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HeadlinesJuly 01, 2024

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Far-Right Party Leads After First Round of French Parliamentary Elections

Jul 01, 2024

In France, the far right is at the gates of power after it won a significant lead in the first round of snap parliamentary elections Sunday — a blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble alliance, which is polling third. Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant National Rally bloc has so far clinched nearly 34% of the vote, while the New Popular Front, a coalition formed by leftist parties, came in second with nearly 28% of the vote. Sunday’s election brought out the highest voter turnout in years as young French voters were urged to come out to defeat extremists. Macron stunned the country calling for the snap elections, following major losses in European Parliament elections last month to the far-right NR party. After headlines, we’ll go to Paris for the latest.

23 Palestinians Killed in One Day as Israel Intensifies Assault on Gaza City

Jul 01, 2024

In the Gaza Strip, thousands of civilians remained trapped amid heavy fighting in the Gaza City district of Shuja’iyya, where Israeli tanks were seen advancing after another day of brutal Israeli attacks. Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 23 Palestinians were killed in the past day alone, bringing the death toll since the start of Israel’s latest assault on Gaza to more than 37,900. In Gaza’s Deir al-Balah neighborhood, survivors of an Israeli airstrike gathered at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital Saturday to mourn their dead. This is 10-year-old Belal Abu Hassanain, whose family home was bombed by Israel last week.

Belal Abu Hassanain: “I went to check out our rooftop, and they struck us. I was bombed. I flew off the rooftop and fell. When I fell, I was shattered. My grandfather started screaming. I went out to see what was happening. My grandfather was telling us that our home was bombed. When I heard the word 'bombed,' I went to check the room where I had been sleeping. I found out that my mother and brother had been martyred.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Government Media Office says another journalist has been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza — the 153rd such deadly attack it has reported since October. Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Sharia died of wounds two days after an Israeli airstrike targeted his home in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. 

130,000 March in Tel Aviv to Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Prisoner Swap

Jul 01, 2024

In Israel, an estimated 130,000 protesters marched in Tel Aviv Saturday evening, demanding an immediate ceasefire deal in Gaza, a prisoner swap that would see all Israelis held hostage by Hamas released, and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. This is Snir Daan, whose cousin is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

Snir Daan: “The one thing standing between us and our loved ones is Netanyahu’s stubborn insistence to not end this war as a part of a deal. The continuation of this war means the murder of the hostages by Israelis’ government. The blood is on your hands.”

Meanwhile, thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men held protests over the weekend after Israel’s high court lifted an exemption to mandatory military service for members of conservative religious groups.

Thousands Flee Looting and Fighting as RSF Captures Key Sudanese City

Jul 01, 2024

In Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group claims it has captured the city of Sinjah, a key state capital in southeastern Sudan. Tens of thousands of residents fled the city ahead of the RSF’s advance. Those who remain report RSF fighters have been seen widely looting homes and shops. Last week, the United Nations’ hunger monitor warned over 750,000 people in Sudan are facing “catastrophic” levels of extreme hunger, while more than 8 million face food shortages that could lead to malnutrition or even death. 

Beryl Makes Landfall After Becoming Earliest-Ever Category 4 Atlantic Hurricane

Jul 01, 2024

Hurricane Beryl is making landfall on the Windward Islands, with meteorologists warning the Category 3 storm will bring life-threatening winds and storm surge across southeastern Caribbean nations. Hurricane warnings were issued in Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Grenada and Tobago. Over the weekend, Beryl reached Category 4 status, becoming the earliest such Atlantic hurricane on record. It’s being fueled by an unprecedented ocean heat wave driven by the climate crisis.

Supreme Court Overturns Decades of Precedent in Major “Power Grab” for Corporations

Jul 01, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has struck down four decades of precedent which established that judges should defer to federal agencies on interpreting a law if Congress did not specifically address the issue. On Friday, justices ruled 6 to 3 to overturn the legal precedent, known as the Chevron doctrine. Critics call the court’s ruling a major power grab by corporate interests. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent, “In every sphere of current or future federal regulation, expect courts from now on to play a commanding role. It is not a role Congress has given them. … It is a role this court has now claimed for itself, as well as other judges.”

Supreme Court Rules That Cities Can Criminalize Sleeping in Public

Jul 01, 2024

In another 6-3 ruling on Friday, Supreme Court justices ruled that local governments can criminalize sleeping and camping on public property, banning encampments of unhoused people. In a scathing dissent joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the minority, “Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option. … For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.” We’ll have more on the Supreme Court’s rulings later in the broadcast.

Steve Bannon to Report to Prison After Contempt of Congress Conviction

Jul 01, 2024

President Trump’s former top political adviser is reporting to a federal prison today after he was found guilty of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Steve Bannon is set to begin a four-month sentence after the Supreme Court declined Bannon’s request that it intervene. Just last week, top congressional Republicans led by House Speaker Mike Johnson filed an amicus brief on Bannon’s behalf asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to keep Bannon out of jail. Bannon still faces criminal charges in New York for allegedly defrauding donors to an anti-immigrant nonprofit called We Build the Wall out of more than $15 million and for laundering the proceeds. 

