WokeratiSteal this story, please! Q&A with Amy Goodman - Sheffield, UK
Verdant Square NetworkHeadlines for June 12, 2026 http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/headlines
Headlines for June 12, 2026
Trump Claims “Great Settlement” Has Been Reached to End War, But Iran Says Nothing Has Been Finalized; India Condemns Deadly U.S. Strikes on Boats After 3 Sailors Killed Near Oman; Musk Poised to Become World’s First Trillionaire as SpaceX Goes Public; Trump Taps Jay Clayton to Head National Intelligence After Bipartisan Opposition to Bill Pulte; Detained Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Appears in Israeli Court with Signs of Torture, Family Says; U.S. Issues New Sanctions on Cuba’s Oil & Gas Company; Two Top U.K. Military Officials Resign in Row with Starmer over Military Spending; “Albania Is Not For Sale”: Protests Mount over Proposed Jared Kushner Luxury Development; “Dignity Has No Passport”: Pope Leo Visits Canary Island to Show Solidarity with Migrants; Detained Women Join Hunger and Labor Strike at Delaney Hall ICE Jail in NJ; Report: State Dept. Opens Probe of Iranian-Born Trita Parsi, Critic of Trump’s War; Protests Held as World Cup Opens in Mexico; Landlord Waives Back Rent for Tenants After Being Targeted by NYC Mayor Mamdani
"Cautionary Tale": NYC's The New School Guts Faculty & Staff as Colleges Intensify Austerity http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/trump_attacks_higher_education
“Cautionary Tale”: NYC’s The New School Guts Faculty & Staff as Colleges Intensify Austerity
The Trump administration is continuing its assault on higher education, but in a departure from its earlier high-profile fights with individual institutions like Harvard, it is now rewriting the federal rules that govern all universities and colleges. Rules are being proposed by the Education Department and other agencies to impose the administration’s preferred policies on thousands of schools — including on racial equity, transgender rights, immigration and antisemitism — or face funding cuts and possible disaccreditation. The pressure from the federal government comes at a time of intensifying austerity at many schools. Last week, one of New York’s most iconic universities, The New School, laid off 19 full-time faculty and 68 staff members. Along with coerced “voluntary” separations and early retirements since December 2025, these mass firings constitute a major gutting of The New School’s full-time faculty. “It’s a chilling message to all of academia,” says Jeremy Varon, professor of history at The New School and president of the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “We fear that the number will grow as universities act more and more like corporations, concerned above all with the bottom line.”
"Hell's Army": New Film Tracks Russia's Wagner Group & Rise of Mercenary Armies http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hells_army
“Hell’s Army”: New Film Tracks Russia’s Wagner Group & Rise of Mercenary Armies
We speak with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rick Rowley about his new documentary, Hell’s Army. The film tracks the Wagner Group, the notorious Russian mercenary army that has fought in Ukraine and other parts of the world. The group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was a confidant to Putin until a failed 2023 mutiny against the government. He died in a suspicious plane crash two months later. “We realized that he could be killed, the leader of this army could be killed, but its model continues,” says Rowley. “Around the world, oligarchs are turning to mercenary armies, and it’s a scourge that needs to be stopped.” Hell’s Army has its North American premiere Friday in Washington, D.C.
Palestinian Activist Mohsen Mahdawi: Trump Admin "Weaponizing Immigration Laws" to Deport Me http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/mohsen_madawi_deportation
Palestinian Activist Mohsen Mahdawi: Trump Admin “Weaponizing Immigration Laws” to Deport Me
Palestinian activist and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi, who was targeted by the Trump administration last year as part of a crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism, faces a new deportation threat. A federal immigration judge has sided with the administration and renewed removal proceedings against him, reviving a case that had been dismissed by an earlier immigration judge. Now he is taking his case directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, telling Democracy Now! that he is “technically without a backup plan” and relying on the federal courts for justice “because I believe that what the Trump administration has done is unconstitutional.”
"New Form of Imperialism": Renowned U.N. Scientist on AI Boom's Huge Water, Carbon & Land Footprint http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/ai_data_centers_water_waste
“New Form of Imperialism”: Renowned U.N. Scientist on AI Boom’s Huge Water, Carbon & Land Footprint
The environmental toll of the artificial intelligence boom continues to mount as tech companies use ever more power to run their data centers and enormous amounts of water for cooling. A new investigation by U.N. scientists warns that AI’s water use in 2030 will match the needs of 1.3 billion people, while its power use will be triple that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria combined — countries with a total population of 650 million. “Most people understand AI as a digital technology, as a virtual thing, as something that is in the clouds,” says Iranian environmental scientist Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. “What we tried to do in this report was to remind people that there’s some physics to all of this.”
U.S. Attacks Iranian Water Reservoirs Amid "Normalization" of Targeting Civilian Infrastructure http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/us_attacks_on_iranian_water_reservoirs
U.S. Attacks Iranian Water Reservoirs Amid “Normalization” of Targeting Civilian Infrastructure
We continue our conversation with acclaimed Iranian environmental scientist Kaveh Madani, who comments on U.S. strikes targeting Iranian water reservoirs, which have exacerbated the country’s water shortage. He criticizes the “normalization of targeting civil infrastructure as a part of a war.” “Who suffers from the consequences of this? The poor community, the vulnerable communities,” says Madani.
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The Dumb Reich targets #Iranian born #journalist and founder of the #QuincyInstitute , #TritaParsi
Report: State Dept. Opens Probe of Iranian-Born Trita Parsi, Critic of Trump’s War
The State Department has reportedly opened an investigation into the Iranian-born political analyst Trita Parsi in a move that could result in him being deported, according to the online media outlet The Free Press. Parsi, who holds a green card, has lived in the United States for 25 years. He co-founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the National Iranian American Council. In recent months, Parsi has been a leading critic of Trump’s war on Iran and has appeared on numerous media outlets, including Democracy Now! Click here to see our interviews with him.
Kidnapped woman joins #DelaneyHall #hungerstrike
Detained Women Join Hunger and Labor Strike at Delaney Hall ICE Jail in NJ
In New Jersey, immigration rights advocates say dozens of women detained at the Newark ICE jail known as Delaney Hall have joined an ongoing hunger and labor strike that is in its third week. Among their demands is for the facility to fire a female guard accused of sexually assaulting at least 10 immigrant women. The initial hunger and labor strike began on May 22, led by an estimated 300 detainees. In retaliation, activists say most of the hunger strikers have been transferred out of Delaney and sent to other ICE jails in recent days. Delaney Hall is run by the for-profit company GEO Group. In related news, the Jersey City Council has unanimously approved a resolution to divest from Citizens Bank as calls to boycott the bank grow over its financing of GEO Group and CoreCivic, two of the nation’s largest private operators of ICE jails.
#ALBANIA🇦🇱: #TrumpCrimeFamilyOUT Now
“Albania Is Not For Sale”: Protests Mount over Proposed Jared Kushner Luxury Development
Protests continue in Albania with thousands of people taking to the streets of the capital Tirana demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama over the development of a massive resort linked to Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law. The multibillion-dollar project would turn an abandoned Soviet weapons base, known as Sazan, into a luxury island resort. Protesters held signs that read “Albania is not for sale.” Sara Bregasi: “The government is corrupted. The opposition is corrupted. They’re in this together. So, we hope we can reach something. It’s the first time that we protest, the protest is at this scale. It’s the first time that no political party is included. So, we are very happy to be here, and we hope we can achieve something.”