(October 15, 2024)
Over the past year, Israel has launched attacks on multiple countries and occupied territories: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.
Yet countries and territories aside, Israel has also targeted one specific organization with a series of unprecedented rhetorical and violent attacks.
Yes, the United Nations. We have all witnessed Israel, in effect, declare war on the UN.
Iranâs president says Washington falsely predicted before the war that the country would fall amid US aggression and become like Venezuela.
âThe enemy had assessed that if Iran falls, it will become Venezuela,â he said in a televised speech.
âNot only did it not happen, but it became a power that amazed the world with its resistance, solidarity and cohesion.â
Pezeshkian said Iranâs enemies hope to âcreate division and rift in society through problemsâ.
âWe will try with all our might to avoid division, rift, conflicts and egos,â he concluded.
Wahab, who ran on slashing prescription drug costs and ending forever wars, will represent Californiaâs 14th Congressional District until at least January. In November, Wahab will face Bay Area Rapid Transit board member Melissa Hernandez again in a race for a full two-year term in the US House. Tuesdayâs special election was significantly closer than earlier primary contests, signaling a highly competitive race later this year.
Our Revolution, a progressive advocacy organization that backed Wahab, called her win âa national model for how progressives can defeat big-money outside groups and build a Democratic Party rooted in working people.â The United Democracy Project, AIPACâs super PAC, spent $2.5 million on the contest in an effort to boost Hernandez.
(August 19, 2026)
The group of volunteers for her underdog Senate campaign sat inside a union office in suburban Broward County, a liberal stronghold in the increasingly Republican-leaning state. It was a small group, maybe a dozen people.
But donât worry, Ms. Nixonâs political director, Rachel Gilmer, reassured them: âThis tiny room is part of many, many tiny roomsâ across the state, she said, with more volunteers also ready to knock on Democratic votersâ doors.
(June 17, 2026)
We live in an intensely atomized society, and at no point have we been more alone than today, when the old bonds of community have largely eroded after decades of neoliberalism.
(…)
When this is connected to a project of expanding the electorate instead of only trying to persuade frequent voters, at its best, the result is a feeling of equality and common cause between the canvasser and the voter: you knocked on my door, nobody ever knocked on my door before, and you brought to my attention a vision of politics which I hadnât before been exposed to. I and others have even on occasion recruited people to DSA in this way, after winning a voter over to our candidates.
In a surprise upset described variously as âstunningâ and âa shockerâ in headlines, State Rep. Angie Nixon won the Democratic primary for the open US Senate seat in Florida on Tuesday, defeating Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, the former national security official who many presumed would sail to victory with the support of the party establishment and a massive cash advantage.
Nixon, a former union organizer and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, will now face Sen. Ashley Moody, whom Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the seat after former Sen. Marco Rubio became Secretary of State, in the general election.
Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon, from Jacksonville‘s Moncrief neighborhood, beat former Trump Administraton whistleblower Alex Vindman in a stunning upset.
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member and Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon scored a massive upset in the state‘s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Nixon ran against retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a prominent critic of Trump who played a central role in the left‘s failed 2019 impeachment attempt, who was expected to emerge victorious.
She defeated Vindman by almost 12 points, despite his $16.3 million war chest, compared to hers of only about $1 million. As of July, Vindman had spent about $9 million on the race, while Nixon had spent just over $700,000.
(May 14, 2025)
The revelation of the intertwined scandals captivated Americans. Between the fall of 1986 and the fall of 1987, more than seven out of 10 Americans watched some of the televised congressional hearings about Iran-Contra. But once it became clear that Democrats would not impeach Reagan, public interest waned. Unlike Watergate, when a smoking gun tape implicated President Richard Nixon, to many, the 1980s scandal seemed a blur of byzantine Cold War diplomacy, opaque Swiss bank accounts, and a large cast of forgettable middlemen. The country boxed up the ugly affair and stored it in the attic of its memory.
It did so even as the scandal persisted and investigators indicted dozens of administration officials. In 1988, Reaganâs vice president, George H.W. Bush, won the presidency, and throughout his entire administration, those responsible for Iran-Contra dodged the political and legal consequences of their actions.
MICHIGAN â On Tuesday, August 4th, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for Michiganâs United States Senate seat, prevailing in the most expensive Senate primary in American history. The race drew record breaking outside spending from AIPAC and corporate special interests, totaling nearly $70 million, Abdul having been outspent 11:1.
An average of $95 was spent for every vote against Abdul, more than 10 times as much as Abdulâs $9 per vote average.
Big money, the Democratic old guard and attacks on El-Sayedâs Democratic Socialist leanings dominated the primary, and leave the last man standing on the Left bruised and battered heading into the showdown with Rogers.
Congress has not authorized Trumpâs Iran war. Until lawmakers either define and limit the mission or stop paying for it, troops and civilians will remain trapped between a president claiming the power to continue and a legislature unwilling to take responsibility for ending it.
The Justice Department opened a leak investigation and took aggressive steps to identify the officials who spoke with The Times. Some officials were asked to turn over their cell phones at the White House, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Some of the subpoenas â which are court orders compelling a person to testify â were delivered by FBI agents at the reportersâ homes.
The Times publicized the legal threat right away and aggressively fought back, calling the subpoenas a âbad faith effort to harass and intimidateâ the news media.
The Justice Department said it was not targeting the reporters; it was pursuing the leakers of classified information.
(March 10, 2026)
For Russia, which remains one of the worldâs largest oil exporters despite Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, the price rally directly translates into stronger state revenues.
Henning Gloystein, managing director for energy and resources at Eurasia Group, said Russia has âalready hugely benefitedâ from the crisis after Washington granted India a temporary waiver allowing it to continue purchasing Russian crude.
