemently objected to the search, saying it amounts to retaliation by President Trump's allies over his 2020 election loss and subsequent election interference case. The search came months after the five-year statute of limitations for federal crimes expired in late 2025. Patel dismissed the concern in comments a day after the search, saying it was conducted in a "timely fashion legally."
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/29/kash-patel-fbi-georgia-fulton-county-raid-ballots
https://archive.ph/BofJC

Layoffs are piling up, heightening worker anxiety. Here are the biggest recent cuts
On Tuesday, United Parcel Service said it plans to cut up to 30,000 operational jobs this year — notably as the package company continues to reduce the number of Amazon shipments it handles amid wider turnaround efforts. UPS said these cuts will be made through a voluntary buyout offer for full-time drivers and attrition. The reductions come on top of a combined 48,000 job cuts that the company disclosed in 2025. Late last year, Tyson Foods said it would be closing a plant that employed 3,200 people in Lexington, Nebraska — bringing job losses for nearly a third of the small town's population of 11,000.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/layoffs-piling-heightening-worker-Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

The ACLU Wants to Shrink Workers’ Speech Protections
Back in 2024, I wrote about a curious case at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was pursuing exotic legal theories that would, if adopted by the NLRB or courts, curtail the rights of workers across the country. This included the theory that the then–general counsel of the NLRB, Jennifer Abruzzo, was illegally appointed and the theory that the NLRB must defer to private arbitration proceedings even in the absence of a collective-bargaining agreement. The former theory would have invalidated a large amount of precedent established by General Counsel Abruzzo, while the latter theory would have allowed employers to limit the rights of workers to pursue unfair labor practice charges at the NLRB. The ACLU was pursuing these theories as part of a scorched-earth effort to not provide back pay and reinstatement to one of its former employees, Katherine Oh. Oh, along with her coworkers, had criticized the way certain managers treated employees and the ACLU fired her in response to those criticisms. In firing her, the ACLU claimed that Oh, who is herself nonwhite, was being racist by criticizing her likewise nonwhite bosses even though her statements contained no racial content at all. Both a private arbitrator and an NLRB administrative law judge (ALJ) have since ruled in favor of Oh and against the ACLU. The arbitrator ruled that, in firing Oh, the ACLU had violated its own just-cause termination policy, while the ALJ ruled that, in firing Oh, the ACLU had violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act. Despite losing in both forums, the ACLU still has not reinstated or compensated Oh. Instead, they have opted to keep litigating against their former employee by appealing decisions and contesting remedy calculations.
https://jacobin.com/2026/01/aclu-speech-protections-labor-nlrb

Anti-Communism in Iran: From the Pahlavi Dynasty to the Islamic Republic
In modern Iranian history, anti-communism has never been an accident or a mere ideological reflex. It has been a permanent weapon of bourgeois state power. Across regimes that appeared to stand at opposite ideological poles — the pro-Western, secular monarchy of the Pahlavi dynasty and the theocratic ordPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Indication That Alex Pretti Was Known to Federal Agents Raises New Questions Over Protester ‘Database’
CNN reported Tuesday that Pretti, the Minneapolis nurse who was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents while acting as a legal observer and trying to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by one officer, was known to federal officers before his killing last weekend. About a week earlier, he had been tackled by a group of agents who broke his rib when he was protesting the detention of a community member.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/protest-database

Officers confront protesters at Texas facility as lawmaker visits father, son detained in Minnesota
As protesters moved closer to the facility in the small town of Dilley, Texas state police officers arrived on a school bus and shouted instructions for the crowd to move back. Some of the officers then deployed pepper balls, dispersing the crowd. Castro later posted a picture on social media of his visit with 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-crockett-ice-5yearold-minneapolis-27d8a75f2e51a18d97933b5ae99adf10

‘Do Your Job!’: Protesters Gather Outside Walz’s Office to Demand Criminal Charges for Trump’s Killer Agents
“We are demanding that they bring charges against the killer officers,” said Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for Minnesota, which organized the protest. “We want the identity of the officers. We know the federal government is not investigating. They are lying to the American people. They are denying us justice. It is time for the state to do their job.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/tim-walz-ice-protest

Alabama inmate activists from an Oscar-nominated film are moved to solitary, attorneys say
Sledd said she has been able to talk to Poole once since the transfer and he told her the men are being held in separate cells on an isolated and closely guardePost too long. Click here to view the full text.

No, Tim Walz and AOC, the National Guard Won’t Save Us
On the heels of mass protests demanding justice for those killed by federal agents and demanding ICE out of our communities, the capitalist state has escalated its assault with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) executing ICU nurse Alex Pretti in broad daylight. In response, Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller posted on X, “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.” Meanwhile on Truth Social, Donald Trump called Pretti a gunman, justifying the killing and attacking various Democrats. Republicans are digging in their heels, maintaining that these federal forces can kill anyone that protests them, even in legal ways, like filming. They’re showing the public how the state can commit whatever type of violence it likes, when it likes. Democrats, meanwhile, have responded with assurances that the state, through government channels, will fight this murder. During his press conference, Minnesota governor Tim Walz tried to pacify the masses fighting back in the streets, urging peaceful protest — despite the fact that he saw the same video many others did, where Pretti was being peaceful, yet killed execution style after being beaten by a gang of CBP agents.
https://www.leftvoice.org/no-tim-walz-and-aoc-the-national-guard-wont-save-us/

Exclusive: Leaked “Board of Peace” Resolution Outlines U.S.-Led Plan to Rule Over Gaza
The so-called Board of Peace that President Donald Trump officially launched in Davos, Switzerland last week is developing sweeping plans for a U.S.-backed administration to rule Gaza, according to a draft of the Board’s resolution. Drop Site obtained the unsigned document, which is dated January 22, 2026 and titled “Resolution No. 2026/1,” from three independent sources, all of whom are in regular contact with U.S. and Israeli authorities regarding Gaza reconstruction. The sources confirmed that its contents align with ongoing discussions in Israel and the U.S. about the implementation of planned governance structures for the Strip. The resolution, which is the first of its kind from the Board of Peace, details the structure of a U.S.-backed governing authority that would assume full legislative, exPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Trinidadians Sue US for Caribbean Boat Bombing That Killed Relatives ‘In Cold Blood’
Relatives of two Trinidadian men killed during the Trump administration’s internationally condemned bombing spree against boats allegedly transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the United States.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/relatives-sue-over-boat-strikees

FBI to investigate Minneapolis activists after far-right claim about Signal chats
Patel used the podcast of another rightwing personality, Benny Johnson, to break the news. Higby had posted on Sunday on X that he had “infiltrated” a group chat on Signal, the widely used communication app that offers effective encryption, populated by anti-ICE organizers in Minneapolis. Higby’s posts appear to show communication between Minneapolis activists in vehicles trying to locate and share the descriptions and license plates of potential ICE vehicles. He argued that the chats have “the sole intention of tracking down federal agents and impeding/assaulting/and obstructing them”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/27/minneapolis-fbi-signal-investigation-kash-patel

GOP pitches student loan repayment amid affordability struggles
Republicans say their new repayment policies focus on the borrowers who need the most help, debt cancellation is unfair to people without student loans and that the latest financial strain and mixed messages are former President Joe Biden’s fault. But that hasn’t obscured the fact that student loan bills are piling up ahead of a midterm election where concerns about the cost of living could flip majorities in Congress.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/26/gop-pitches-student-loan-repayment-amid-affordability-struggles-00743153
https://archive.ph/aBCqN

