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  • At a time when democracy is under siege from Kremlin-backed strongmen to MAGA disinformation machines, this week’s Gaslit Nation bonus show offers much-needed hope. We unpack the NATO summit, celebrate a major grassroots victory in New York City, and also discuss how to contain Russia with security expert Candace Rondeaux, author of Putin’s Sledgehammer.

    First up: NATO is finally stepping up. All member nations, except Spain, have committed 5% of their GDP to defense and security by 2035. Predictably, Trump is already trying to take credit, but this shift isn’t about him. It’s a direct response to Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine. European leaders have learned how to handle Trump’s ego: offering flattery when necessary while quietly strengthening defenses against the very aggression he once downplayed. That’s not concession; it’s strategic diplomacy.

    Meanwhile, in New York City, there’s real reason to celebrate: Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for mayor is a major win for grassroots organizing and progressive politics. His campaign, alongside Brad Lander and others, championed public investment, reallocated resources from the NYPD’s military-sized budget, and pushed back against Fox News crime porn fearmongering and disinformation. It’s a clear signal that authentic, coalition-driven campaigns have the power to break through. Is the Democratic Party establishment listening?

    And finally, don’t miss our powerful conversation with Candace Rondeaux, who outlines how to contain Russian fascism and the ongoing threat of the Wagner Group. As we’re always saying at Gaslit Nation: fascists don’t stop until they’re stopped.

    Want to enjoy Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!

    Show Notes

    Support Gaslit Nation on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit


    This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.

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  • Seg1 reich zohran 1

    We speak with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich about the victory of Zohran Mamdani in the New York Democratic primary for New York mayor, the rise of Donald Trump, and the role of big money in politics. “This is the one thing that I agree with Donald Trump about: The economy is rigged — but it’s rigged against working-class people. And I think Mamdani understood that. He understood that people have got to want a change, but also they want affordability. They want an economy that is working for them.”

    We also speak with him about his decades-long career as a teacher and The Last Class, a new documentary that follows Reich over his last semester at the University of California, Berkeley. The class, and much of Reich’s career, has focused on rising inequality and its impact on society. “Most Americans feel powerless,” says Reich. “This is a crisis right now.”


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  • Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

    The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – June 25, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.


    This content originally appeared on KPFA – The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays and was authored by KPFA.

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  • Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

    The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – June 24, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.


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  • Since June 18, several news outlets in India reported that US President Donald Trump did a ‘u-turn’ on his earlier claims that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan. NDTV, Times of India, Business Standard and PTI, among others, reported that the US President had “changed his tune”, giving Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi due credit for the cessation of the conflict.

    The four-day long armed clash between India and Pakistan, after India launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 6 and 7, came to a close after both countries agreed to a ceasefire on May 10. Interestingly, Trump announced that ceasefire even before the Indian and Pakistani sides issued statements. In his post and remarks afterwards, he emphatically took credit for maintaining peace between the two countries and even wrote that the United States mediated talks between India and Pakistan.

    This claim by the US President led to several questions from the Opposition to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on whether India “opened the doors to third-party mediation“. India downplayed the US’s role in brokering the deal. According to a Hindu report from May 13, Trump, in an in-person meeting at the White House, claimed that the US did not just ‘broker’ the ceasefire deal but averted a major nuclear conflict. The US president reportedly ‘threatened’ to stop trade with both countries if they refused to de-escalate. But those within the government, privy to the discussions, told the news outlet that there had been “no reference to trade” during de-escalation talks.

    On a June 18 NDTV broadcast, senior journalist and the channel’s managing editor, Shiv Aroor, did a segment on United States President Donald Trump’s ‘u-turn’.

    “Trump has changed his tune. After speaking to Prime Minister Modi for 35 minutes on the phone today, a big ‘u-turn’ by the US President, who last month had tried to take complete credit for the ceasefire after Operation Sindoor. Trump has said it was Modi who stopped the war on the Indian side, but he still says that he was the one who stopped the war on the Pakistan side. That [latter] part could actually be true because it was after all Pakistan that went running to the United States, and then the US had told Pakistan to get on the hotline and ask for a ceasefire from India. This is Trump taking the biggest u-turn of the season and saying, it was India, it was the Indian Prime Minister that caused the ceasefire from the Indian side and stopped the war…” Aroor said.