(March 23, 2026)
The war in Iran is spiking global oil prices, and Russian President Vladimir Putin couldnât be happier.
The war has bottled up one-fifth of the worldâs oil, putting a premium on the remaining supply, including Russian barrels.
(March 3, 2026)
For long-range defence, Iran has developed the Bavar-373 which has comparable capabilities to the Russian S-300. For short range air defence, the country has reverse engineered the Chinese HQ-7 as the Ya Zahr, and in 2021 the Zoubin system was unveiled.
Besides these copy cat systems, the country also leans on ageing Russian air defences, most notably the S-300PMU-2 battery.
However, Israel destroyed a significant number of these components in October 2024 and again during the 12-Day War the following year. Worse still, the Israeli Defence Forces learned all they can about the system in 2015 during joint air drills with Greece, which formerly operated its predecessor, the S-300PMU-1.
The exercise allowed Israel to develop comprehensive electronic warfare (EW) technologies specifically designed to compromise radars like those used with S-300 batteries: the Icebreaker missile and Haroop loitering munitions.
2. The United States has continued its effort to degrade the Iranian ability to attack commercial traffic around the Strait of Hormuz. The United States has also conducted strikes further inland, the purpose of which is unclear.
From 28 February 2026, as part of the 2026 Iran war, Iran began launching a series of drone strikes on sites in Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, targeting the Port of Duqm and the Port of Salalah, which are used by the United States. Separate drone strikes targeted ports and industrial zones in Sohar, Bukha, and Mina Al Fahal, along with attacks in the Omani territorial waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The attacks killed 19 people and injured 26 others.
(July 14, 2026)
Iran‘s attack on facilities supporting US naval operations in Oman has plunged relations with one of Tehran‘s closest regional partners into their deepest crisis in decades, turning a dispute over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz into a direct military confrontation.
Relations deteriorated sharply after Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had launched a „heavy and surprise attack“ on logistical support facilities and aircraft carrier refueling infrastructure at the Omani port of Duqm on Sunday.
Oman condemned what it described as „irresponsible acts“ and summoned Iran‘s ambassador in protest, marking a dramatic deterioration in relations between the two countries.
According to Iranian officials, Tehran considers itself responsible for managing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz under its interpretation of the memorandum of understanding with the United States and maintains that it has the authority to designate approved shipping routes.
Omanâs announcement that vessels could use a southern corridor within Omani territorial waters prompted criticism from Tehran.
According to the report, Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that it could take action against vessels using routes outside those designated by Iranian authorities.
The strikes also collapsed a tower at Iranâs Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, a key trade route for landlocked, neighboring Afghanistan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Chabahar port, which Iran had been running with support from India, has been a repeated target of American airstrikes. Iranian state media acknowledged a third round of strikes on the facility without immediately acknowledging the towerâs collapse.
At least 8 dead, several more injured in attacks on Bandar Abbas, Bandar Khamir, Qeshm Island, Sirik and Iranshahr
Speaking during an interview on Fox News, Trump said the United States would broaden its target list if diplomacy failed.
âNext week it gets really bad for them,â President Trump said. âWeâre going to knock out all their power plants. Weâre going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.â
He also said energy facilities remained under consideration: âIâll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately weâll hit energy targets.â
More than 30 civilians have been killed in US attacks on southern Iran over the past few days, according to Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani.
Thirteen US missiles struck facilities at a barracks in Bampour killing seven personnel from the 388th Brigade and injuring several others, it said. The army said âpassive defence measuresâ limited casualties.
Earlier on Thursday, Mehr News Agency reported that the Aq Tekeh Khan Bridge in the northern Golestan province had been struck by a projectile.
A US official told Axios that the American military targeted two railway bridges in northern Iran with cruise missiles as part of Wednesday‘s strikes.
The attack marked the first reported US strike on Iranian transportation infrastructure since the ceasefire took effect on April 8.
As conflicts proliferate and risks to civilians mount around the globe, embracing the âresponsibility to protectâ â an international norm aimed at preventing mass atrocity crimes, such as genocide â is more crucial today than ever before, the General Assembly heard today, in its annual debate on the topic.
âTwenty-one years ago, world leaders made a milestone commitment to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,â said Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet of Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres, who delivered opening remarks on his behalf.
Referring to the outcome of the 2005 World Summit, where Member States agreed to unprecedented new parameters for atrocity prevention, he said States remain primarily responsible for the protection of their populations. âHowever, in cases where national authorities have failed to do so, Member States undertook a promise â a promise to take collective, decisive and timely action in line with the UN Charter.â
(March 25, 2026)
When Gavin Newsom stood before a room of economic elites in New York last December and derided a âsingle labor leaderâ pushing a tax on California billionaires, he never said his name. He didnât need to.
Everyone in California politics knows of Dave Regan, the legendarily combative health care union chief who has spent decades wielding Californiaâs ballot initiative system against the health care industry.
But his newest mission is on a scale orders of magnitude larger.
The push to put a billionaire tax to a popular vote in blue California has exposed deep divides on the left, even as Democratic politicians across the country rally around calls for the wealthy to pay more. The issue is pitting the populist mood of the public against many Democratsâ fears that the measure will push the ultrawealthy to join a broader exodus from the state and take their tax dollars with them.
(June 25, 2026)
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West President Dave Regan refused to back down on the billionaire tax.
U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is in his fifth term, was defeated by Mamdaniâs most polarizing pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a two-term incumbent, was beaten by the Mamdani-backed former city Comptroller Brad Lander, a fixture among New York progressives who has often shown sympathy to the democratic socialist movement. And another Mamdani ally, democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, defeated the handpicked successor of retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez.