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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Betty Everett

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features r&b singer Betty Everett. Enjoy!

^{Betty Everett - The Shoop Shoop Song}

"If you found out someone was trapping small children in a confined space and then intentionally starving them to death, what words would you use to describe that person?"

-- Caitlin Johnstone

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News and Opinion

They’re Starving Civilians To Steal A Palestinian Territory, And They’re Lying About It

Just so we’re all absolutely clear about what we’re watching here, Israel is intentionally starving civilians in order to bring about the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and steal a Palestinian territory. That’s all this is, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.

This isn’t a theory. This is what’s happening. The facts are in and the case is closed. Israeli officials aren’t even hiding it anymore.

Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu is telling the Israeli media that “the government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out,” and that “all Gaza will be Jewish.”

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is tweeting in Hebrew that a “complete halt of ‘humanitarian aid’” will allow “encouragement of migration” and “settlement” in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Minister: Gaza Will Be ‘Wiped Out’ and Will Become Totally Jewish
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the Jewish Power party, has previously suggested nuking Gaza was an optionhttps://t.co/zq3HodhUlo

— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) July 24, 2025

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced earlier this month that the official plan is to build a giant concentration camp for Gaza’s population on the ruins of Rafah while working to deport the population to other countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself made it clear back in May that implementing Donald Trump’s plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza was a precondition to having peace in the enclave.

Trump made it clear back in February that his plan was for “all” Palestinians to be removed from the Gaza Strip on a “permanent” basis.

Within days of Israel’s assault on Gaza in October 2023, Israel’s Intelligence Ministry was circulating a plan for the entire population of Gaza to be moved to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, and an Israeli think tank had drawn up a strategy for the “relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.”

Indeed, Israel has been on record scheming to find a way to relocate the population of Gaza for many decades.

That’s what this is all about. That’s all this has ever been about. It’s not about hostages. It’s not about Hamas. It’s not about Israel defending itself. It’s about stealing a Palestinian territory, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Israel supporters have launched a new propaganda campaign to blame the United Nation for the famine in Gaza. If anyone in your circle is falling for that hasbara, please share with them Ryan Grim’s new report for Drop Site: “Israel Is Now Blaming the UN for Its Famine. Here’s the… https://t.co/1jLwfKW7DA

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 25, 2025

And the lies have been erupting like a geyser in recent days. Israel and its apologists have been frantically pushing the narrative that Gaza is starving because the UN isn’t allowing aid in (swiftly refuted by Drop Site News), that Gaza is starving because Hamas is stealing the aid (swiftly refuted by Reuters), and that Gaza is starving because Hamas attacks people who try to go to aid sites (already refuted by Israeli soldiers telling the Israeli press that they’re the ones shooting the aid seekers).

The more evil Israel gets, the more frenetic its apologists need to get with their lies to justify its behavior.

Starvation deaths in Gaza are skyrocketing. Many of those still alive have already suffered permanent damage, and even with a massive influx of aid and complete reversal of Israeli policies it will be very difficult to undo the effects of the famine.

Western governments are beginning to speak out against the mass atrocity in Gaza, far too little and far too late. We can expect Israel and the United States to respond to this outcry by saying that Palestinians need to be evacuated out of Gaza as quickly as possible in order to rescue them from this deliberately manufactured humanitarian crisis. We can expect them to denounce anyone who opposes this ethnic cleansing operation as evil monsters who want to starve the poor Palestinians.

And it will all be lies. They lied this entire time.

It’s about the most evil thing you could possibly come up with, really. If this is not evil, then nothing is.

"Stop This Genocide": Gaza Aid Worker Warns of Imminent Starvation, Urges Israel to Lift Blockade

Palestinians wary as Israel begins military pauses to allow ‘minimal’ aid into Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza have reacted with wariness after Israel began a limited, daily pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza to allow what Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “minimal” amount of aid into the territory. Scores of Palestinians have died of starvation in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by humanitarian organisations and the UN to Israel’s blockade of almost all aid into the territory. The World Food Programme (WFP) said 90,000 women and children were in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition and that one in three people were going without food for days.

The Israeli military said it had began a “tactical pause” in the densely populated areas of Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid” into the strip. The pause would be repeated every day from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice and Israel would continue fighting in other areas of Gaza. “Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies,” the Israeli prime minister said in a statement, in an attempt to downplay the significance of the relaxing of Israel’s blockade. Netanyahu has come under pressure from rightwing members of his coalition who want an even harsher approach in Gaza.

Soon after the humanitarian pause began, Israel carried out an airstrike on a building in Gaza City, killing a woman and her four children.

Israel said the measures were designed to improve the humanitarian situation and “refute the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”, releasing footage of an overnight aid airdrop, that included flour, sugar and canned food. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates also carried out airdrops on Sunday afternoon. Israel also said it would establish humanitarian corridors to allow the UN to deliver food and medicine to Gaza, as well as turn on the power to a desalination plant to provide water.

The news of the humanitarian pauses was greeted warily by residents, who did not believe that Israel wanted to lift them out of the throes of famine. “Opening the humanitarian crossings to allow the entry of aid will not change anything on the ground, even if it continues for a week or two, because the humanitarian crisis and famine in Gaza have exceeded all expectations,” said Eyad al-Banna, a maths teacher and father of seven. He and other residents said they did not notice any change in the availability or price of goods in the market on Sunday, besides flour, which fell by about 20% overnight. A doctor said no medical supplies had reached him at al-Nasser hospital, where the need for nutritional for malnourished supplements is urgent.

Scott Ritter : Israeli Genocide Update

'A Cruel and Transparent Farce': Israeli Attacks Kill 62 in Gaza Amid 'Tactical Pause'

The Israeli military began instituting tactical pauses in its assault on certain sections of Gaza on Sunday, as part of a plan to allow what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "minimal humanitarian supplies" to enter the besieged enclave.

Several humanitarian organizations and political leaders described the Israeli approach as vastly insufficient at best and a dangerous distraction at worst, as Palestinians in Gaza continue to die of starvation that experts say has been deliberately imposed on them by the U.S.-backed Israeli military.

"Deadly airdrops and a trickle of trucks won't undo months of engineered starvation in Gaza," Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam policy lead for the Occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement on Sunday. "What's needed is the immediate opening of all crossings for full, unhindered, and safe aid delivery across all of Gaza and a permanent cease-fire. Anything less risks being little more than a tactical gesture."

Israel announced a plan to institute a daily 10-hour "tactical pause" in fighting from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm local time in the populated Gaza localities of Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Muwasi, as The Associated Press explained.

However, on Sunday—the first day of the supposed pause—Israeli attacks killed a total of 62 people, Al Jazeera reported, including 34 who were seeking humanitarian relief. Another six people died of hunger, bringing the total death toll from starvation and malnutrition to 133, including 87 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

"The Israeli government's so-called 'tactical pauses' are a cruel and transparent farce," said Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) national deputy director Edward Ahmed Mitchell in a statement on Sunday. "There is nothing humane or tactical about letting a trickle of aid in after a man-made famine has started while continuing to bomb starving men, women, and children, even in so-called safe zones. These actions are not pauses—they are part of an ongoing genocide that the world must act to stop."

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, meanwhile, called the pause "essential, but long overdue."

"This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza," Lammy said, as The Guardian reported. "We need a cease-fire that can end the war, for hostages to be released, and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered."

The United Nations' World Food Program posted on social media that it welcomed the news of the pause, as well as the creation of more humanitarian corridors for aid, and that it had enough food supplies either in or en route to the area to feed the entire population of Gaza for nearly three months.

Since the border crossings opened on May 27 following nearly three months of total siege, WFP has only been able to bring in 22,000 tons of food aid, about a third of the over 62,000 tons of food aid needed to feed the population of Gaza each month.

While it welcomed the pause, WFP did add that "an agreed cease-fire is the only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the entire civilian population in Gaza with critical food supplies in a consistent, predictable, orderly, and safe manner—wherever they are across the Gaza Strip."

Joe English, emergency communications specialist for UNICEF, emphasized that the limited pauses proposed by Israel were not the ideal conditions for treating serious malnutrition.

"This is a short turnaround in terms of the notice that we have, and so we cannot work miracles," English told CNN.

English explained that, while UNICEF can treat malnutrition, children who are malnourished require a course of treatments over an extended period of time in order to fully recover, something only truly possible with a cease-fire, which would allow the U.N. to reestablish the 400 aid distribution points it had set up across Gaza before the last cease-fire ended in March.

