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Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman
There has never been a more urgent time for courageous, daily, independent news. Media is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. Can you support Democracy Now! with $15 donation today? With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority – those calling for peace in a time of war, demanding action on the climate catastrophe and advocating for racial and economic justice. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!
Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman
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In Morocco, at least 2,500 people have been killed after Friday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake. The epicenter in the High Atlas Mountains was located about 40 miles from Marrakech, causing buildings to collapse in the city’s old town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Search and rescue missions have struggled to reach survivors in rural villages where some of the greatest devastation occurred. This is a resident of the village of Moulay Brahim.
Yassin Noumghar: “As you can see, our house is damaged. Everything is gone. We lost everything. We lost the entire house. There are no officials visiting us. There’s no help or aid. This is the will of God. … We are sleeping like two days outside. And as you see, our family and our colleagues, our neighborhoods, everything is really difficult for us. No food, no water. We lost also electricity.”
The African Union has joined the G20 group of the world’s richest and most powerful nations. The addition of the bloc of 55 African states came as world leaders wrapped up the G20 summit in New Delhi Sunday with a joint declaration that stops short of explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Instead, it declares, “All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition.” Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, called the statement “nothing to be proud of,” while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hailed the summit as an “unconditional success.”
President Joe Biden used the occasion to announce a U.S. alternative to China’s international development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative. Biden’s plan calls for creating a rail and shipping corridor linking India to the Middle East and European Union.
After departing the G20, Biden traveled to Hanoi for talks with Vietnam’s president and prime minister. Biden insisted his visit was not aimed at countering China’s influence in Southeast Asia.
President Joe Biden: “That’s what this trip is all about, having India cooperate much more with the United States, be closer to the United States, Vietnam being closer with the United States. It’s not about containing China. It’s about having a stable base, a stable base in the Indo-Pacific.”
Beijing responded to Biden’s visit by asking the U.S. to “abandon hegemony and a Cold War mentality.”
Biden’s trip to Hanoi came as jailed Vietnamese climate activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong marked 100 days since her arrest on what supporters say are trumped-up charges of tax evasion. She’s at least the fifth environmentalist to face such charges in Vietnam in recent years.
In the Netherlands, police deployed water cannons on some 10,000 climate protesters and detained 2,400 people as they rallied on a major highway to demand their government stop funding fossil fuel companies. The action was organized by Extinction Rebellion.
Activist: “I think there are many ways to combat climate change, and you need all the different ways. But for me, I feel that we are really in such an urgent situation that I really feel that this is necessary, because the government is not listening, and we’ve asked it for decades nicely. Nothing is changing. So, I don’t know if it’s going to help, but I think it’s better than to stay at home.”
Here in the U.S., a young activist with Climate Defiance confronted Democratic Congressmember Steny Hoyer at a public event Saturday. Activists accuse the long-standing Maryland lawmaker of paying lip service to combating climate change — even as Hoyer defended fossil fuel subsidies and his campaign received over half a million dollars from fossil energy interests.
Elizabeth: “Steny Hoyer, I’ve come here out of necessity to ask you to please stop taking money from fossil fuel corporations, so that we might have a chance at survival.”
This comes as Phoenix set a record-breaking 55th day of 110+ degree heat Sunday. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, the governor updated the official number of missing people from the Lahaina wildfire to 66. The official death toll remains at 115.
In Sudan, humanitarian aid and medical workers are reporting at least 40 civilians were killed Sunday during an airstrike by the Sudanese army on a crowded market in southern Khartoum. Around 70 others were severely injured, with many requiring amputations. Doctors Without Borders described the scene as “carnage.” The attack is one of the deadliest since violence broke out between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April. Airstrikes and bombings on residential areas have intensified as the two factions fight for territory.
In Lebanon, state media reports at least four people have been killed as clashes between rival armed groups inside the largest Palestinian refugee camp resumed last week. The renewed fighting between members of Fatah and a Palestinian militant group known as Muslim Youth came as another round of ceasefire talks failed between the groups. Heavy clashes at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp first erupted in late July, leaving at least 13 people dead. The camp, in the city of Sidon, houses some 80,000 Palestinians.
The Maldives presidential election is headed to a runoff later this month after no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote in Saturday’s election. The runoff pits incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who has close ties with India, against opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu, whose Progressive Party of the Maldives is more closely aligned with China.
Chile is marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-backed military coup that overthrew democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende and ushered in a 17-year dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet. On September 11, 1973, Chilean armed forces bombed and stormed the presidential palace, beginning a reign of terror that saw thousands of people killed or forcibly disappeared and tens of thousands tortured. On Sunday, President Gabriel Boric joined thousands who marched through the streets of Santiago to demand justice. This is Alicia Lira, president of the Association of Families of Executed Political Prisoners.
Alicia Lira: “These 50 years, more than the absence of our relatives, this is an act of homage on the 50th anniversary of the civil-military coup, and we stress 'civil-military' because civilians have enjoyed impunity for 50 years.”
Here in New York, investigators have used DNA evidence to identify the remains of two more victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. They’re the first such identifications in nearly two years. Twenty-two years after the attacks, some 40% of the victims — or about 1,100 people — remain unidentified, including dozens of undocumented immigrant workers.
A judge denied a bid by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to move his election interference case from Georgia to a federal court. A federal trial would have made it easier for Meadows to claim immunity due to his official government position. It would also have offered Meadows a more Trump-friendly jury pool and a greater chance the case could end up at the Trump-stacked Supreme Court.
In related news, a judge released the report from the Fulton County grand jury investigating Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. It shows the jury recommended indictments for 38 people, including Senator Lindsey Graham and other high-profile Republicans. DA Fani Willis ultimately indicted 19 people, including Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, in New York, Attorney General Letitia James has updated figures related to Trump’s financial fraud case, saying he inflated his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion a year — up from $2.2 billion — in order to secure loans and business deals.
A federal judge ordered prison officials in Louisiana to remove children locked up in the former death row section of Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. The judge also said children could no longer be held at Angola, ruling it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. For the past 10 months, children — mostly Black boys — have been held in solitary confinement, denied family visits, deprived of education and mental health treatment, among other inhumane conditions.
A Philadelphia police officer has been charged with first-degree murder for the killing of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry in August. Mark Dial fatally shot Irizarry at near point-blank range as he sat in his car. Irizarry’s family described him as quiet and said he was receiving mental illness treatment, including for schizophrenia. Relatives said Irizarry moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico about seven years ago and that he had difficulty understanding English. Charges against officer Dial come after body-camera footage contradicted the initial police account. This is Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Larry Krasner: “These videos speak for themselves. The law and the jury instructions in Pennsylvania, the definitions of these offenses are supported by this and other evidence. And that is why we have charged ex-officer Dial with these charges.”
Luis Rubiales, head of the Spanish soccer federation, has resigned amid mounting pressure after forcibly kissing soccer star Jenni Hermoso during the World Cup trophy ceremony. Rubiales had already been suspended by FIFA and is being investigated by Spanish prosecutors for sexual assault.
In other sports news, 19-year-old Coco Gauff has won the US Open. She is the youngest US Open winner since Serena Williams’s 1999 victory when she was just 17. Following her win, Gauff thanked Serena and Venus Williams, along with other Black women tennis players who preceded her. During the awards ceremony, Gauff also thanked tennis legend Billie Jean King for fighting for equal pay in tennis.
Coco Gauff:: “Thank you, Billie, for fighting for this.”
Coco Gauff received a record $3 million, the same as her male counterpart Novak Djokovic.
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