TikTok faces app deletions, censorship claims and glitchePost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Episode 517: Sex, Lie, and Videotape (TrueAnon )
We talk through a series of court cases featuring the enigmatic Kyrsten Sinema, Betar USA, and the surge of ICE agents in the Twin Cities and beyond.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-517-sex-148853040

The Right to Abortion in Puerto Rico Is Under Threat
Abortion is legal in Puerto Rico … for now. But Governor Jennifer Gonzalez recently signed a law establishing legal personhood of a fetus from the moment of conception. The law gives the fetus similar personhood rights as an unborn child. For example, the mother can claim the child to get financial benefits or name it as her heir. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the United States in 2022, several measures to restrict abortion have been introduced in Puerto Rico, though none had previously succeeded. Abortion remains technically protected under the right to privacy in the island’s Constitution. However, feminist groups and activists are mobilizing and are warning that laws like this threaten abortion rights. On December 22, the Coalition Aborto Libre Puerto Rico (Free Abortion Puerto Rico) called for a pañuelazo (a mass demonstration for abortion rights, specifically in Latin America, where activists gather to publicly raise and wear green bandanas) in rejection of this law. Building off the Marea Verde movement in Latin America for abortion rights, protesters called for the protection of women rights and denounced how the state is dismantling immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights.
https://www.leftvoice.org/the-right-to-abortion-in-puerto-rico-is-under-threat/

On the Minneapolis General Strike: Now is the Time of Praxis
People have taken to the streets. The city of Minneapolis has declared a strike—the first general strike in decades. It is a victory for our organizational capacity and shows that we are not outnumbered, merely out-organized. How many children will the soldiers of the Epstein regime kidnap before people rise up in arms? This number remains to be known. But we can know this: the sleeping bear of labor has awoken from its slumber.The people, the masses, the working members of this nation, are sickPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Trump says US Justice Department ‘looking at’ Ilhan Omar’s wealth
“Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organised protests going on in the streets.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/26/trump-says-justice-department-looking-at-ilhan-omars-wealth
https://archive.ph/OwTM5

Funding deal begins to unravel as Senate Democrats vow to oppose DHS bill over Alex Pretti shooting in Minnesota
Six of the 12 annual spending bills for the current budget year have been signed into law by President Donald Trump. Six more are awaiting action in the Senate, despite a revolt from House Democrats and mounting calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment.
https://apnews.com/article/senate-democrats-homeland-security-funding-government-shutdown-f727fa0f3865990f191d4d5770e04752

Feds yank contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton after Trump tax leak
The Department of the Treasury said Monday that it is canceling all contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton after a former contractor who worked for the consulting firm leaked tax information belonging to thousands of people, including President Trump.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/treasury-department-booz-allen-hamilton-trump-tax-leak/

As LA maternity wards close, patients are giving birth in ERs: ‘There’s no system to care for these women’
Los Angeles county has seen at least five maternity wards close since 2023 and 16 since 2014. As these maternity wards have shuttered, the county has seen a rise in emergency room visits and admissions from people for labor and delivery. From 2016 to 2023, Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Imperialism 101 by Michael Parenti Excerpted from Against Empire
Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world history over the last four or five centuries, carving up whole continents while oppressing indigenous peoples and obliterating entire civilizations. Yet, it is seldom accorded any serious attention by our academics, media commentators, and political leaders. When not ignored outright, the subject of imperialism has been sanitized, so that empires become “commonwealths,” and colonies become “territories” or “dominions” (or, as in the case of Puerto Rico, “commonwealths” too). Imperialist military interventions become matters of “national defense,” “national security,” and maintaining “stability” in one or another region. In this book I want to look at imperialism for what it really is.
https://www.michael-parenti.org/article-class-warfare-indeed

Dem-Backed ICE Body Cams Are a Giveaway to Weapons Makers
Amid President Donald Trump’s violent immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, industry-backed Democrats just helped congressional Republicans turn proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reforms into a $20 million windfall for the body camera industry. Federal disclosures reviewed by the Lever show that Axon Enterprise, Inc., a weapons company and the country’s largest manufacturer of body-worn cameras, has lobbied aggressively since July on the $64 billion Department of Homeland Security spending bill that lawmakers passed on Thursday. The company’s CEO, a regular campaign contributor to Republicans, also donated directly to key Democratic lawmakers who pushed for the body camera measures. Now, the company is well-positioned to reap the benefits of the $20 million allocated by the legislation for body cameras as part of ICE’s extended $10 billion budget, on top of the $75 billion in additional funding the agency received from the One Big Beautiful bill last year. Axon has faced lawsuits for monopolizing the police body camera market and raising prices on local government contracts. Its profits have soared despite recent studies casting doubt on body cameras’ ability to curb law enforcement misconduct. The homeland security spending bill has faced public opposition as unrest grows nationwide over ICE’s tactics. But instead of organizing against thePost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Video contradicts Trump’s claim man killed in Minneapolis was a ‘gunman’
Video recorded by another witness, who was standing behind Pretti, obtained by Drop Site News, showed that Pretti continued recording the immigration enforcement operation on his phone, as other observers blew their whistles and honked their horns, and appeared to direct traffic so that cars could pass the scene. The same clip showed that Pretti then stepped in to defend another observer who was shoved to the ground by a federal officer. That officer sprayed Pretti with a chemical agent, repeatedly, before tackling him to the street along with two other agents.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/24/minneapolis-shooting-ice

Immigrant families protest at Texas facility housing 5-year-old boy, father detained in Minnesota
Dozens of immigrant families protested Saturday behind the fences of a Texas detention facility where a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father were sent this week after being detained in Minnesota. Aerial photos taken by The Associated Press showed children and parents at the South Texas Family Residential Center clad in jackets and sweaters, some of them holding signs that included “Libertad para los niños,” or “Liberty for the kids.”
https://apnews.com/article/texas-immigration-detention-7fa98244c1b0245deb4462e9dc25292f

Charity director stole $23M in homeless funds to support luxurious lifestyle, DOJ alleges
A Westwood man was charged on Friday for fraudulently obtaining $23 million in homeless funds and spending the money meant for his charity to support his lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of a vacation property in Greece and shopping sprees at Chanel and Hermes, federal and Los Angeles authorities jointly announced Friday. Alexander Soofer, 42, was expected to appear in federal court Friday as he faced the charges of wire fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/locaPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

The Year of the Billionaire Tax
In 2025 alone, the six richest men in the country (and world) became $476 billion richer. During that year, the Trump regime cut back Medicaid — the federal medical assistance program relied on by over seventy million Americans, including four out of ten children — in order to bankroll lowering taxes for the rich. The bulk of the cuts are expected to hit Medicaid programs following the 2026 midterm elections, and they will hit ordinary Americans hard. Donald Trump’s 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act will raise out-of-pocket costs dramatically and kick millions of people off insurance, many of them children, as well as nearly a third of young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. For California’s state medical assistance program, Medi-Cal, federal cuts are expected to drain $100 million over the next five years, potentially collapsing the state’s health care system. That means millions of people losing coverage and families needing to make hideous choices between food, housing, and medicine, as so many are already forced to. It means hospitals and clinics closing and tens of thousands of health care jobs evaporating. For a state already struggling with vast inequality and a homelessness crisis, it would have a catastrophic impact. Fun fact: there are 214 billionaires residing in California worth a collective $2 trillion. If you carved out just 5 percent of that hoarded wealth for public use, you could fill the Medi-Cal gap and fund the state’s health care system. That’s precisely what a proposed ballot initiative aims to do.
https://jacobin.com/2026/01/california-billionaire-tax-thiel-newsom

