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Truthout @truthout.org · 16h

After Fort Myers city council voted against a partnership between local police and ICE, Florida passed bills targeting “sanctuary” policies. The new laws not only required municipalities to cooperate with ICE, but also gave the governor the authority to remove local officials that got in the way.

Republicans Pushed Hundreds of Bills This Year to Curtail Local Governments

As Trump wages war on US cities, GOP-led states have swiftly passed an array of laws threatening their autonomy.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 17h

Trump bragged that his administration “took the freedom of speech away” from protesters who burn the American flag during a rant against anti-fascists on Wednesday. “We’ve made it a one year penalty for inciting riots,” he said. “We took the freedom of speech away.”

Trump Brags That He “Took the Freedom of Speech Away” From Protesters

Trump bragged about his administration seeking to ban flag burning, which is protected speech.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 17h

RFK Jr. admitted on Thursday that the studies he’s cited to justify his baseless and dangerous claims about Tylenol use and autism are “not proof.” “This is not dispositive, this is not proof. We are doing the studies to make the proof.”

RFK Jr. Says Trump Admin Will “Make the Proof” on Bogus Tylenol Claims

“We are doing the studies to make the proof,” the health secretary said.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 17h

The letter called for a less strict Clean Water Act, which the administration has signaled its intention to do, and fewer regulations on not just PFAS but on multiple chemicals, including ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas used as a fumigant. The EPA has acted on both as requested.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 17h

US manufacturers who asked the incoming Trump administration for a “regulatory reset” have seen roughly 80% of their specific requests acted on in just the first eight months of Trump taking office. The industry asks included loosening air pollution regulations and pausing rulemaking around PFAS.

Trump Admin Acted on 80 Percent of Industry’s Regulatory Requests in 8 Months

Researchers and watchdog groups say the level of industry influence in this administration is unprecedented.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 18h

Ori Goldberg, Israeli political analyst and scholar, says that the deal was politically advantageous for Netanyahu. “Netanyahu was the fearless leader who fought the difficult, inevitable war, but he is now the fearless leader who brings the difficult, inevitable deal.”

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Truthout @truthout.org · 18h

“As soon as a ceasefire deal is signed, nobody bothers with the details. Gaza disappears, and it’s back to this slow, latent, invisible violence of starvation and engaging people in a permanent state of nonlife,” says Muhammad Shehada, a writer and analyst from Gaza.

The Gaza Ceasefire Deal Is Not a Peace Agreement. What Will Happen Next?

Palestinian and Israeli analysts weigh in on how to interpret the hostage-ceasefire deal.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 19h

Legal analyst Joyce Vance argued that defense attorneys face very high standards of evidence to prove a vindictive prosecution, but she said Trump’s errant direct message to Bondi would likely clear the bar. ”If this DM isn’t evidence of [vindictive prosecution], I don’t know what is.”

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Truthout @truthout.org · 19h

”It’s tempting to laugh at this because it’s all so buffoonishly incompetent,” say critics who say this revelation confirms that the president is abusing his power to prosecute his political enemies by sending direct orders to the DOJ to file charges against them.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 19h

Trump last month posted a message calling for the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, and former FBI Director James Comey that was actually intended to be a direct message sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Critics Say Report Proves Trump Is Directing DOJ to Prosecute Political Enemies

The WSJ reports a Truth Social post was actually intended to be a direct message sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

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Reposted by Truthout

Mike Ludwig @mludwig.bsky.social · 19h

Tenants Launch US’s First Ever Rent Debt Strike Against Corporate Landlord

Remember Debt Collective, the group that helped start the student debtors movement? They've announced the "EQR Nine," who are refusing to pay back rent to the nation's fifth largest landlord.

truthout.org/articles/ten...

Tenants Launch US’s First Ever Rent Debt Strike Against Corporate Landlord

Nine tenants organized by the Debt Collective are refusing to pay back rent, hoping to inspire others to do the same.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 20h

“Still, beneath the relief, there’s fear — fear that this fragile calm could break again, that the sky could once more turn against us. But for now, we breathe,” Al-Wawi went on. “We have endured what no one should ever endure. And yet, Gaza sat’eesh — Gaza will live. She always does.”

