News Headlines Nov. 22, 2024

U.S. House Passes Bill Allowing Trump to Silence Critics, Label Nonprofits as Terror Groups

Nov 22, 2024

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved H.R. 9495, dubbed the “nonprofit killer” by civil society groups. The measure would give the incoming Trump administration broad authority to go after its critics by revoking the tax-exempt status of any group it labels a “terrorist supporting organization,” with no evidence needed. The bill passed on a 219-184 vote, with 15 Democrats joining Republicans. H.R. 9495 has the support of the Anti-Defamation League and other Israel lobby groups. Critics warn the law would immediately target organizations fighting for Palestinian rights. The bill’s fate in the Senate remains uncertain. We’ll have more later in the broadcast.

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COP29 Latest Draft Calls for $1.3T in Climate Funding, But Civil Society Orgs Say It Falls Far Short

Nov 22, 2024

Azerbaijan’s delegation to the COP29 United Nations climate summit has released the latest draft of a climate financing deal, calling for the delivery of $1.3 trillion per year by 2035. But the text only calls on wealthier, more polluting countries to pay $250 billion per year to poorer nations bearing the brunt of the crisis. The group War on Want called the latest draft an “insult,” adding it’s “nowhere near the public, grant-based climate finance the planet and people urgently need.” Negotiations are expected to continue through the weekend. We’ll have the latest from right here at COP29 after headlines.

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Israel’s Genocide in Gaza Continues After ICC Arrest Warrants, with Attacks on Hospital, Shelters

Nov 22, 2024

In Gaza, Israel’s deadly attacks are continuing a day after the ICC issued historic arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In north Gaza, the beleaguered Kamal Adwan Hospital warns it will turn into a mass grave if no medical supplies are allowed in as it remains besieged and under attack from Israeli forces. One attack shut down the main power generator Thursday, while ongoing bombing punctured the hospital’s water tanks. The hospital is still caring for 85 patients, including babies, children and patients in critical condition.

In Gaza City, rescuers searched the rubble today after at least 20 Palestinians, including children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a building housing displaced families. This is a relative of a young boy killed in the attack.

Ibrahim al-Dayeh: “This building has been hit three times. Three times. And every time, people were massacred. Most of it was gone. Nobody was left. All of them are martyred today. A whole family lays here. A whole family has been wiped away. I swear to God, the whole family is wiped from the civil registry, because of you, Israel. You kill civilians.”

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Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Level Beirut Building, Kill 2 More Paramedics

Nov 22, 2024

In southern Lebanon, an Israeli air attack has killed another two paramedics, adding to the more than 220 health workers who have been killed by Israel in Lebanon. Separately, an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs leveled at least one massive building earlier today.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, a coalition of rights groups are suing the Dutch government for providing arms to Israel and failing to prevent genocide in Gaza.

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Trump Taps Ex-Impeachment Lawyer, Ex-Florida AG Pam Bondi to Lead DOJ After Matt Gaetz Withdraws

Nov 22, 2024

Trump has named his former impeachment lawyer and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his new pick for attorney general Thursday, after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration. At least four Republican senators adamantly opposed Gaetz’s confirmation amid a firestorm over sexual misconduct allegations.

As Florida’s top prosecutor, Pam Bondi led a failed campaign to overturn the Affordable Care Act and fought to uphold Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage. She now works with the right-wing think tank America First Policy Institute. The news outlet The Lever reports Pam Bondi’s brother, Brad Bondi, has represented Elon Musk and Tesla against federal securities fraud charges.

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Brazil’s Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Indicted over 2022 Coup Plot Against Rival Pres. Lula

Nov 22, 2024

Image Credit: Marina Uezima / Reuters Connect

Brazil’s federal police force has recommended criminal charges against far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro for attempting a coup as he attempted to cling to power in the wake of the 2022 presidential election. The recommended charges against Bolsonaro, along with 36 former aides and Cabinet members, came as CNN Brazil reported Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of a plot to assassinate then-President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Five people, including a former adviser to Bolsonaro, were arrested over the alleged conspiracy this week. On Thursday, President Lula spoke publicly about the plot for the first time.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: “I can assure you that I am a man who has much more to be thankful for because I am alive. The attempt to poison me and Vice President Alckmin did not work, and we are still here.”