Israel Is Turning the Yellow Line Splitting Gaza into a Physical Barrier
The Israeli military is turning the yellow line that demarcates the more than half of the Gaza Strip it occupies and controls into a physical border. Analysis of satellite imagery by Forensic Architecture shows that the Israeli military has begun constructing earth berms—large, raised mounds of earth—in areas along the yellow line to create a physical separation between the Palestinian population forced to live in the western half of the enclave, and Israeli forces who occupy the eastern half. Israeli troops withdrew to the yellow line after the so-called ceasefirePost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Thousands rally against immigration enforcement in subzero Minnesota temperatures
The protests are part of a broader movement against President Donald Trump’s increased immigration enforcement across the state, with labor unions, progressive organizations and clergy urging Minnesotans to stay away from work, school and even shops. The faith leaders gathered at the airport to protest deportation flights and urge airlines to call for an end to to what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation.
https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-ice-immigration-protest-unions-faith-leaders-edc6c4884f8cc26be9ad34a28d82a7a5

Federal judges reject DOJ motion to detain arrested Minnesota protesters
U.S. District Judge Laura M. Provinzino wrote in her order for two of the protesters, Nekima Valdez Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, that Justice Department lawyers failed to “demonstrate that a detention hearing is warranted, or that detention is otherwise appropriate.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-judge-rejects-doj-motion-detain-arrested-minnesota-protesters-rcna255666

US measles cases surpass 400 with infections in 14 states: CDC
The CDC said on Friday that a total of 416 cases have been reported in 14 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Only three measles cases this year were from international visitors, CDC data shows.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/us-measles-cases-surpass-400-infections-14-states/story?id=129415270

California suing Trump administration over Sable oil pipeline restart
The lawsuit is the latest turn in a dispute between Houston-based Sable and California officials over a drilling project off the coast of Santa Barbara that was shut Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

PCV demands answers from the government over the presence of the CIA chief in Venezuela
The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) demanded that the government leadership provide clear and transparent explanations regarding the presence in the country of the Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, whom it described as “a nefarious figure for the peoples of the world,” and whose visit — the Party denounced — has not been officially communicated to the Venezuelan people. This was stated by Oscar Figuera, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the PCV, when presenting the conclusions of the 19th Plenum of the Central Committee, which met last Saturday, 17 January, to assess the country’s economic, political, and social situation — a situation marked, he said, by the recent U.S. military aggression and the establishment of direct tutelage over the Venezuelan state. “The presence of the highest representative of the CIA in Venezuela is evidence of the changes taking place to guarantee the interests of big capital and U.S. imperialism,” Figuera stated. He added that Ratcliffe is an official who, according to information reported in the media, “is closely linked to the military operation of 3 January, to the aggression against our country, and to the killing of a significant number of Venezuelan and Cuban military personnel.”
https://www.idcommunism.com/2026/01/pcv-demands-answers-from-government-over-the-presence-of-cia-chief-in-venezuela.html

This Billionaire Landlord Bullied Journalists Into Deleting Negative Coverage of Him
A billionaire landlord bullied an outlet into deleting unflattering coverage of him and unsuccessfully pressured several others, including Novara Media. Sunday Times rich-listed John Christodoulou, who is British-Cypriot but resides in the tax haven of Monaco, and is worth a reported £2.6bn, falsely told LandlordZone he had repaid the £263,555.69 he owed tenants of two Hackney properties. Christodoulou wrote to the industry publication, which had 605,000 unique visitors in the year to April 2024, asserting that the 16 court-mandated repayment orders had been settled since LandlordZone published its article about them in April. “Given that the article cPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

ICE memo allows agents to enter homes without judicial warrant: Whistleblower complaint
"Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose," the May 12, 2025, memo signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons stated, according to the anonymous whistleblower complaint, which included a copy of the memo.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/ice-memo-allows-agents-enter-homes-judicial-warrant/story?id=129436766

House approves homeland security bill despite Democrats’ opposition over ICE
The 220-207 vote, with seven Democrats joining nearly all Republicans, came amid mounting outrage over its heavy-handed and violent tactics in Minnesota and elsewhere. Democrats’ opposition to the DHS funding measure had grown in recent weeks since an Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, in Minneapolis earlier this month.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/democrats-ice-funding-bill

Anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church leads to arrests but no charges for journalist Don Lemon
A prominent civil rights attorney and at least two other people involved in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church have been arrested, Trump administration officials said Thursday, even as a judge rebuffed related charges against journalist Don Lemon.
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-minnesota-church-disruption-bondi-ed084f5005187f58eabe0cc627d1862b

Jury acquits former Uvalde school officer in first criminal trial tied to Robb Elementary shooting Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Communist Party of the Philippines: Corruption, injustice, abuses drive Filipino youth to revolution
Over the past week or two, the US-Marcos regime has mounted a frenzied media and social media campaign to intimidate and threaten the Filipino youth, who, more and more are growing disenchanted amid deep and widespread social ills, and are being drawn to question the rotten ruling system and seek radical and revolutionary ways to end corruption, injustice and abuses by those in power. This campaign to intimidate and threaten the Filipino youth is part of Marcos’ arsenal of fascist tactics to maintain his grip on power and preserve the ruling system, by suppressing the youth’s and people’s aspirations for change. This blatant assault against the youth is spearheaded by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the NTF-Elcac, and their mercenary hacks behind the Marcos government’s propaganda machinery. They have mobilized funds to activate and coordinate their social media troll army to drown out posts critical of the Marcos government in a deluge of spam comments, and throw their weight around to push their narrative in the press and public discourse. The Marcos psyops campaign heightened after a student researcher from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 22-year old Jerlyn Rose Doydora, died on January 1 in Abra de Ilog, Mindoro Occidental, amid relentless aerial bombing and strafing by the AFP, following an armed encounter. Another youth, 24-year old Chantal Anicoche, was taken into custody by the fascist soldiers, and illegally detained for a week, before being surfaced amid public outcry. Three Mangyan children were reportedly killed in the aerial bombing which was carried out in the proximity of mountain communities.
https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/corruption-injustice-abuses-drive-filipino-youth-to-revolution/

The Imperialist Attack on Venezuela, the Crisis of Chavismo, and the Prospect of a Continental Anti-imperialist Struggle
We denounce those who celebrated Trump’s attack, seeing it as a liberation. Regrettably, many Venezuelan migrants believe Trump will liberate us. That is why we are on the front line of the anti-imperialist struggle against the neocolonial offensive, and we call for mobilization toPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Unions and students seek Columbia University board reforms after Trump deal
The decision comes after more than two years of what they say is disenfranchisement over the way Columbia's board of trustees has handled several issues, including permitting the police to target the student body multiple times while they were protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza and capitulating to the Trump administration’s demands over alleged violations of federal anti-discrimination laws.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/union-students-seek-reform-columbia-university-board-trump-deal