"We have to be able to reach people and also to reach people where they are," he said. "We can't be expecting people to continue to traverse many miles, often on foot, through militarized areas, to get access to aid."

In addition to bringing in food aid through trucks, Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates all began air-dropping aid over the weekend. However, this method has been widely criticized by humanitarian experts as ineffective and even dangerous.

"Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke," U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on social media on Saturday.

"A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates, and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need," Lazzarini wrote.

Palestinians in Gaza also complained about the air drops.

"From 6:00 am until now we didn't eat or drink. We didn't get aid from the trucks. After that, they said that planes will airdrop aid, so we waited for that as well," Massad Ghaban told Reuters. "The planes are insulting for us. We are a people who deserve dignity."

In a reminder of what is at stake in effectively delivering aid to Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Sunday that "malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July."

WHO continued:

Of 74 malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 occurred in July—including 24 children under 5, a child over 5, and 38 adults. Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting. The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives.

WHO said that the search for lifesaving aid was itself deadly: "Families are being forced to risk their lives for a handful of food, often under dangerous and chaotic conditions. Since 27 May, more than 1,060 people have been killed and 7,200 injured while trying to access food."

Israeli solders have reported that they had been ordered to fire on Palestinian civilians seeking aid.

In the face of Israel's atrocities, CAIR's Mitchell called for decisive action: "No more statements. Our government, Western nations, and Arab Muslim nations must act immediately to end the genocide, allow unfettered humanitarian aid into Gaza, secure the release of all captives and political prisoners, and hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes. Every moment of inaction contributes to the unimaginable suffering of everyone in Gaza."

Tony Blinken blames antiwar protesters for Gaza war continuation

Gaza Flotilla Activist Slams "Israeli Piracy on the High Seas" After Aid Ship Seized in Int'l Waters

Flotilla boat intercepted by Israel while trying to transport aid to Gaza

The Handala, registry name Navaren, led by the activist group the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was roughly 50km from the Egyptian coast and 100km west of Gaza when intercepted, an online tracking tool set up to plot the ship’s course showed. In a post on X, the Israeli foreign ministry said its navy had stopped “the vessel Navarn” from “illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza”. ...

According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, two Australians including journalist Tania “Tan” Safi and human rights activist Robert Martin were among 21 activists on board the ship when it was intercepted. ... Also on board were two Al Jazeera reporters, as well as French politicians Emma Fourreau (an MEP) and Gabrielle Cathala (an MP in the National Assembly), Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement on their website.

The statement said the Handala had been “violently intercepted” by the military in international waters at 11.43pm local time, and claimed the cameras on board were cut, along with any communication with the ship. Ann Wright, a member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s steering committee, said in the statement that Israel had “no legal authority to detain international civilians aboard”.

“This is not a matter of internal Israeli jurisdiction,” she said. “These are foreign nationals operating under international law in international waters. Their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end.”

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office told Al Jazeera the occupation of the vessel was an act of “maritime piracy” that represented a “flagrant violation” of international law, and called on the international community, including the UN, “to take an urgent and firm stance against this aggression and to work to secure international protection for the convoys”.

Israel Targets Gaza Kindergarten in “Double Tap” Airstrike

‘Really cautious’: why the ICJ is delaying a Gaza genocide verdict

While Palestinians in Gaza die in ever-increasing numbers from starvation each day and a growing number of legal scholars, aid officials and politicians have begun describing Israel’s actions as genocide, a definitive ruling on the question by the world’s top court will be a long time coming.

Experts on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said a judgment on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is unlikely before the end of 2027 at the earliest, amid warnings that the international community should not use the court’s glacial proceedings as an excuse to put off action to stop the killing.

Israel was originally due to present its rebuttal to the genocide charge brought by South Africa on Monday, but the court has granted its lawyers a six-month extension. The panel of 17 judges accepted Israel’s argument that it needed more than the nine months allotted to prepare its case, because they claimed “evidentiary issues” in South Africa’s presentation meant “the scope of the case remained unclear”.

The South African legal team countered that none of the arguments given by Israeli lawyers were a legitimate reason for delay, and dragging out the case was unjustifiable in view of the humanitarian emergency in Gaza. But the court sided with Israel, which now has until next January to present its case.