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Kremlin Says It Fired New Hypersonic Missile, Not ICBM, in Attack on Dnipro, Ukraine

Nov 22, 2024

The Kremlin has denied claims by Ukraine that Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attack had instead used a new type of intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile carrying nonnuclear payloads. The Kremlin called the strike a warning to the United States and United Kingdom for allowing Ukraine to fire U.S.- and British-made missiles at targets deep inside Russia.

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42 Shia Muslims Killed in Attack on Convoy in Pakistan’s Northwest

Nov 22, 2024

In Pakistan, at least 42 people were killed and more than a dozen critically injured Thursday when gunmen opened fire on a convoy of 200 vehicles traveling through a remote northwestern region near the Afghan border. Witnesses say about 10 assailants appeared to target Shia Muslims, first attacking a police escort before firing indiscriminately on buses and cars. It’s the latest in a series of deadly sectarian clashes between majority Sunnis and minority Shias in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region that have killed dozens of people in recent months.

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U.S. Prosecutors Indict India’s Wealthiest Man, Gautam Adani, on Bribery Charges

Nov 22, 2024

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have indicted India’s wealthiest man, Gautam Adani, and several associates on multiple counts of fraud under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a U.S. anti-bribery law. Prosecutors accuse Adani of leading a $250 million bribery scheme in India to obtain solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars — and then covering up the graft to raise money from U.S. and international investors. Adani, who is listed as the world’s 19th richest person, with a net worth of more than $85 billion, is a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has repeatedly helped the Adani Group win lucrative government contracts.

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New York Union Members Join Climate Activists Calling for 15 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy

Nov 22, 2024

Image Credit: Public Power NY

Back in the U.S., over 200 New Yorkers, including activists, union members and elected leaders, gathered to call on Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York Power Authority to build 15 gigawatts of renewable energy. New York has proposed building just 3.5 gigawatts of renewable energy. This is Dalourny Nemorin of South Bronx Unite.

Dalourny Nemorin: “2025 is coming, and the world is literally on fire, brush fires everywhere. The Bronx has the highest brush fires in the past two weeks. And we have a Democratic governor and a Democratic majority in Albany. This is not the time to slow down on reforms. Fifteen gigawatts is possible.”

New York City Assembly member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani warned Governor Hochul is legally bound to fulfill New York’s climate goals as laid out in the Build Public Renewables Act.

Zohran Mamdani: “If you want to know how we can defeat the Donald Trump far-right movement, it’s by showing that we actually have a workable alternative, because if working-class people can’t breathe the air, if they can’t afford to live in the city they call home because they can’t find a union job, and if they look around at their favorite parks being on fire, why would they trust us?”

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Family and Supporters Demand Justice for Kansas City-Area Mother and Baby Killed by Police

Nov 22, 2024

In Kansas City, Missouri, community members are calling for accountability after a 34-year-old mother, Maria Pike, and her 2-month-old daughter Destinii Hope were killed in an altercation with police, where officers acknowledged they fired at least one shot. Their family members are demanding the release of body-camera footage.

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National Book Award Winner Lena Khalaf Tuffaha Calls on Writers to Oppose Israeli’s Genocide

Nov 22, 2024

Palestinian American poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha called on writers to use the power of words and their platforms to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza as she accepted the National Book Award Wednesday for her poetry collection about Palestine, “Something About Living.”

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha: “I want us to feel and be uncomfortable and be disoriented and be angry and get up and demand that any administration, no matter what letter it has at the end of its name — D, R, whatever — that any administration, that we pay for, should stop funding and arming a genocide in Gaza.”

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