House Republicans vote to lift 20-year ban on mining near pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Congressional Republicans moved closer Wednesday to lifting a 20-year ban on mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, pushing a resolution to end the moratorium through the House despite environmentalists’ warnings that it could devastate a premier destination for campers, kayakers and canoeists. The resolution now goes to the Senate, and approval there would send it to President Donald Trump for his signature.
https://apnews.com/article/boundary-waters-mining-moratorium-congress-f30b8dc9575e64b4b9e957b86409577d

‘They’re Getting Nervous,’ Says Platner After GOP Drops $42 Million on Maine’s Susan Collins
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) boasted that the $42 million investment, most of which will go to an advertising blitz to help the vulnerable five-term senator cling to her seat in November, was the largest the GOP’s Senate Leadership Fund had ever spent in Maine.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/collins-gop-spending-platner-nervous

Prosecutors barred from reviewing material seized from Washington Post reporter
Natanson, who has closely reported on the ways the Trump administration has reshaped the federal government, had two laptops, two phones, a Garmin watch and other devices seized last week as Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

What lies ahead in 2026?
As 2026 gets underway, British capitalism is entering another year in its long-running decline and disarray. This isn’t just a rough patch. Economic weakness, institutional decay, and social malaise are converging. Together they point to a system that has reached its limits. As the management committee of this broken system, the Starmer government is hated. But the anger goes deeper than just the government. The authority of Britain’s major institutions has collapsed. The police, the monarchy, the BBC, the courts, Parliament itself – none command any real respect. What’s striking is that the distrust comes from the left and right. The right sees ‘two-tier policing’ and a biased media; the left sees repression and corruption. All see the economic crisis and falling living standards. And increasing numbers draw the conclusion that these institutions are not neutral, competent, or legitimate. Westminster’s two-party system is now finished. Historically, Britain’s electoral system produced stable governments by rotating power between two large parties that could both, when push came to shove, be trusted to defend the interests of British capitalism. That arrangement is now breaking down.
https://communist.red/what-lies-ahead-in-2026/

“Bolivia Is Not for Sale”
“Fuerza, fuerza, fuerza! Fuerza, compañeros!” bellowed a man in a miner’s helmet into a megaphone. Marching through the sun-drenched streets in the haze of noisy firecrackers, thousands of miners, workers, peasants, civil society associations, and indigenous organizations in Bolivia descended on the city of La Paz earlier this month in the biggest social mobilization in at least five years. Beyond the city, road blockades led by union locals brought transport to a near standstill across the country. In the streets, the mantra was “Bolivia no se vende” (Bolivia is not for sale). The mass protests against the executive decree of newly elected Rodrigo Paz’s conservative government lasted nearly a month. While presented as the elimination of the fuel subsidy, which keeps gasoline prices artificially low, Decree 5503 would have also privatized key natural resources and implemented a wide range of austerity measures. The impressive display of workers’ might, combined with an effective negotiation strategy by the traPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

US justice department subpoenas Minnesota Democrats accused of impeding ICE efforts
A copy of a subpoena to the office of the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, obtained by the Guardian, requests guidance and policies related to immigration enforcement in Minnesota since last year. It also requests communication regarding those policies with other state agencies, as well as documents related to “hindering, doxxing, identifying, or surveilling immigration officers”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/20/minnesota-democrats-subpoenas-justice-department

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and US Sen. Bernie Sanders rally with nurses on ninth day of strike
The democratic socialists, speaking to a boisterous crowd of nurses in front of Mount Sinai West on the Upper West Side, called on hospital executives to return to the negotiating table to resolve the contract impasse that prompted some 15,000 nurses to walk off the job last week.
https://apnews.com/article/nursing-strike-new-york-bernie-sanders-mayor-mamdani-c6a23222b6275c553e78d033994a5a79

‘It Has to Stop’: Minnesota Police Chief Says Off-Duty Cops Racially Profiled by ICE
“In Brooklyn Park, one particular officer who shared her story with me was stopped as she passed ICE going down the roadway,” Bruley continued. “They demanded her paperwork, [but] she is a US citizen, and clearly would not have any paperwork. When she became concerned about the rhetoric and the way she was being treated she pulled out her phone in an attempt to record the incident. The phone was knocked out of her hands.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-racial-profiling

ICE arrests elderly, underdressed Hmong-American man inside his St. Paul home over mistaken identity, family says
The family of the man taken from the home, Chongly Scott Thao, says it was a case of mistaken identity. In an online fundraiser, they say ICE agents broke down the door, entered with weapons drawnPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

BONUS - I Want My M(amdani)TV (Chapo Trap House)
Over the holiday, Will and Chris caught up with Donald Borenstein, Andrew Epstein and Debbie Saslaw of the Mamdani media team to discuss how their video and online strategy helped win the campaign’s stunning victory. We look at their team’s success as the result of years of NYC organizing, how the candidate’s principles and policy informed the media strategy, the right and wrong lessons on political communication from their campaign, and the bizarre outsider art of Adams & Cuomo’s video output. PLUS: production, editing, color grading & gear talk for all you A/V heads.
https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/bonus-i-want-my-mamdanitv

CP of Greece, Mass event at the Athens University of Economics and Business: Solidarity is our weapon–The people of Venezuela will win!
Following the mobilizations that unfolded from the very first moment of the imperialist intervention in Venezuela, members and friends of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) from universities in Athens gathered on Thursday, 15 January, at the Athens University of Economics and Business for an event in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and, more broadly, with the struggles of the peoples worlwide. At the opening of the event, KNE members formed the slogan “Solidarity with the people of Venezuela” using pickets inside the packed amphitheatre where the event was held, while chanting slogans in solidarity with the struggles of the peoples. The event was attended by Themis Gionis, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).
https://www.solidnet.org/article/CP-of-Greece-Mass-event-at-the-Athens-University-of-Economics-and-Business-Solidarity-is-our-weaponThe-people-of-Venezuela-will-win/

Toronto Is Segregating Dissent
The mainstream media and political response to these incursions into a Jewish neighborhood was swift, framing synagogues as being targeted. This account omitted two critical facts: first, that protests targeted secular commercial rPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Judge refuses to block new DHS policy limiting Congress members’ access to ICE facilities
Cobb said she wasn’t ruling on whether the new policy passes legal muster. Rather, she said, plaintiffs’ attorneys representing several Democratic members of Congress used the wrong “procedural vehicle” to challenge it. The judge also concluded that the Jan. 8 policy is a new agency action that isn’t subject to her prior order in the plaintiffs’ favor.
https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-shooting-congress-visit-ice-5eb6749b18d59ed8c47b5eeab9784432

Nearly all Epstein files still unreleased a month after Congress deadline
One month after this deadline mandated by Congress’s Epstein Files Transparency Act, however, Trump’s justice department has not complied with this law, prompting questions about when – and whether – authorities will ever release investigative documents about the late sex offender.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/19/jeffrey-epstein-files-unreleased-trump-doj