“I think [the ICJ is] being really cautious here because of the political climate,” said Juliette McIntyre, a senior lecturer in law at the University of South Australia. “They don’t want to be accused of just running roughshod over Israel’s procedural rights and finding that it’s committed genocide without fully giving them an opportunity to respond.”

Obama, Hillary, Bari Weiss 'COVER THEIR A**' On Gaza Starvation

At Eleventh Hour, Enablers of Israel's Mass Starvation of Gaza Do 'Reputational Damage Control'

U.S. college students are still facing punishment for protesting Israel's U.S.-backed bombardment of Gaza and its starvation of more than 2 million Palestinians there, with Columbia University announcing this week the suspension and expulsion of dozens of students who spoke out over the past year.

But a number of observers have pointed to a shift in the rhetoric of some of the student organizers' biggest detractors in recent days, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton notably saying Thursday that "thousands of children in Gaza are at risk of starvation while trucks full of food sit waiting across the border" and calling for "the full flow of humanitarian assistance" to be restored.

Clinton didn't mention the Israeli blockade that has kept food from reaching Palestinians, more than 120 of whom have now died of starvation, or the at least $12.5 billion in military aid the U.S. has provided to Israel since the blockade first began in October 2023—in violation of U.S. laws prohibiting the government from giving military aid to countries that block humanitarian aid.

The former Democratic presidential nominee also didn't acknowledge the remarks she made in May 2024 about the campus protests that were spreading across the country, with students demanding that their schools divest from companies that work with the Israeli government and that the country end its support for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

At the time, Clinton said students who oppose Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank "don't know very much" about the conflict there. Clinton and other politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties have repeated the familiar phrase, "Israel has a right to defend itself" as the IDF has attacked so-called "safe zones," hospitals, and refugee camps.

https://t.co/48kfZRhpEJ pic.twitter.com/YhAqLutYMt

— Lindsay Ballant (@lballant.bsky.social) (@lindsayballant) July 24, 2025

Some suggested her comments on Thursday appeared to be those of an influential political figure who's come to a realization about the situation that both the Biden and Trump administrations, with bipartisan support from Congress, have helped to bring about in Gaza.

"Seems mostly like all the recent photos of starving children are responsible for this shift, though humanitarian aid groups have been warning about this for months and months," said Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein.

One observer said Clinton and a number of European leaders are speaking out now because Israel has already "carried out their final solution."

As Common Dreams reported this week, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has said that 85% of people in Gaza are now in Phase 5 of famine, defined at "an extreme deprivation of food."

if you're wondering why 'the dam has broken' on Gaza, it's simple. Israel carried out their final solution. It's done. Every town has been flattened, everyone still alive is experiencing a level of famine they can't come back from. Criticizing it now is too late. That's why.

— Max (@TALK_L3SS) July 25, 2025

New York Times columnist Megan Stack said she welcomed anyone who is "[waking] up" to the reality of man-made mass starvation made possible by U.S. support, but called it "an absolute indictment of the center-left, such as it is, that it took pictures of dying, skeletal babies with trash bags for diapers to muster this pale response."

"Subtext: We can stomach mass bombings, but starvation is a bridge too far," said Stack.

The comments from Clinton coincided with a shift in the corporate media's coverage of Gaza, with major outlets focusing heavily on the impact of starvation.

Organizer and attorney Aaron Regunberg said that instead of simply doing "reputational damage control by speaking up in these very last moments," powerful political leaders must "shut shit down."

"You want history books to not record you as an evil genocide supporter?" said Regunberg. "One speech now—after countless speeches condemning those who have been speaking out—ain't gonna cut it... You need to go to Gaza. You need to actually make an impact, NOW."

Progressive organizer Lindsey Boylan wondered whether establishment leaders "will ever admit that smearing all protests to stop the genocide actually contributed to the genocide."

"Few people could have played a more pivotal role in shaping the democratic response to prevent genocide," said Boylan of Clinton's comments. "Now here we are. Watching mass death of kids."

'SHELLS NOT FOOD': Israeli Minister Demands STARVATION Policy

Twenty More Palestinians Starve to Death in Gaza in Three Days Due to Israeli Blockade

At least 20 Palestinians have starved to death in Gaza over the past three days due to the US-backed Israeli blockade, according to daily press releases from Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In its latest release on Sunday, the Health Ministry said it recorded six malnutrition deaths over the past 24 hours, including two children. The ministry said that the total number of starvation deaths has reached 133, including 37 children.