    After showing Trump’s statement on this issue, he goes on to say, “Trump changes his stance after all and it took a 35 minute conversation with the Indian Prime Mister where he was very mildly told that this is credit that you cannot take, this was something that India imposed on Pakistan, not giving them a choice. And there is Trump giving that credit to the Indian Prime Minister”.

     

    News agency Press Trust of India (PTI) was among the first to report that US President Trump backtracked from his initial claim that he brokered the ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan. They cited him as saying that “two ‘very smart’ leaders of India and Pakistan ‘decided’ not to continue a war that could have turned nuclear”. The report was later updated with more information, where it was mentioned that this comment could be “seen at variance with his claims over a dozen times in the last few weeks” where he took credit for the ceasefire between the neighbouring nuclear-armed nations. (Archives 1, 2)

    Click to view slideshow.

    Several other news outlets, such as The Hindu, NDTV, Indian Express, National Herald, Vartha Bharati, published the same PTI wire. (Archives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

    Click to view slideshow.

    Other outlets such as the Times of India, Hindustan Times, India TV, Firstpost and Business Standard also reported that Trump did a ‘u-turn’ by saying that the leaders of India and Pakistan were ‘very smart’ and ‘decided’ to stop the war. (Archives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

    Click to view slideshow.

    Is it a U-Turn?

    We carefully heard Trump’s statement, which was referenced by the above media outlets, and found that this was from a flagpole installation event at the White House’s South Lawn on June 18. A reporter asked him what the US President wished to achieve diplomatically from his upcoming lunch with Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir and that’s when Trump talks about the conflict. Here’s his statement verbatim:

    “Well, I stopped a war… between Pakistan… I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We’re going to make a trade deal with Modi of India. But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India [sic]. This man (Asim Munir) was extremely influential in stopping it, from the Pakistan side. Modi, from the India side, and others. And they were going at it. And they’re both nuclear countries. I got it stopped. I don’t think I had one story… did I have one story written about? I stopped a war between two major nations, major nuclear nations. I don’t think I had a story written about it… but that’s okay. You know why? The people know”.

     

    Evidently, Trump’s words can hardly be called a u-turn. The American President reiterates 4 times that it was he who stopped the war. He gives the Indian PM the same credit as Pakistan’s army chief for being ‘influential’ in stopping the war. But he emphasises his own role in ghis. A mere mention of the two leaders does not imply that he went back on his word, especially when he leaves no room for doubt that he had a huge role to play in it.

    Note that his June 18 statement is not too different from his May 10 statement on the ceasefire wherein he congratulated the two countries for using “common sense and great intelligence”.

    It would be fair to say that Indian news outlets may have read too much into Trump’s latest statement. Nowhere does he go back on his stance nor can this be seen as a softening of his earlier approach. He is still very much of the opinion that he “got it stopped” and repeats it more than once.

    It would be misleading to say that Trump mentioning Modi in the same vein as Munir is akin to him doing a u-turn on his earlier approach.

    The post Did Trump make a ‘u-turn’ on his role in the India‑Pakistan ceasefire, as news outlets claimed? appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

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  • Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

    The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – June 23, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.


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  • New York, June 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by Israeli authorities’ orders that international media obtain prior approval from the military censor before broadcasting news from combat zones or missile impact areas in the country. 

    Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced Friday that broadcasting from those locations without advance, written permission, would be a criminal offense, as Israel seeks to control reporting about its week-old conflict with Iran.

    “We are deeply concerned by the Israeli authorities’ escalating efforts to suppress press freedom through censorship and intimidation,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Journalists must be allowed to report on the Iran-Israel conflict without obstruction or fear of retaliation. Silencing the press deprives the world of a clear, unfiltered view of the reality unfolding in the region.”

    On Thursday, Israeli police said they stopped international media transmitting live broadcasts from missile landing sites, which revealed their exact locations, including “news agencies through which Al Jazeera was illegally broadcasting.” That same day, the Government Press Office banned live broadcasts from crash sites.

    The Union of Journalists in Israel denounced the move and said there were no teams filming in Israel for Al Jazeera, which purchases live broadcasts from other international networks operating legally in Israel. Israel banned Al Jazeera’s operations in the country in May, citing security concerns.

    On June 18, IDF military censors issued an order, which CPJ reviewed, requiring anyone seeking to broadcast, including via social media, the aftermath of Iranian rocket and drone attacks on Israel’s military sites to obtain prior approval from the army.