DOJ says won’t investigate ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Good
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday night, Blanche said the civil rights unit of the Justice Department would not bow to pressure to investigate the shooting death of Minneapolis resident and mother Good, 37, earlier this month. “We don’t just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody,” said Blanche. “We investigate when it’s appropriate to investigate.” “So, no, we are not investigating. And if there comes a time when we need to, we will, but it’s not now,” Blanche added.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/19/doj-says-wont-investigate-ice-agents-fatal-shooting-of-renee-good
https://archive.ph/Gn9ix

DOJ vows to press charges after activists disrupt church where Minnesota ICE official is a pastor
A livestrPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

How many “bad apples”? – Serial rapist ex-police officer sentenced to life
“Bastard Dave” is the lighthearted nickname given to former armed police officer David Carrick by the colleagues who knew him best. This convicted sex offender, who was charged with 71 sexual offences in 2023, has recently received his 37th life sentence – this time, for the molestation of a 12-year-old girl in 1989. David Carrick is now known to have victimised 14 women across several decades. His harrowing crimes include 24 counts of rape, multiple cases of sustained violent physical and mental abuse, and threatening his victims with work-issued weaponry. Crown Prosecution Service Chief Prosecutor Jaswant Narwal stated during Carrick’s trial in 2023 that “the scale of the degradation Carrick subjected his victims to is unlike anything I have encountered in my 34 years with the Crown Prosecution Service”. Notably, Carrick made repeated use of his role in the police to enact this violence against women undisturbed. His distinct technique was to lure in his victims by reassuring them they were safe with him due to his position as a police officer.
https://communist.red/how-many-bad-apples-serial-rapist-ex-police-officer-sentenced-to-life/

Rare Interview With Iran Protester and Crackdown Eyewitness
At Drop Site, our mission is to bring you journalism directly from the ground, handing the mic and the notebook to those who are living through what we are reporting. Covering the uprising and its suppression in Iran has presented a unique challenge. The clear involvement of outside forces, backed by the U.S. and Israel, make distinguishing authentic domestic grievances from foreign-backed, regime-change efforts difficult. The U.S. is openly soliciting intel on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and offering “rewards and relocation.” Meanwhile, the Iranian government enforced a lengthy and near-complete internet blackout just as the protests reached their zenith at the end of last week. Flights to and from Iran were canceled en masse last week, as the country prepared for another round of U.S. airstrikes. Those attacks may still be in the offing, but have yet to materialize. Now, flights have resumed, and one protestor, who had spent the last month in Iran, and has partiPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Anti-ICE demonstrators chase off outnumbered far-right activists at Minneapolis rally
Santos Jesus Flores and Antonio Ascon Frometa, two detainees at Camp East Montana who both have criminal convictions, said in phone interviews with The Washington Post this week that they witnessed Lunas Campos engaged in a struggle with guards before his death. Flores claimed he saw guards choking Lunas Campos to death.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/duelling-rallies-planned-minneapolis-ice-keeps-area-edge-2026-01-17/
https://archive.ph/bphiD

NTSB report reveals Boeing knew of fatal defect in UPS plane that killed 14 in Louisville
A report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board reveals that Boeing was aware of a structural defect in the engine mounting system that caused a UPS cargo plane to crash in Louisville, Kentucky, in November 2025, killing 14 people. The company had documented four previous failures of the same component on three different aircraft but concluded the defect would not create a safety hazard.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/01/17/tvxk-j17.html

Thousands of Greenlanders march against Trump’s takeover threat
Thousands of Greenlanders carefully marched across snow and ice to take a stand against Donald Trump on Saturday. They held signs of protest, waved their national flag and chanted “Greenland is not for sale” in the face of increasing threats of an American takeover.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/17/thousands-of-greenlanders-march-in-protest-of-donald-trumps-threats-of-us-control
https://archive.ph/FaNbX

Anti-ICE demonstrators chase off outnumbered far-right activists at Minneapolis rally
Santos Jesus Flores and Antonio Ascon Frometa, two detainees at Camp East Montana who both have criminal convictions, said in phone interviews with The Washington Post this week that they witnessed Lunas Campos engaged in a struggle with guards before his death. Flores claimed he saw guards choking Lunas Campos to death.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/duelling-rallies-planned-minneapolis-ice-keeps-area-edge-2026-01-17/
https://archive.ph/bphiD

Musk seeks up to $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft
"Without Elon Musk, there'd be no OpenAI. He provided the bulk of the seed funding, lent his reputation, and taught them all he knows about scaling a business. A pre-eminent expert quantified the value of that," Musk's lead trial lawyer Steven Molo said in a statement to Reuters. OpenAI in a statement called it an "unserious demand" by Musk and part of what it said was his "harassment campaign" against OpenAI.
https://www.reuters.com/business/musk-seeks-up-134-billion-openai-microsoft-wrongful-gains-2026-01-17/
https://archive.ph/ZDoJV

>>2652471
link for Thailand halts multiple major construction projects after fatal accidents
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-orders-15-day-construction-suspension-14-projects-involving-firm-2026-01-16/

Inside the forces driving Iran’s nationwide protests interview with MOHAMMAD OMIDVAR
MOHAMMAD OMIDVAR, a senior figure in the Tudeh Party of Iran, tells the Morning Star that mass protests are rooted in poverty, corruption and neoliberal rule and warns against monarchist revival and US-engineered regime change
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/inside-forces-driving-irans-nationwide-protests

Why Keir Starmer Went to Bat for Israeli Football Hooligans
Three months ago, the West Midlands police force decided to exclude fans of the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending a match against Aston Villa in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city. They justified the move on the grounds that a violent element within the club’s support base posed a threat to public safety. The British political establishment has responded with a protracted frenzy of hysteria and bad faith, culminating in a successful push by the Labour home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to oust the chief constable of the West Midlands police, Craig Guildford. Mahmood also wants to bring local police forces under Home Office control — a move that will hand Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform party a vital tool if it manages to form a government in the coming years. When the controversy first erupted back in October, Jonathan Liew of the Guardian observed that it was “a fascinating case study into the instincts of our political and media class,” betraying their tolerant or downright sympathetic attitude toward the virulent racism expressed by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. The development of the saga since then has been even more instructive.
https://jacobin.com/2026/01/starmer-israeli-football-maccabi-palestine

Greenland Doesn’t Belong to Denmark Either
As soon as Donald Trump had finished kidnapping the president of Venezuela, he once again set his sights on Greenland. Trump advisor and fascist ghoul Stephen Miller said on TV that the island should “obviously … be part of the United States.” Channeling Hitler, Miller continued: “We live in a world, in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force,Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Trump pardons former Puerto Rico governor Vazquez
U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Puerto Rico's former Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced, who was previously indicted in a federal corruption case, according to the Justice Department. The Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney updated its list of clemency grants by Trump to include a pardon for Vazquez that was dated Thursday. A White House official on Friday confirmed Trump would pardon her.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-pardon-former-puerto-rico-governor-vazquez-2026-01-16/

Trump administration delays plan to withhold wages for student loan borrowers in default
The Education Department announced Friday involuntary collections on federal student loans will remain on hold as the agency finalizes new repayment plans. The shift reverses course on earlier plans to restart wage garnishments this month after a pandemic-era pause. Nicholas Kent, the department’s higher education chief, said the agency is “committed to helping student and parent borrowers resume regular, on-time repayment, with more clear and affordable options.”
https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-debt-wage-garnishment-de1f286a8264cb5b2c0aad939e29c2e2