Medics and experts told The Washington Post that the number of starvation deaths listed by the Health Ministry is likely a significant undercount since malnutrition is rarely listed as the primary cause of death, and that once mass hunger sets in, fatalities may rise exponentially.

The starvation deaths in Gaza have led to an increase in international pressure on Israel to ease its blockade and restrictions on aid deliveries. For days, Israel, with help from the US, was claiming that it was the UN’s fault that more aid wasn’t being delivered. But on Sunday, Israel announced that it would take steps to facilitate more aid deliveries, making it clear that Israeli restrictions were the impediment.

Pepe Escobar: Lindsey Graham’s Bluff CRUSHED – Putin & BRICS Just WON Trump’s War

Larry Johnson : Ukraine Losing Update

US-EU Trade Deal. Trump gets everything, Ursula gets nothing

Trump and von der Leyen announce US-EU trade deal

Donald Trump has announced a deal with the EU to end four months of difficult negotiations between Washington and Brussels and avert a damaging transatlantic trade war, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods – half the threatened rate.

The European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said “we have a deal” after a 40-minute meeting with Trump at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland where the US president is on holiday for the weekend. She described it as “a big deal, a huge deal” that would bring “stability” and “predictability” to both sides.. “The two biggest economies should have a good trade flow,” she said.

“It solves a lot of stuff and was a great decision,” said Trump, describing the agreement, which also involved the EU agreeing to spend tens of billions of dollars more on US energy products, as “a powerful deal” and an “important” partnership. This is this is really the biggest trading partnership in the world, so we should give it a shot,” he had said before the private meeting started.

Keeping the EU delegation, who had flown in on Sunday for the meeting, on tenterhooks to the end, the US president had repeated less than an hour earlier that the chances of a deal were only a “50-50”, and that “three or four sticking points” remained.

Under the agreement, the US will levy a 15% baseline tariff for most EU exports to the US, limiting a higher tariff. However, the rate is higher than before Trump came to power, and a 50% tariff remains on steel exports – a setback for that industry. There was initial confusion over pharmaceuticals after Trump said the sector would not be included. Speaking to reporters at Prestwick airport in Glasgow a short time later, von der Leyen said they were included but there were no guarantees of later increases in import duties.

Alastair Crooke : Is the Trump Mystique Broken?

Has the Epstein affair strained Trump’s cozy relationship with the Murdoch media empire?

In the wake of new revelations regarding the friendship of Donald Trump and disgraced and deceased billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has both poured gasoline on to the story and come to Trump’s loyal defense. Experts say that, much like the broader Maga movement, the Epstein affair is testing Trump and Murdoch’s mostly chummy relationship. ... Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal (WSJ) broke the story that Trump allegedly penned a seedy birthday message to Epstein in 2003. The president then did what he does best: filed a libel suit for billions in damages.

“The Trump-Murdoch media dynasty has traditionally been a cozy one,” said Margot Susca, an assistant professor of journalism at American University and the author of Hedged: How Private Investment Funds Helped Destroy American Newspapers and Undermine Democracy. “Murdoch-owned Fox News serves up what amounts to state-owned television for Trump.” ... “I’d like to believe the $10bn defamation lawsuit Trump filed against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch for its Epstein coverage will serve as a wakeup call that Murdoch is not immune to Trump’s press bullying,” she said, referring to the legion of ways Trump has imposed his will against the fifth estate. “They should have favored press freedom and picked the press’s role in democracy over access and cronyism.” The White House, thus far, has had a direct line to the most influential broadcaster in the country.

Susca admitted that though the WSJ is a “bright spot” among the “lapdog coverage” for the president in the list of other Murdoch properties, Fox, the highest-rated news network in America, could easily be holding the government accountable day to day. But on the one hand, as Susca pointed out, Fox has “barely mentioned” the defamation suit, while on the other, the WSJ “still has its Epstein story posted”. ...

But there’s help already on the way for the president. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, issued a convenient end to the congressional session to avoid a vote on the floor for the release of all the Department of Justice files relating to Epstein, while Mike Flynn, former Trump national security adviser (turned QAnon peddler) and former general, has told followers Obama needs to go to jail over the years-old Mueller report of 2019.

Jamie Dimon Is Part Of Jeffrey Epstein’s Web Of Corruption!

