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HeadlinesAugust 28, 2025

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Four More Palestinians Starve to Death as Israeli Tanks Advance on Gaza City

Aug 28, 2025

A column of Israeli tanks pushed further into the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, shelling Palestinian homes and prompting terrified residents to flee. The offensive came as Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 people, while medical workers reported four more deaths from famine and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, including two children. That brings the total number of starvation-related deaths in Gaza to 317. This comes as new research published in The Lancet finds nearly a third of outpatients treated by the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières in its Gaza field hospitals were children under the age of 15. MSF warns that explosive weapons designed to be used in open battlefields are increasingly being used to target Palestinians in urban areas.

U.N. Security Council Members, Except for U.S., Condemn “Man-Made Crisis” in Gaza

Aug 28, 2025

At the United Nations, 14 of the Security Council’s 15 members issued a joint statement Wednesday calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, a surge of humanitarian aid and for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery. Only the United States opposed the statement. Guyanese diplomat Trishala Persaud spoke to reporters, flanked by other U.N. ambassadors demanding an end to Israel’s siege.

Trishala Persaud: “We note that at least 41,000 children are at heightened risk of death from malnutrition between now and June 2026. This is a man-made crisis. The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately.”

Jewish Peace Activists Demand California Senators End Support for Israel’s Assault on Gaza

Aug 28, 2025
Image Credit: Reuters/Fred Greaves

In California, police arrested 138 peaceful protesters Wednesday as they occupied the lobby of Senator Alex Padilla’s offices in San Francisco to demand an end to U.S. arms shipments to Israel. Among those arrested were rabbis, spiritual leaders and descendants of Holocaust survivors. Elsewhere, Jewish Voice for Peace held protests in the lobby of a Sacramento hotel where Senator Padilla was attending a conference and outside Padilla’s offices in San Diego. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, dozens of Jewish peace activists held an hourslong sit-in protest in the offices of California’s other senator, Adam Schiff. Last month, Senators Padilla and Schiff voted against a resolution sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders — and backed by two dozen members of the Democratic caucus — that seeks to block arms sales to Israel.

Russian Drones and Missiles Kill 15 in Kyiv as Kremlin Rebuffs Trump’s Peace Push

Aug 28, 2025

A Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight killed at least 15 people, including four children. It was the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks. Russian drones also hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in several regions, leaving more than 100,000 Ukrainian homes without power. This comes as Ukrainian drones have also been striking Russian oil refineries, leading to surging oil prices and fuel shortages in Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has acknowledged that Russian forces have captured two villages in the eastern region of Dnipro for the first time in three-and-a-half years of war. One Ukrainian official told the BBC that this is the first Russian attack on such a large scale in the region. It came as President Trump has been trying to broker a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine. On Wednesday, the Kremlin said that it will not accept NATO troops stationed in Ukraine as part of any ceasefire deal.

U.S. Officials Discussed Energy Deals with Russia, Including Return of ExxonMobil

Aug 28, 2025

U.S. and Russian officials discussed energy deals during recent peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. That’s according to Reuters, which reports the discussions took place during U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s trip to Moscow earlier this month, as well as during the Trump-Putin Alaska summit on August 15. One of the deals would involve ExxonMobil reentering Russia’s Sakhalin-I oil and gas project. Exxon left Russia shortly after it attacked Ukraine in 2022, which prompted a wave of Western sanctions against Russia. The Wall Street Journal is also reporting that Exxon’s CEO has discussed the company’s return to Russia with President Trump in recent weeks. This comes as President Trump has hit India with tariffs of 50%, citing India’s imports of Russian oil.

Shooter Kills Two Children and Injures 17 People at Minneapolis Catholic School

Aug 28, 2025

In Minnesota, a shooter opened fire at a Catholic school in south Minneapolis Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 17 people. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, after firing through the windows at students who were sitting in pews in the church. This is Weston Halsne, a fifth grader who described watching a friend get shot in the back. He spoke to the local TV station Fox 9.

Weston Halsne: “Shot in the back, he’s in the hospital right now. It was super scary because, like, we’ve never practiced it in the church. We’ve only practiced it in the main school. So we really didn’t know what to do. … My friend, he was, like, laying on top of me, like, making sure I was safe, and he got hit. So that was really brave of him.”

