Israel’s Navy has intercepted dozens of ships laden with humanitarian aid, halting efforts by international activists to break Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip. Video live-streamed by the Global Sumud Flotilla showed Israeli commandos boarding ships in international waters and abducting dozens of activists. A spokesperson for the flotilla said at least 443 people from 47 countries had been taken into custody. Among them are Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela. The raid came after Israeli forces issued a warning by radio as the flotilla sailed through international waters north of Egypt.

Israeli Navy: “You are entering an active war zone. If you continue and attempt to breach the naval blockade, we will stop your vessel and act to confiscate it through legal proceedings in court. You will bear full responsibility for your actions.”

Thiago Ávila: “You say that we are entering an active war zone. You’re saying that we are entering a place where you’re committing war crimes. This is against international law. Once again, the International Court of Justice made a provisional ruling that any attempt to hinder a humanitarian mission to Gaza is prohibited by international law, and is complying with the request to make you accountable for the crime of genocide.”

Israel’s raid set off international outcry. Protesters took to the streets in solidarity with the flotilla in cities including Athens, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Istanbul and Madrid. Italy’s labor unions called for a general strike on Friday. Pakistan’s prime minister condemned what he called a “dastardly attack,” while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa demanded the immediate release of the flotilla’s participants. After headlines, we’ll get an update on the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Israel’s military has issued what it’s calling its “final warning” for residents of Gaza City to leave or face death. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that anyone who remained “will be considered terrorists and terrorist supporters.” The International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it has suspended operations in Gaza City due to Israel’s intensifying assault. The Israeli military is also warning that it will attack Gaza’s Old City — home to Palestinian heritage sites — with “overwhelming force.” Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn today have killed at least 20 Palestinians and injured dozens of others.

Here in the United States, the Trump administration has paused or canceled about $26 billion in previously allocated funds, primarily targeting states led by Democrats. The cuts come amid the government shutdown. They include two infrastructure projects in New York totaling $18 billion. Meanwhile, the White House’s budget director and chief architect of Project 2025, Russ Vought, reportedly told House Republicans to expect mass firings in the next day or so. On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance sought to blame Democrats.

Vice President JD Vance: “If this thing drags on for another few days or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off. We’re going to have to save money in some places so the essential services don’t get turned off in other places. That is the reality of the government shutdown that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have foisted upon the administration.”

The Supreme Court declined President Trump’s bid to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Wednesday. The court issued a two-sentence order, stating that it will hear arguments about Cook’s position in January. All former Federal Reserve chairs and former Treasury secretaries nominated by both parties had warned the court that removing Cook would undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, the White House has withdrawn the nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni is chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation. In August, Trump tapped him to replace the previous commissioner, whom Trump fired over revised jobs numbers.

The FBI’s domestic terrorism watchlist is set to double in the coming months, according to journalist Ken Klippenstein, who has been reporting on President Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” also known as NSPM-7. The memo identifies potential domestic terrorists as someone expressing “anti-Christian,” “anti-capitalism” or “anti-American” views. Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna responded on X, writing, “Trump’s NSPM-7 represses freedom of speech & association, investigating any organization with 'anti-capitalism' or 'anti-American' views. I ran a primary in 2003 against the Patriot Act and war in Iraq. NSPM-7 is a greater infringement on freedoms than the Patriot Act.”

The Oscar-winning actress and activist Jane Fonda is relaunching her father’s free speech organization, Committee for the First Amendment, which Henry Fonda established in 1947 to combat the rise of McCarthyism. In a statement, the committee said, “The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry. We refuse to stand by and let that happen.”

Vice President JD Vance is defending President Trump for posting racist videos mocking House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. On Monday, Trump shared an AI-generated video on social media depicting Jeffries wearing a sombrero and curly mustache as mariachi music plays in the background. After Jeffries condemned the video as racist and bigoted, Trump on Tuesday posted another deepfake video mocking his reaction. On Wednesday, Vice President Vance called the videos “funny,” adding, “The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time.”