‘Grow a F*cking Spine’: Critics Fume as Newsom Backtracks on ICE ‘Terrorism’ in Ben Shapiro Interview
Amid unprecedented backlash against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, California Gov. Gavin Newsom—considered a leading contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination—is being accused of giving the increasingly violent agency a pass after an interview with right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro in which he softened his criticism of ICE.
https://www.commondreams.org/gavin-newsom-shapiro-ice

Trump housing plan to allow 401(k) money for down payments, adviser says
"We're going to allow people to take money out of their 401(k)s and use that for down payment," he told Fox Business Network in an interview, adPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Ex-president sentenced to 5 years in prison in first martial law-linked ruling
Judges at the Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon on charges including infringement of ministers’ constitutional right to deliberate on the imposition of martial law, aggravated obstruction of the execution of a lawful warrant and the fabrication and destruction of official documents.
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/law-crime/20260116/ex-president-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-in-first-martial-law-linked-ruling
https://archive.ph/EKDDw

Court declares missing activist James Jazmines victim of enforced disappearance
The Court of Appeals (CA) has granted the privilege of writs of amparo and habeas data in favor of missing activist James Jazmines, also declaring him a victim of enforced disappearance. In a decision made public on Wednesday, January 14, the CA 12th division granted the petition of Jazmines’ wife, Corazon, and gave them the privileges of the protective writs.
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/court-appeals-decision-writ-amparo-habeas-data-james-jazmines/
https://archive.ph/ahF6u

Rightwing leaders endorse Viktor Orbán in Hungarian election campaign video
Other leaders featured in the video include Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria’s Freedom party (FPÖ); the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš; as well as the presidents of Serbia and Argentina, Aleksandar Vučić and Javier Milei. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also makes an appearance, saying that “security cannot be taken for granted, it must be won” and describing Orbán as someone who has the qualities needed to protect his country.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/16/rightwing-leaders-endorse-viktor-orban-video-election

Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

Prisons, probation, and crime: Britain’s state machinery at breaking point
When he became Prime Minister in 2019, Boris Johnson promised more police, more prison spaces, longer sentencing, and better prison security. Similar promises were made by Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss before they took the helm. Not wishing to be outflanked by his friends on the other side of the house, Starmer put ‘law and order’ at the heart of his election campaign, praising the methods of Thatcher. He – laughably – promised to restore public confidence in the police. However, at the same time as making these big (and expensive!) promises, these same parties have continuously made cuts to the services they would need to do this. They can promise all they want, but the state’s institutions are too overburdened and underfunded – its staff too overstretched and demoralised – to carry out any of these law and order pledges.
https://communist.red/prisons-probation-and-crime-britains-state-machinery-at-breaking-point/

No War but Class War: Revolutionary Defeatism in the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict
The war between Russia and Ukraine is often presented as a clear-cut narrative of imperial aggression versus national defence. In mainstream discourse, Russia is portrayed as the sole aggressor, with Ukraine as a victim bravely defending its sovereignty. However, this oversimplified framing serves the interests of Western imperialism, NATO expansionism, and global capitalist powers, while conveniently ignoring the complexities of the conflict—particularly the long-standing tensions in the Donbas region. From an anarcho-communist perspective, the story is not about good versus evil states but about imperialism, nationalism, and the manipulation of working-class people by ruling elites. A more nuanced analysis recognises that the seeds of this war were planted long before the 2022 invasion, especially in the political and military developments following the 2014 Maidan uprising and the subsequent conflict in Donbas. Acknowledging that Ukraine played a role in escalating this conflict—particularly through its actions in Donbas—does not justify Russian imperialism. Instead, anarchists must reject both Russian and Ukrainian state violence, embracing revolutionary defeatism. In this warPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

US appeals court reverses decision that freed Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention
A 2-1 panel of the Philadelphia-based third US circuit court of appeals ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit Khalil filed challenging his detention after finding that federal immigration law stripped the lower court of jurisdiction over his claims. Khalil’s legal battle has been unfolding in two different courts. While an immigration court was considering his potential removal from the US, his lawyers simultaneously challenged the legality of his detention in federal court, arguing that it violated his constitutional rights. Thursday’s decision finds that the district court judge who ordered his release lacked the proper authority to consider Khalil’s release petition, concluding that the judge did not have subject-matter jurisdiction over the case.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/15/appeals-court-mahmoud-khalil-columbia-activist

2nd federal officer shooting in Minneapolis prompts protests, calls for calm
The Department of Homeland Security said a federal law enforcement officer shot a person in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, saying the latter fled a traffic stop and then – along with two other people – began attacking the officer. "Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired defensive shots to defend his life," DHS said in a statement on social media. "The initial subject was hit in the leg."
https://abcnews.go.com/US/2nd-federal-officer-shooting-minneapolis-prompts-protests-calls/story?id=129234818

Pregnancy prosecutions are on the rise
At least 412 pregnant women were charged with child abuse, neglect or other crimes related to pregnancy or pregnancy loss in the two years after the Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion, the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice found. That's compared with an average of about 85 cases annually in the 16 years leading up to the June 2022 decision, though cases ranged from 29 to 158 per year over that period. The Dobbs ruling immediately gavPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

From the Ashes of the Arab Spring
On January 14, 2011, Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to resign, after four weeks of revolt in the north African country. It was a first major scalp for the wave of upheaval known as the Arab Spring — a democratic upsurge across the region, which, however, also ended in many defeats. In an interview for the Swiss website marx21.ch, scholar Gilbert Achcar reflects on the legacy of those years and the prospects of a resurgent revolutionary process today. The interview was conducted before the most recent uprising in Iran.
https://jacobin.com/2026/01/arab-spring-uprisings-civil-war

The Political Economy of the Current Uprising in Iran
With hundreds of protesters killed within days in Iran, amid a blackout imposed by a state that blocks any flow of information, parts of the international Left have rushed to pronounce judgments in a mode of immediacy that ignores history and misreads the situation. This article addresses one such claim: that Iran “is not capitalist,” has not undergone neoliberalization, and that sanctions alone explain its economic crisis—a statement that would bewilder any Iranian worker, but circulates unhindered among leftists in the imperial core. This text does not address two other determinants of the conjuncture: the reactionary political hegemony over the uprising and the role of imperialist intervention—both targets of other uninformed assessments in recent days. Denying massacres and neoliberal austerity does not serve the cause of anti-imperialism in the long term, even if realpolitik and geopolitical considerations push some toward immediate discursive interventions in the current situation. Statism is not internationalist solidarity. Nor does the immediate embrace of the situation as “revolutionary,” coupled with the dismissal of imperialism and fascism, serve the cause of revolution. Iran, Angola, Ecuador, Bolivia in 2025. Angola in 2023. Kazakhstan and Jordan in 2022. Iran, Lebanon, Ecuador, and Zimbabwe in 2019. France, India, and South Africa in 2018. Mexico in 2017. Sudan in 2013. Nigeria in 2012. Bolivia in 2010. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Russia in 2008. Iran in 2007. Yemen in 2005. This is an incomplete list of countries where, over the past two decPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