    On June 16, Israeli police raided a hotel in the northern port city of Haifa where Palestinian journalists were covering the attacks, confiscated their equipment, and launched an investigation.

    CPJ emailed the police, the IDF’s North America Media Desk, and the government spokesperson requesting comment but did not immediately receive a response.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

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  • Seg kaveh iran protest

    After President Trump’s attack on Iran over the weekend, civil society leaders are organizing to demand an end to the violence. We speak with Iranian American scholar Kaveh Ehsani, associate professor of international studies at DePaul University in Chicago, who helped organize a petition against the war signed by more than 1,000 academics in the United States, Europe and Iran. “What this is doing is immiserating further the lives of ordinary people,” says Ehsani.


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  • Yes, it’s deja vu all over again.

    As the U.S. moves huge amounts of military assets within striking distance of Iran, preparing to create another conflagration and initiate World War III, let’s contemplate the slaughterfest which resulted from World War II. Look at this chart.

    Like so many of the recent military conflicts, most of them instigated by the U.S. in its pursuit of world domination, the coming war on Iran is unnecessary, illegal, and totally unjustified.

    Anyone who is paying attention knows where all this is going. The drums of war beat out a very simple rhythm that even a child can understand.

    Anyone who is paying attention also knows why this is taking place.

    Anyone who is paying attention knows that yet again, we citizens are the helpless pawns of pointless power games, and will be required to make the ultimate sacrifice of our precious lives, in the name of imperial plunder and greater riches for the corporate plutocrats.

    The problem is very few are paying attention.

    No, there’s not much time to worry about all that stuff happening over there, or sufficient calm to think clearly and consider productive alternative plans, with all the hysterical cries of the warmongers relentlessly poisoning the airwaves and opeds, shouting down the few voices of sanity who attempt a balanced, coherent analysis and constructive conversation.

    I still have to wonder …

    In terms of the few isolated individuals who might actually be paying attention, yet still go along with this march to madness, and the neocon psychopaths themselves who can’t wait to chase their self-sabotaging and bankrupt delusions of world conquest and American imperial rule, what are they thinking?

    Didn’t we learn anything from Vietnam?

    Didn’t we learn anything from Afghanistan?

    Didn’t we learn anything from Iraq?

    Aren’t we learning from our humiliation in Ukraine?

    I never hear a timidly tendered, “Oops.”

    Not a chagrin-tinged, “Sorry about that.”

    Not even a mildly rueful, “Hmm.”

    Evidently reflection and apologies are for girly-boys or the zombies of the liberal class.

    Many of our most respected think tanks now appear to be staffed with students of history equipped with no memory and no conscience.

    Jingoistic cheer leading driven by testosterone-fueled delusions of empire spews simplistic black-hat/white-hat bumper stickers. The public swoons in Orwellian silence.

    Russia bad … America good … Russia bad …

    China bad … America good … China bad …

    Iran bad … America good … Iran bad …

    What’s another 87,000,000 bodies?

    How about a 1,000,000,000 bodies?

    Or if this thing goes nuclear … 8,000,000,000 bodies?

    YEAH! Now we’re talking

    Actually it’s kind of the perfect ending.

    With horror on this scale, there is no one left to feel any shame.

    The post The Horror and the Shame first appeared on Dissident Voice.


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  • Manila, June 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partner organizations have completed a joint mission to the Philippines, a first-of-its-kind effort supported by the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), a grouping of 51 member states committed to defending press freedom worldwide.

    During the June 16-20 mission, CPJ, Reporters Without Borders, and Free Press Unlimited took part in a series of high-level engagements, including meeting Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Jose Torres Jr., head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, as well as hosting discussions with local media, journalists, and their families.

    CPJ, represented by Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi, and the groups raised several key cases at those meetings, including advocating for the release of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and for full justice to be served in the murders of broadcasters Gerry Ortega in 2011 and Percival Mabasa in 2022.

    The three press freedom groups are members of the MFC’s consultative network, which advises the MFC on the coalition’s work and facilitates selection of cases that it believes require state intervention.

    Read the full statement here.


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  • Manila, June 20, 2025—A Filipino court has acquitted Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, along with five Rappler directors, in a long-standing anti-dummy case. Filed in 2018 under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, the case was based on the allegation that Rappler had violated constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership of media.