Trump bids to release Epstein grand jury files – what secrets might they hold?

As Donald Trump reels from political fallout related to his justice department’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, the US president has directed his loyal attorney general, Pam Bondi, to “release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to court approval”. It is an effort at damage control for a White House now engulfed in endless speculation – especially among Trump’s previously devoted Maga base – about the extent of Trump’s relationship with the late, disgraced sex trafficker and wealthy financier who killed himself in jail in 2019. ...

But veteran US attorneys, including those who have represented Epstein victims, told the Guardian that any release of grand jury transcripts around Epstein and Maxwell might not provide much insight into Epstein’s crimes and whether others were involved in abusing minors – or in covering up his years of predation of young girls and women. The lawyers, however, insist that meaningful information does exist in yet-to-be released Epstein files held by federal law enforcement authorities from multiple investigations into Epstein. Whether the political will – and legal ability – exists to release any or all of those files remains to be seen.

“Grand juries serve two functions: to indict and to investigate. The transcripts may contain testimony of victims or cooperating witnesses if the grand jury was investigating Epstein,” Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, and a former federal prosecutor, said of grand jury processes. The grand jury transcripts could include graphic and explicit evidence, but they could also include more pro forma information about the actions of Epstein and Maxwell, who is serving jail time in Florida.

“If they were indicting Epstein, we can expect to see law enforcement witnesses summarizing the evidence of probable cause to support the charges. That would probably be less interesting, and similar to the factual allegations in the Epstein indictment,” Rahmani said. He added: “There is likely much more salacious evidence out there than the grand jury transcripts. The FBI interview summaries and internal Department of Justice memoranda probably contain the juiciest details. The grand jury transcripts are just a small part of the picture. If Bondi was serious about transparency, she would make public the complete Epstein files, subject to redactions to protect the privacy rights of the victims.”

Top lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented multiple Epstein victims, said government files should be made public with several exceptions, such as redaction of victims’ names and identifying information, attorney-client communications and material depicting abuse. “I think there is information that the government could release, such as texts, emails and other electronic communications of Jeffrey Epstein and anyone with whom he communicated. In addition, any communications on behalf of Mr Epstein made by his employees who may have played a part in recruiting or dealing with victims at the request of Mr Epstein and/or Ms Maxwell could be released,” Allred said. “All evidence in the file of the United States attorney for the southern district of New York which was gathered for the prosecution of Mr Epstein, with the exceptions which I have listed previously, could be released.”

RIP

Tom Lehrer, acclaimed musical satirist of cold war era, dies aged 97

Tom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America’s favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported on Sunday. He was 97. The singer-songwriter died on Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said, according to the New York Times.

Lehrer’s sardonic numbers, backed up by a dazzling prowess at the piano that reflected his love for up-tempo Broadway show tunes, enchanted audiences in the 1950s and 60s. But Lehrer was always much more than the sum of his parts. A child prodigy, he graduated from Harvard at 19 and later taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Well ahead of his time on issues including pollution and nuclear proliferation, Lehrer made his mark with biting humor and zany rhymes. He was also wickedly funny on random subjects including murder, conjugal discord, chemistry and his distaste for pigeons.

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Can Democratic socialists get Zohran Mamdani across the finish line?

Was it his charisma, communication skills or his captivating short-form videos? His high-profile endorsements or his clothing style? These elements were said to have contributed to Zohran Mamdani’s record-setting success in New York’s June mayoral primary. But another major factor in his win may have been his ties to the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Known for its endorsement of the Vermont independent senator and socialist Bernie Sanders’s run for president, as well its role in electing the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the group has re-energized US left political movements in recent years, even while eliciting critique and fear from conservatives and some Democrats.

In Mamdani’s campaign, a stunning 60,000 volunteers knocked on 1.6m doors across New York City, home to 3.6m housing units. The effort reportedly led to conversations with a quarter of all New Yorkers who voted in the primary. Though the campaign has not yet released data showing how many of those volunteers were mobilized by NYC-DSA itself, Gustavo Gordillo, a co-chair of the chapter, says his organization turned out thousands. Though other organizations, such as the grassroots political group Drum Beats, also brought out volunteers, he said the chapter had an “unparalleled field operation in New York City”. ...