US Senate kills resolution that would have limited Trump action in Venezuela
Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, who had joined three other Republicans to advance the resolution alongside Democrats last week, flipped after they said they received assurances from the Trump administration. With Hawley and Young’s votes, the Senate was split 50-50 on the resolution. JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote. Republican senators Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins cast their votes for the war powers resolution alongside Democrats.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/us-senate-trump-military-action-venezuela

Hegseth Announces Grok Access to Classified Pentagon Networks
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok will be integrated into Pentagon networks, including classified systems, as part of a broader initiative to incorporate AI technology across the military.
https://www.newsweek.com/hegseth-announces-grok-access-to-classified-pentagon-networks-11349020
https://archive.ph/3ZVNw

Trump administration restores federal funding for family planning after ACLU lawsuit
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after federal officials alerted 16 organizations, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, that the department was pausing $27.5 million to investigate whether they’re complying with the law.
https://apnews.com/article/family-planning-trump-grants-134884db0bfd42da72601f4a77e1677e

Trump flips off Michigan auto worker who criticized handling of Epstein case
Donald Trump raised his middle finger and appeared to direct profanity toward a Michigan auto plant worker who criticized the U.S. president's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy during a visit on TuePost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Tudeh Party of Iran, Iran on the Brink of Potentially Devastating Transformations: The Urgent Need for Immediate Action to Save the Country from Dictatorship
It must be stated clearly once again that the outbreak of the current protest uprising and its expansion over the past 15 days are rooted directly in the rapid spread of poverty, inequality, and blatant injustice, as well as corruption and the wealth accumulation of a small minority as a result of the government’s economic policies over the past three decades—not in demands for the return of monarchy or the restoration of royal rule. Moreover, alongside the heroic struggle of hundreds of thousands of people against despotism and class oppression, it is evident that certain organized elements and groups, through acts of sabotage and violence, are attempting to pave the way for direct intervention by the United States and its allies in the course of the current protests. In this way, the catastrophic consequences of the ruling theocratic regime’s domestic policies, combined with the devastating impact of U.S. sanctions on people’s lives and livelihoods, have placed the country today in an extremely difficult situation. Imperialist media outlets, once again relying on their vast resources and capabilities, have launched propaganda campaigns and disseminated fabricated narratives aimed at restoring the monarchy. They are attempting to ride the wave of the people’s legitimate protests and divert the anti-dictatorship movement from its true path. On the one hand, these media provide an excuse for regime leaders to label the people’s protest uprising as the work of the United States and Israel; on the other hand, by exaggerating monarchist currents, they seek to create obstacles in the process of building unity and practical coordination among progressive and national forces.
https://www.solidnet.org/article/Tudeh-Party-of-Iran-Iran-on-the-Brink-of-Potentially-Devastating-Transformations-The-Urgent-Need-for-Immediate-Action-to-Save-the-Country-from-Dictatorship/

TKP-ML IB: We salute the struggle of the Iranian people!
Protests that began in Iran on 28 December and quickly spread across the countryPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

6 Federal Prosecutors Resign as Trump DOJ Pushes for Investigation Into Renee Good’s Wife
A top prosecutor in the US attorney’s office in Minnesota who for years oversaw a major fraud investigation in the state was among six federal prosecutors who resigned Tuesday as the Trump administration demanded they investigate Becca Good, the widow of the Minneapolis resident who was killed by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last week.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/minnesota-fraud-investigation

EPA proposes limiting power of states and tribes to block major projects over water concerns
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed limiting states’ and Native American tribes’ power to wield the Clean Water Act to block major projects like natural gas pipelines, advancing the Trump administration’s goal of accelerating the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure and data centers.
https://apnews.com/article/water-trump-epa-section-401-data-centers-42716f21a37cadf624e2d7dee05fa3c3

Cold weather and data centres drive up US greenhouse gas emissions
Last year homes burned more gas for heating while the use of coal surged by 13% to meet rising electricity demands, the data finds. Although solar power also shot up last year, overall, greenhouse gas emissions went up by 2.4% after two years of decreases, outpacing the level of economic growth, according to estimates from the Rhodium Group. The authors say the policies of the Trump administration didn't "meaningfully impact" the rise in emissions but they expect this to change in the coming years.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9r3832j47o

LA Protester Permanently Blinded After DHS Agent Unloads ‘Nonlethal’ Round Into His Face
A young protester in Santa Ana is permanently blind in one eye after being hit in the face at close range by a “nonlethal” round fired by a Department of Homeland Security agent last week amid nationwide protests against an immigration agent’s killinPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Puerto Rico announces compulsory visits to assess conditions in housing projects
The announcement comes a week after neighbors in the U.S. territory’s biggest public housing project denounced alleged subhuman conditions of an apartment where a mother and her two children were living. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities noting the family has fled.
https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-public-housing-compulsory-visits-3d24d7c4891f539fd04de99f6e968e2d

US Supreme Court conservatives lean toward allowing transgender sports bans
The justices heard more than three hours of arguments in appeals by Idaho and West Virginia of decisions by lower courts siding with transgender students who challenged the bans in the two states as violating the U.S. Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law. Twenty-five other states have similar laws on the books.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-hears-challenge-transgender-sports-bans-2026-01-13/

Congressional progressives vow to block DHS funding without reforms
The declaration by the Democratic-aligned Congressional Progressive caucus comes as the Senate and House of Representatives race to meet an end-of-the-month deadline to approve a series of funding bills or risk a partial government shutdown. The debate over DHS funding has been rocked by last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent after the Trump administration ordered a surge of federal officers into the city amid its push for mass deportations.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/13/dhs-funding-congress-progressives

Tudeh Party of Iran, Long live the dynamic, encompassing, and heroic uprising of the Iranian people against the dictatorship of Ali Khamenei
The popular protest uprising, which began with protests and strikes in Tehran's bazaar, has rapidly spread over the past 13 days to dozens of cities and towns across the country and now poses a major challenge to the ruling dictatorship. Contrary to the claims of the ruling dictator, this popular protest movement is not a creation of US imperialism or the genocidal Israeli regime, but rather the direct result of the disastrous economic policies of the ruling grand-capitalist system, and the widespread corruption, insecurity, and sweeping oppression imposed upon the nation by the leaders of the regime and their collaborators. Throughout Iran's contemporary history - including during the more than half-century rule of the Pahlavi monarchy [1925 - 1979] - we have borne witness to countless other examples of such oppression, corruption, plunder, as well as the eventual fate of the regimes responsible.
https://www.solidnet.org/article/Tudeh-Party-of-Iran-Long-live-the-dynamic-encompassing-and-heroic-uprising-of-the-Iranian-people-against-the-dictatorship-of-Ali-Khamenei/

Under Imperialism, there is no “International Law”
The widespread claim that recent imperialist bluntness, epitomized by the Trump doctrine, has “destroyed international law” rests on a false premise: that such a law ever existed as a binding, neutral framework above imperialism. From a Marxist-Leninist standpoint, this belief is not an error of detail but a fundamental ideological illusion. Imperialism has never been restrained by international law. On the contrary, what is called “international law” has always been a secondary product of imperialist relations, tolerated only insofar as it served monopoly interests and discarded whenever it ceased to do so. The present moment, marked by open treaty violations, contempt for institutions, and unapologetic coercion, does not signal a descent into barbarism. It signals the collapse of the ideological form through which barbarism was previously administered. Any serious discussion must begin with the MarxistPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Thousands of nurses go on strike in New York City
Almost 15,000 nurses walked off the job in New York City, demanding better working conditions, marking the largest nurses’ strike in the city’s history as contract negotiations failed to gain traction. Workers walked off the job early on Monday morning across three private hospital systems in the largest city in the US, Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/1/12/thousands-of-nurses-go-on-strike-in-new-york-city
https://archive.ph/Rq4Bf