    In its ruling, the court found the prosecution’s evidence “grossly insufficient” to establish any criminal liability. In 2024, the Philippine Court of Appeals had already overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) order to revoke Rappler’s license, affirming that the media outlet did not violate the constitutional ban on foreign ownership.

    “The Hold the Line Coalition welcomes this ruling, which, although long overdue, marks another victory for Rappler and for press freedom in the Philippines,” said the Hold The Line Coalition Steering Committee. We call on the Philippine justice system to overturn Maria Ressa’s conviction in the last case still pending against her, to put an end to the years-long campaign of legal harassment against her and her colleagues. This legal harassment began in 2018 – it’s time to end it,” the Hold the Line Coalition said

    Hold The Line Coalition Steering Committee

    Since 2018, Rappler, Ressa, and her colleagues have been subjected to a sustained campaign of legal persecution and online attacks. A total of 23 legal cases have been filed against them. Ressa and former Rappler researcher Reynaldo Santos still face up to six years and nine months in prison from a 2020 criminal cyber libel conviction, which remains under final appeal before the Philippine Supreme Court.

    In a historic precedent, Rappler was officially issued a shutdown order in June 2022, reinforcing an earlier decision to revoke the outlet’s license to operate. The order was the first of its kind for the issuing agency and the Philippine media. The site had been able to continue operating due to the cumbersome nature of the appeal process.

    Bringing together over 80 organisations worldwide, the Hold the Line Coalition urges states, international bodies, and civil society to defend press freedom in the Philippines and call on President Marcos to renew the country’s commitment to a free press.Contact #HTL Steering Committee Members for further details: Aleksandra Bielakowska (abielakowska@rsf.org); Julie Posetti (jposetti@icfj.org); and Gypsy Guillén Kaiser (gguillenkaiser@cpj.org).


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  • After the video of the Churu DSP slapping a woman constable on the back to catch her attention went viral, an FIR has now been lodged against journalist Akhter Mugal who recorded the incident.

    Mugal had gone live on Facebook from the collectorate gate during Congress’s ‘Halla Bol’ rally on June 9, and recorded DSP Sunil Jhajharia slapping a woman constable on her back as she could not hear him the first time. After the video went viral, the SP’s act drew sharp criticism from various quarters with Nagaur BJP MP Hanuman Beniwal demanding his suspension. Several major news outlets ran the story, questioning the DSP’s behaviour and demanding an explanation from the police department.

    The FIR against Mugal was lodged on the basis of a complaint by the woman constable who alleged that the journalist had edited and distorted the video and made it go viral without her permission. The FIR (139/2025) against Mughal and others in Kotwali Churu mentions Section 352 and 79 of BNS and Section 72 of IT Act. These people were accused of sharing the edited video with the intention of defaming Rajasthan Police.

    The claim by Churu Police that the video had been edited has already been debunked by Alt News. Readers should note that videos broadcast live on Facebook can not be edited.

    Mugal released a video on June 17 narrating his ordeal after the FIR was registered. He says in the video that he was called to the police station by inspector Sukh Ram Chotiya on June 14, where his mobile phone was confiscated. During this, he was forced to sign on four blank papers, his mother and sister were abused and he was also threatened with imprisonment.

    Mugal, the readers should note, is a journalist with limited resources. He delivers newspapers from door to door in the mornings and spends the rest of his day reporting for local newspapers. His mobile phone is an essential tool for his work, helping him connect with sources and stay informed about local events. With his phone confiscated, Mugal has not only found it difficult to connect with his friends and other contacts, but has also been left without work.

    Senior local journalist from Churu, J P Joshi, told Alt News that Akhter Mugal was just doing his job when he recorded the SP’s act on Facebook Live. Noting that he had been treated unfairly, Joshi sated that it was not the job of the police to abuse someone and make them sign on a blank papers. The entire journalist community should unite against such hooliganism and demand action, he added.

    Another local journalist told Alt News that notices had been served on two channels through a lawyer for playing the concerned video. He further noted that an attempt was being made to curb the freedom of journalists, which was unprecedented in Churu. The administration wanted the media to follow their diktats, but that cannot happen; the media will have to be impartial, he observed.

    Alt News contacted Churu SP Jai Yadav over phone. As soon as we mentioned the case of journalist Akhtar Mughal, the SP disconnected the call and blocked our number.

    The post Churu: FIR slapped on local journalist who recorded DSP hitting lady constable on the back appeared first on Alt News.

    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.