The White House is defending President Trump’s decision to post an AI-generated video promoting a fictitious White House launch of a “historic new healthcare system.” The deepfake video appears as a Fox News segment hosted by Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump. The clip is based on the “medbed” conspiracy theory popular among QAnon followers who believe militaries around the world secretly possess top-secret devices that can diagnose and cure any disease, reverse aging and regrow missing limbs.

AI Lara Trump: “Breaking now: President Donald J. Trump has announced a historic new healthcare system: the launch of America’s first medbed hospitals and a national medbed card for every citizen.”

AI President Donald Trump: “Every American will soon receive their own medbed card. With it, you’ll have guaranteed access to our new hospitals, led by the top doctors in the nation, equipped with the most advanced technology in the world.”

On Saturday, Trump’s Truth Social account reposted the video, before deleting the post hours later without explanation. At the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s actions, calling them “quite refreshing.”

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “I think the president saw the video and posted it and then took it down. And he has the right to do that. It’s his social media. He’s incredibly transparent, as you all know.”

A federal judge in El Paso, Texas, has ordered ICE to immediately release DACA recipient Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago from custody. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, who was appointed by George W. Bush, wrote in her ruling that the Trump administration “did not present any evidence indicating that Santiago has endangered anyone during her twenty years at liberty, including her thirteen years under DACA. Tellingly, they have failed to even articulate an individualized reason for which she should be detained.” Santiago was detained by ICE agents back in August at the El Paso airport and was on her way to a work-related conference with her wife, who is a U.S. citizen.

Planned Parenthood says it has closed its two remaining clinics in Louisiana, making it the fourth — and most populous — U.S. state without a Planned Parenthood location. In a statement, Planned Parenthood’s Gulf Coast chapter said the closures were not due to a lack of need, but were rather “the direct result of relentless political assaults that have made it impossible to continue operating sustainably in Louisiana.”

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Texas has transferred a case challenging the right to medical abortions to a federal court in Missouri. It’s a district packed with anti-abortion judges who were appointed by President Trump. Attorneys general in Missouri, Kansas and Idaho are suing to restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. In a statement, Reproductive Freedom for All said, “Mifepristone has been safely used by millions for more than two decades and remains under threat because anti-abortion politicians are determined to ban and restrict it everywhere, even in states where abortion is protected. This is yet another blatant attempt at forcing a backdoor abortion ban.”

In Manchester, England, at least two people were killed and three others seriously wounded this morning in a car ramming and stabbing attack on a synagogue. The violence came as congregants gathered for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar. Police say they shot and killed the assailant, who has not yet been identified. It’s being investigated as a terrorist attack.

In Morocco, police opened fire on a crowd of anti-government protesters in a small southern town Wednesday, killing two people. The deadly crackdown came as protesters took to the streets of at least 11 cities for a fifth consecutive night demanding better schools, healthcare and job opportunities. They’re also criticizing the Moroccan government’s multibillion-dollar investment in infrastructure as co-host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. This is a protester who spoke briefly with reporters in Rabat on Sunday.

Protester: “We want this country to be in a better situation and for people to be treated as human beings and not as it is happening now with a two-tiered country. We are always asked the same thing: What are your demands? You all know our demands. We all have the same demands, the same goal: a dignified life.”

As the protester spoke, police moved in and dragged several demonstrators away. At least 400 people have been arrested so far in the “Gen Z” protests across Morocco, which are modeled after similar uprisings in Kenya and Nepal that were organized on social media sites.

The renowned primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91. The Jane Goodall Institute announced her death in an Instagram post stating that her discoveries “revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world.” Goodall was on a speaking tour of the U.S. and died in California of natural causes. Later in the broadcast, we’ll air excerpts of Democracy Now!’s 2015 interview with Jane Goodall.