Reporter: “And you have a nick on your neck?”

Weston Halsne: “Yeah, that was — I don’t even know what it’s from. Kind of looks like debris or something.”

Police say the attacker legally purchased weapons used in Wednesday’s mass shooting, including a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun. Prior to the attack, the gunman showed off the weapons in a video uploaded to YouTube. The video has since been taken down. After headlines, we’ll speak with Kris Brown, president of Brady, one of the oldest gun violence prevention organizations in the U.S.

Public Health Officials Resign in Protest as White House Fires CDC Director

Aug 28, 2025

The White House said late Wednesday it had fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control, Susan Monarez, after she refused to resign, saying her views were “not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again.” Monarez was confirmed by the Senate as CDC director less than a month ago. In a statement late Wednesday, her lawyers accused HHS and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of putting millions of lives at risk by firing career experts and seasoned scientists, while weaponizing public health. They wrote, “When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted.”

Meanwhile, three senior CDC officials resigned in protest Wednesday: Dr. Debra Houry, deputy director for program and science and chief medical officer at CDC; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. In a resignation email, Dr. Houry wrote, “For the good of the nation and the world, the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses or interpretations. Vaccines save lives — this is an indisputable, well-established, scientific fact.”

FDA Approves New COVID Vaccines with Access Restrictions

Aug 28, 2025

The Food and Drug Administration has approved updated COVID vaccines for the fall season, with new restrictions on who can access booster shots. Under the FDA plan, COVID shots remain authorized for people who are 65 and older or are at higher risk of severe disease from an infection. Younger adults would be eligible to receive shots only if they have underlying medical conditions putting them at higher risk. The authorization still needs the approval of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 of the committee’s members and replaced them with vaccine skeptics. COVID-19 remains a major driver of disability and mortality in the United States, with over 44,000 COVID deaths reported last year.

Amid Trump’s D.C. Crackdown, Transportation Dept. Plans Takeover of Union Station

Aug 28, 2025

The Transportation Department announced Wednesday that it is taking over management of Washington, D.C.'s Union Station from Amtrak. This comes after President Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to D.C. despite crime in the city being at its lowest level in decades. National Guard troops are reportedly conducting the duties of local park staffers due to DOGE cuts; they're spreading mulch and picking up trash.

Meanwhile, a grand jury declined to indict the former Justice Department employee who threw a sandwich at one of the federal officers deployed to D.C. by President Trump. And prosecutors also failed to convince a grand jury to indict a woman who was accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an immigration raid in the city last month.

On Wednesday, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, had praise for Trump’s crackdown, saying it has reduced crime in the district.

Mayor Muriel Bowser: “This federal surge has had a significant increase on crime in Washington, D.C., and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city.”

Bowser’s praise for the D.C. crackdown came as the mayor’s office seeks to restore $1.1 billion cut from the district’s budget by congressional Republicans earlier this year, and as the White House is dangling a $2 billion infrastructure proposal for what it called the “beautification” of the nation’s capital. Mayor Bowser said Wednesday she supported the infrastructure plan, which civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, have condemned as cover for racial profiling.

California Lawmakers Pass Resolution Phasing Out Crude Oil Imports from Amazon

Aug 28, 2025
Image Credit: Amazon Watch

The California Senate has unanimously passed a resolution that would probe the state’s imports of crude oil extracted from the Amazon. The resolution also calls for an eventual end to California’s reliance on these crude imports.

Sen. Josh Becker: “Colleagues, protecting the Amazon is not just good for the communities that live there, but our climate here in California. California is dependent on the Amazon for temperature and rainfall regulation. In other words, our fates are linked. And I’m going to share a shocking stat: 50% — 50% of the oil exported from the Amazon ends up in California refineries.”

This follows years of advocacy from Indigenous groups in South America. In June, a high-level Indigenous delegation from Ecuador’s Amazon met with lawmakers in Sacramento and staged a protest near a Chevron refinery. Meanwhile, Ecuador and Peru are moving ahead to expand drilling in the Amazon.

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