In the past, centrists and conservatives have defeated DSA primary winners in elections that looked eminently winnable, such as India Walton in the 2021 Buffalo mayoral race. And rightwingers have already launched heavy smear campaigns against Mamdani, with polls showing the race could be tight. Fellow Democrat and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, whom Mamdani defeated, switched to an independent party run just to stay in the game, and incumbent Eric Adams is vying to keep his seat. ...

Even so, NYC-DSA says it is ready for the battle, and if Mamdani wins, it could catapult the group from the sidelines to the center of the party. “The opposition is in total disarray right now [and] their fragmentation is only going to be a source of weakness,” said Gordillo. “We’re ready to mount an offensive campaign that replays a lot of what succeeded in the primary with the army that we’ve amassed.”

Dem Approval HITS ALL TIME LOW

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Thousands of tons of invasive seaweed ‘overwhelming’ Spanish beaches

Thousands of tonnes of an aggressive invasive seaweed from south-east Asia are piling up on the beaches of the strait of Gibraltar and Spain’s southern coast in what local environmentalists say is a major threat to the region’s biodiversity. Since May, the local authority in Cádiz has removed 1,200 tonnes of the alga Rugulopteryx okamurae from La Caleta, the city’s most popular beach, including 78 tonnes in a single day. “We’re completely overwhelmed. This is an environmental catastrophe,” said José Carlos Teruel, responsible for Cádiz city council’s beaches. “Whenever the wind is westerly, we know we’re in for another wave of seaweed.”

As with many other invasive marine species, the alga is thought to arrive in the ballast tanks of ships which pass through the Suez canal and then discharge their tanks in the Mediterranean. In little more than a decade the species has colonised the strait of Gibraltar, much of Spain’s southern coast, the Canary Islands, the Azores, and, farther north, the Cantabrian sea and the Basque Country. ...

The seaweed is having a major impact on the local economy, firstly on tourism in Cádiz and nearby Tarifa, a town popular with windsurfers, and on fishing because it traps fishers’ nets and lines and also sucks oxygen out of the water. Then there’s the cost to the taxpayer of disposing of it. Perhaps most worrying is its impact on biodiversity. On the beach at La Caleta, the seaweed has driven out many indigenous plants. It is unclear whether the damage is temporary or irreversible.

The alga attaches itself to rocks and other surfaces and is also free-floating, wiping out native species of seaweed. It has no predators in the region and its capacity to reproduce both sexually and asexually and to absorb toxins makes it virtually impossible to eradicate, experts say.

Thousands in Greece and Turkey evacuate as winds and heat fan wildfires

Thousands of people in Greece and Turkey have been forced to evacuate homes as firefighters in the countries battled to contain wildfires fanned by strong winds and searing heat.

As temperatures in south-eastern Europe exceeded 40C for a seventh straight day, the Greek prime minister praised rescue workers for waging “a titanic battle” to bring blazes under control.

“The state mechanism has been called to engage in a titanic battle, simultaneously responding to dozens of wildfires across the country,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement. “To those who saw their properties destroyed by the fury of fire, know that the state will stand by your side.”

Eleven regions of Greece face a “very high risk” of fire, and the government has appealed for help from EU partners to help it deal with fires burning on multiple fronts.

Emergency services said that while a conflagration that had injured two firefighters in Kryoneri, north-east of Athens, had been successfully quelled, fires around Messinia in the south-west Peloponnese and on the popular island of Kythera had not been contained.

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

US Envoy Barrack Gives Lebanon 90 Days to Disarm Hezbollah, Says Israel Set the Deadline

Palestinian women were told to go to U.S.-run aid sites in Gaza. They were killed and beaten instead

Israel’s Atrocities Have Destroyed Its Reputation and Its Security

Taiwan's Voters Reject Anti-Chinese Recall Plot

Men freed from El Salvador mega-prison endured ‘state-sanctioned torture’, lawyers say

Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest

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A Little Night Music

Betty Everett - It hurts to be in love

Betty Everett - You're No Good

Betty Everett - Until You Were Gone

Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded

Betty Everett - I've Got A Claim On You

Betty Everett - Ain't Nothing Gonna Change Me

Betty Everett - The Shoe Won't Fit

Betty Everett - Unlucky Girl

Betty Everett - I Can't Hear You

Betty Everett - Love Comes Tumbling Down

Betty Everett - Bye, Bye Baby

Betty Everett - My Love

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