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Truthout @truthout.org · 20h

Israeli forces are supposed to conduct a partial withdrawal from the territory after the captive swap is complete. After that, Israel would still control more than half of the Strip, according to Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian. Israel will also allow the entry of some aid.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 20h

Exact details of the deal are unclear. However, it is slated to include the release of all 20 living Israeli captives, in exchange for 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 other Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 20h

Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal to bring about a temporary pause to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. “My greatest wish now is for real safety to return — for no more people to die here. We deserve the simple right to live with dignity,” said one Palestinian.

Palestinians Rejoice as Trump Announces Ceasefire Deal, With Uncertainty Looming

“My greatest wish now is for real safety to return — for no more people to die here,” one Palestinian said.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 21h

Recent polling data shows that Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s actions in office so far — particularly his mobilization of the National Guard in U.S. cities. A majority also say he has been creating chaos and disorder.

Polling Shows Americans Reject Trump’s Threat to Militarize US Cities

A majority of voters, 58 percent, said presidents should only send military forces to cities that face external threats.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 22h

The Rutgers teachers’ unions are standing in solidarity with History Professor Mark Bray, who has been targeted by Turning Point USA. The group has falsely claimed that Bray, the author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook is “a prominent leader of the antifa movement,” and should be fired.

Rutgers Unions Call to Disband Turning Point Chapter After Colleague Targeted

Professor Mark Bray, author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” says he has received death threats.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 22h

Seoul and Washington have yet to finalize their trade deal instigated by Trump’s 25% blanket tariff on South Korean goods. But the tariffs are just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have sought to deny its economic sovereignty and degrade the dignity of its working people.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 22h

Zip ties. Crowded cells. Guns trained on bewildered workers. Foul water. Forced vaccinations. An unconscious detainee left on the floor by guards. A pregnant woman in cuffs. These are the details of South Korean nationals’ experiences in ICE detention after the raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia.

After Hyundai ICE Raid, Even South Korea’s Capitalists Question US Relations

Can the US and South Korea’s tenuous alliance survive Trump’s tariffs and ICE’s raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia?

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

A recently surfaced video shows a Chicago-area minister being shot in the head by agents with a projectile while he prayed at a protest outside of an ICE facility in Broadview.

Video Shows ICE Agents Shooting Protesting Pastor With Pepper Ball From Rooftop

The minister said he was praying, inviting the agents to repent when they struck him.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Activists say such private equity “mega-corporations” gobbled up properties nationwide in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and are notorious for raising rents, adding junk fees, and skimping on maintenance while tenants struggle to make ends meet.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

“The pain of being forced out of our secure home, living in our car for months, and facing the unrelenting burden of debt humiliation and credit damage for a lifetime of trauma due to one missed rent payment I can’t explain,” said Tai’Leah Paige, a former Equity Residential tenant in LA.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Many of the debt strikers lost jobs during COVID or owe junk fees over lease disputes that have since gone to collections. Former tenants’ debts to Equity Residential ballooned with interest as they struggled to find a new place to live, trashing credit scores and limiting options for new housing.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

Nine former tenants announced their joint refusal to pay back what the Debt Collective calls “immoral sums” of “illegally held” back rent demanded by Equity Residential, the fifth-largest landlord in the United States.

Tenants Launch US’s First Ever Rent Debt Strike Against Corporate Landlord

Nine tenants organized by the Debt Collective are refusing to pay back rent, hoping to inspire others to do the same.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 1d

“The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games,” Leavitt wrote, despite Trump's previous attempts to axe parts of the program. Legally, only Congress, not the president, is empowered to determine where taxes may go.

Trump Admin Promises to Fund WIC With Tariffs. It Can’t Legally Do So.

Previous Trump budget proposals sought to cut funding to the program, which helps parents buy essentials for their kids.

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