Minnesota and the Twin Cities sue the federal government to stop the immigration crackdown
Minnesota and its two largest cities sued the Trump administration Monday to try to stop an immigration enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal officer and evoked outrage and protests across the country. The state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, said the Department of Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to halt the enforcement action or limit the operation.
https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-renee-good-immigration-sweeps-6ae64be5a0d6a718b658a938fb56e567

Peter Thiel makes $3m donation to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax
The ballot proposal, called 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, is still in the beginning stages of gathering the 900,000 signatures needed for it to go to voters in November. If voted into law, it would levy a one-time, 5% tax on anyone in the state worth more than $1bn and grant a five-year period for payment. Thiel would owe the state roughly $1.3bn based on his current net worth.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/12/peter-thiel-donation-california-billionaire-tax

Pennsylvania Dems squeeze Shapiro as he eyPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

The Communist Party of Turkey on the bloodbath in Syria's Aleppo: "This is what you created, it's yours!"
"The imperialist program implemented in Syria through the interventions of the United States first and foremost, along with the United Kingdom, Israel, and Turkey, has brought the country to the brink of a new phase of destruction and catastrophe. The advance of jihadist forces, particularly HTS, has targeted Kurdish neighborhoods and civilian settlements in Aleppo, further deepening the humanitarian crisis unfolding across the country. We have repeatedly stated that it is neither possible nor intended that the jihadist HTS regime — utterly devoid of legitimacy — should establish real sovereignty over the country. Al Jolani, who was installed by imperialist powers in the aftermath of the counter-revolution, has no right to decide how any community living in Syria should live, nor to intervene in their lives or speak on their behalf. For this reason, HTS’s intervention in Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo is illegitimate and unacceptable. Nevertheless, those who hypocritically beat the drums of war while deliberately ignoring Jolani’s identity and the jihadist–collaborationist line he represents are also, indirectly, lending support to the imperialist trap into which Turkey is being gradually drawn.
https://www.idcommunism.com/2026/01/the-communist-party-of-turkey-on-the-bloodbath-in-syrias-aleppo-this-is-what-you-created-its-yours.html

The Iranian uprising is at a very crucial stage
According to informed sources, demonstrations have spread to 150 cities and 600 towns across all 31 provinces of Iran during the past twelve days, including the western provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Lorestan. Several towns, along with the city of Abadan, are reported to be no longer under government control and are now in the hands of the people. The protest that began on 27 December was triggered by the sharp decline in the national currency. This development made it harder for the government to address the concerns raised by citizens and protesters. In addition, the government announced the end of a subsidised exchange rate for importers, a decision that has already caused grocery prices to rise sharply. LPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

ICE Out For Good" protests rally nationwide
Events organized by groups including Indivisible, 50501, the Disappeared in America Campaign, Voto Latino and the American Civil Liberties Union, are aimed at humanizing victims and demanding accountability and transparency from federal law enforcement.
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/10/ice-protests-rally-photos
https://archive.ph/YHjWU

Trump declares national emergency to shield Venezuelan oil cash
The order defines "Foreign Government Deposit Funds" as Venezuelan government funds in designated Treasury accounts that come from the sale of natural resources or diluents. Any "attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process" against those funds is "prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void," unless specifically licensed, Trump said in the order.
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/10/trump-venezuela-oil-national-emergency
https://archive.ph/IDVDN

Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states
The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced on Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three grant programs was having an immediate impact on them and creating “operational chaos”. In court filings and a hearing earlier on Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for withholding the money from them.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/jan/10/federal-judge-blocks-white-house-freeze-childcare-subsidies-democratic-states

US Voters and DNC Fight Trump DOJ Efforts to Seize Sensitive Voter Data
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

America’s neglect of Puerto Rico’s education system is at a breaking point
Imagine teaching in a classroom where rain pours through the ceiling, books are outdated and you have to buy your own supplies because you’d have to wait at least two months to get it from the central office. This is not a dystopian movie, but instead the reality for communities in the United States’ seventh-largest public education system: Puerto Rico. What would normally be considered unfathomable in any of the 50 states is the reality for over 240,000 public school students throughout the archipelago. I worked for the U.S. Department of Education, and after four years working in Puerto Rico, visiting dozens of schools and meeting with hundreds of students and teachers, I sadly realized what many of the island’s educational leaders long told me — that the federal government doesn’t care about Puerto Rico’s education system. For too long, the conversation about the Puerto Rico education system’s struggles has ignored a fundamental truth: U.S. government policies have systematically discriminated against Puerto Rican students. This reality is not incidental — it is a result of deliberate choices that Congress has made that define Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States.
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/5678643-puerto-rico-education-crisis/
https://archive.ph/yu2ns

A Palestinian Family Tale Made Epic in All That’s Left of You
Writer-director and actor Cherien Dabis’s All That’s Left of You is an epic for the ages that follows a single Palestinian family from their 1948 expulsion from what is now Israel, to living in a West Bank refugee camp in the 1970s, to the Intifada in 1988, all the way to 2022. In doing so, Dabis has given the much-maligned and vilified Palestinians a human face by telling their side of a story that has long been dominated by the Israeli narrative. Portraying Hanan, the female lead, Dabis convincingly ages over the film’s time span from a woman in her thirties to an elder in the twilight of her life. As the world-weary Hanan takes stock of the years, she reflects the hardships and enduring humanity of her besieged people. As Dabis reveals in this interview, the final scenPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Trump ramps up Greenland threats and says US will intervene ‘whether they like it or not’
Donald Trump has doubled down on his threats to acquire Greenland, saying the US is “going to do something [there] whether they like it or not”. Speaking at a meeting with oil and gas executives at the White House, the US president justified his comments by saying: “If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland. And we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/09/trump-greenland-threats-white-house

USPS worker fell into coma, was denied workers’ comp and fired after inhaling dust at Georgia distribution facility
A USPS worker in Duluth, Georgia, has now contacted the rank-and-file committee about a horrific ongoing experience at the North Metro Processing & Distribution Center. She says she suffered serious health issues while working during a construction project at her facility. After falling into a coma due to breathing dust and other particles, she was denied workers’ compensation. Management ignored her physician’s restrictions and then fired her.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/01/09/jmiv-j09.html

Footage From Phone of ICE Agent Who Shot and Killed Renee Good Released
As Ross continues circling the car and captures its license plate, Good’s wife, Becca Good, approaches him and tells him that “we don’t change our license plates every morning, just so you know.” Becca Good also asks Ross if he was “going to come at us,” and then recommends that he “go get yourself some lunch, big boy.” Shortly after this, other immigration officers begin moving aggressively toward Good’s car, instructing her to exit the vehicle.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/renee-good-shooting-video

Senators claim UnitedHealth is withholding internal documents from inquiry
The veteran lawmakers, both members of the powerful Senate finance committee, launched their inquiry last summer following a Guardian investigatPost too long. Click here to view the full text.