We share the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression. And Then the World Blew Up - by Mr. Fish The billionaires, Christian fascists, grifters, psychopaths, imbeciles, narcissists and deviants who have seized control of Congress, the White House and the courts, are cannibalizing the machinery of state. These self-inflicted wounds, characteristic of all late empires, w

What Comes After Democratic Breakdown (Illustration by Emmanuel Polanco) Donald Trump’s first election to the presidency in 2016 triggered an energetic defense of democracy from the American establishment. But his return to office has been met with striking indifference. Many of the politicians, pundits, media figures, and business leaders who viewed Trump as a threat to democracy eight years ago now treat those concerns as overblown—after all, democracy survived his first st

The order includes financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials found to have assisted in investigations of U.S. citizens or allies. The order accuses the ICC of improperly targeting the United States and Israel, according to a copy of a fact sheet supporting it. Chip Somodevilla / AFP-Getty Images President Donald Trump  on Thursday signed an executive order  sanctioning the International Criminal Court, accusing the body of improperly targeting the United

In light of a new report, refugees in Bangladesh share harrowing tales of sexual assault, shootings by rebels and junta forces. Salima Khatun, a Rohingya woman who lost her home in a drone attack by the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, has taken shelter with her young child in a refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh, Jan. 17, 2025. | Abdur Rahman / BenarNews A Rohingya woman told BenarNews she was sexually assaulted by Arakan Army insurgents in Myanmar’s Rakhine state who

A large pile of rubble next to a building | Emad El Byed / Unsplash In early November, a small group of senior U.S. human rights diplomats met with a top official in President Joe Biden’s State Department to make one final, emphatic plea: We must keep our word. Weeks before, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the administration delivered their most explicit ultimatum yet to Israel, demanding the Israel Defense Forces allow hundreds more trucksloads of food and medicine int

A presidential spokesperson announced the repeal of a 2012 gender identity law provision allowing such practices with parental or...

Executive actions aims to test limits of president’s authority and perhaps win backing from conservative supreme court Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday in Washington DC. (Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images) Donald Trump’s spate of executive orders include many aimed at expanding his presidential powers in areas that pose threats to the rule of law and democratic norms in the US, say legal experts. Trump’s orders include the abru

Exclusive: Bobby Scott sounds alarm over ‘void of oversight’ as Doge accesses sensitive data within US agencies Bobby Scott at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, in 2016. (Evan Vucci | AP) Elon Musk’s blitz through the US federal government has triggered a “constitutional emergency”, a senior Democrat has warned, demanding the launch of an impartial investigation into billionaire tycoon’s access to sensitive data. Robert C “Bobby” Scott, ranking member of the Ho

The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet. It damages America: it will harm us all Illustration: Thomas Pullin | The Guardian An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage. Recent floods in Asia and droughts in Africa have been catastrophic, yet they have inflicted less damage and affected fewer people than the sudden withdrawal of billions of dollars of US aid from the world’s most vol

Federal workers alarmed at Heritage Foundation-backed watchdog’s list of civil servants in health equity roles The watchlist of federal employees in healthcare is the third such catalogue that the conservative group has published in the past four months. (J David Ake | Getty Images) On Tuesday evening, a federal government employee was shocked to find a watchlist that included the names, photos and work history of 57 mostly Black employees from a number of healthcare agencies