Democrats Have “Serious Conversation” About Biden’s Disastrous Debate Performance

Jul 01, 2024

Democratic leaders are defending President Biden after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump last week, when Biden appeared halting, disjointed, and often seemed to lose his train of thought. Prominent Democrats rejecting calls for the president to step aside include Biden surrogates Senators Raphael Warnock and Chris Coons, Congressmember Jim Clyburn and Maryland Governor Wes Moore. Democratic strategist David Axelrod wrote, “Unless the [President], himself, decides to quit — which he won’t — that issue is settled.” This comes as a new CBS News poll finds 72% of registered U.S. voters believe Biden does not possess the mental and cognitive health required to be president.

On Friday, The New York Times editorial board published an editorial titled “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s editorial board similarly called on Biden to bow out. Meanwhile, Maryland Democratic Congressmember Jamie Raskin told MSNBC there are conversations among top Democrats about nominating someone other than Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention in August. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin: “We’re having a serious conversation about what to do. One thing I can tell you is that regardless of what President Biden decides, our party is going to be unified, and our party also needs him at the very center of our deliberations in our campaign. And so, whether he’s the candidate or someone else is the candidate, he is going to be the keynote speaker at our convention.”

Reformer Masoud Pezeshkian to Face Saeed Jalili in Iran Runoff Presidential Vote

Jul 01, 2024

In Iran, reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian will face off against conservative Saeed Jalili in a runoff election set for July 5, after neither candidate received enough votes in a weekend poll to win the presidency outright. Fewer than 25 million Iranians voted in the contest to replace former President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. That’s just 40% of eligible voters — the lowest turnout in any Iranian election since the 1979 revolution.

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Georgian Parliament Advances Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation That Would Ban Pride Events

Jul 01, 2024

Millions of people took to the streets of cities across the globe over the weekend to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride events. In Bogotá, Colombia, thousands of Pride participants marched against so-called “conversion therapy” which aims to change a person’s sexuality through interventions. A bill under consideration in Colombia’s Legislature would ban the practice, which has been described by a U.N. expert on sexual orientation as “torture.”

In the Republic of Georgia, lawmakers have granted initial approval to several bills cracking down on LGBTQ+ rights, including bans on the so-called propaganda of same-sex relationships, gender reassignment surgery and even the display of rainbow flags. The bills mirror anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by Russia. This is Tamar Jakeli, director of Tblisi Pride in Georgia’s capital city.

Tamar Jakeli: “Pride march or Pride events could no longer be held legally. So, even though in the past, practically, we had difficulties holding these, now it’s going to be illegal. And basically, if I want to hold a Pride march or any demonstration, in fact, about LGBT rights, at first I will get fined, and then I might even face charges, like to go to prison.”

Biden Pardons Thousands of Veterans Convicted Under Gay Sex Ban

Jul 01, 2024

Here in the United States, President Biden has pardoned thousands of U.S. military veterans convicted under laws banning gay sex under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In a separate declaration, Biden described the anti-LGBTQ “Lavender Scare” that began in the 1950s as a “shameful chapter in our Nation’s history.” The White House says up to 10,000 LGBTQ+ federal employees were investigated and lost their jobs simply because of who they were and whom they loved.

“Queers to Biden: Stop Arming Israel”: Protests Erupt as Biden Speaks at Stonewall Monument

Jul 01, 2024

On Friday, President Biden flew to New York City, where he spoke at the opening ceremony of the newly constructed Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. The memorial is built on the site of a gay and trans-friendly bar called the Stonewall Inn, which was raided by New York City police on June 28, 1969. As officers began dragging some of the patrons out, the community, led largely by trans women, fought back, sparking three days of rioting and resistance that launched the modern-day LGBTQ movement. This is President Biden.

President Joe Biden: “Fifty-five years ago today on this hallowed ground, a pivotal story for our nation unfolded. The soul of the nation was literally tested. That’s not hyperbole. The soul of the nation was tested. And the heart of this movement was ignited, and the course of history has changed forever, not just here, but I’ve traveled around the world. They look to us. They look to us, and it’s part of our foreign policy, as well, now.”

As Biden addressed the Stonewall National Monument’s grand opening, queer and trans activists held protests, unfurling banners reading “Queers to Biden: Stop Arming Israel” and “From New York to Gaza: Stonewall was an Intifada.” Stonewall veteran and legendary trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy said in a statement, “Stonewall was about kicking the cops out of our lives. Biden can’t come here and pretend to support us while he drops bombs on people in Gaza. The girls and guys will keep on fighting, chanting, marching til every damn person is free, including Palestinians.”

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