"Let's Stand Tall, Together."

"The powerful punishing those who speak for the powerless, it is not a sign of strength, but of guilt. Let's stand tall, together." - Francesca Albanese

THE LATEST

#1 ICE Raid Turns Deadly in California

A man has died after a violent ICE raid on a California farm. Federal agents stormed the farm Thursday as part of an investigation into immigration and child labor violations. Jaime Alanis, who had worked there for 10 years, apparently fell from a rooftop while hiding and broke his neck. He later died at a hospital. It's unclear how or why he fell.

• A crowd gathered at the farm to protest the raid. Federal agents deployed tear gas. At least 12 people were injured, and four U.S. citizens were arrested for allegedly interfering in the operation.
• "'At least one worker was critically injured during the raids and others, including U.S citizens, remain unaccounted for,' the United Farm Workers said. Employees were held onsite for eight hours or more, the labor union said. Several U.S. citizens were released only after agreeing to delete videos and photos of the raid from their phones, the UFW said in a statement." - NBC News
• This is just one example of how brazen and aggressive ICE tactics have become. In another now-viral video, masked ICE agents forcibly detain a man inside a medical office as staff plead with them to let him go. Video

• On Monday, federal agents and the National Guard descended on Los Angeles' MacArthur Park to conduct raids, frightening residents and children playing in the area. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass immediately made her way to the area and demanded the agents leave – which they did. “They are essentially pressing the envelope to see how far the American public will tolerate the federal seizure of power,” Bass said. “This random thing is just a way of creating a sense of terror and fear in our community.” (AP)

#2 U.S. Citizen Allegedly Killed by Israeli Settlers

A U.S. citizen was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank Friday, according to his family. Sayfollah Musallet—also known as Saif—was attacked Friday and later died from his injuries. Musallet, who helped run his family's ice cream shop in Florida, was visiting relatives in the West Bank.

• According to witnesses and the Palestinian Health Ministry, settlers prevented an ambulance from reaching him for at least four hours. Another Palestinian man was shot in the same attack and also denied medical aid. He later died.
• Musallet’s family told Zeteo they had been preparing to speak out to U.S. media about escalating settler violence. In their appeal, they described ongoing attacks by settlers trying to seize private farmland and destroy Palestinian property. It’s unclear whether the family’s activism made them a target.
• The Israeli military claimed the violence started when Palestinians threw stones at settlers. But Palestinian witnesses say settlers attacked first—targeting them for protesting the construction of a new illegal outpost.
• The U.S. State Department says it is aware of the incident but declined to comment further. 

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have surged in the West Bank. These settlers—many of whom are armed—frequently ransack homes, torch property, and seize land and livestock. The Israeli military often stands by or helps, and settlers are rarely held accountable.

• In a similar case last year, another U.S. citizen, Tawfiq Ajaq, was shot and killed. Witnesses say they settlers blocked an ambulance from reaching Ajaq. No one has been charged.
• Since 2022, Israeli forces have killed at least nine U.S. citizens.

#3 Trump Visits Flood-Devastated Texas

President Trump visited Texas on Friday, one week after catastrophic flooding killed at least 121 people—including 27 children and counselors at nearby Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls. More than 170 people are still missing.

• When asked about possible failures that may have contributed to the tragedy, Trump did what he always does when the truth might make him look bad: he deflected and attacked the reporter.
• "Nobody has any idea how and why a thing like this could happen," Trump said. "Only an evil person would ask a question like that." (ABC)

A Preventable Disaster

The flooding began overnight on July 4, when Tropical Storm Barry dumped four months' worth of rain in just four hours. Water levels reached 26 feet. The storm struck Kerr County, which includes Camp Mystic, located in a region known as "Flash Flood Alley." Of the 121 confirmed deaths, 96 were in Kerr.

• Camp Mystic had over 700 campers and counselors tucked into low-lying cabins — cabins that were expanded in 2020, even though officials knew the area was at high flood risk. Instead of relocating structures to higher ground, the camp built more in the danger zone. Just two days before the disaster, state officials had approved the camp's emergency response plans. It's still unclear what those plans included. (New York Times)
• Unlike neighboring counties, Kerr County has no flood warning sirens. It relies on CodeRED — a mass-alert system introduced in 2009. But the system is inconsistent and delayed. Some residents didn't get any alerts. Others received them hours after the flooding began. The initial alert was delayed by 90 minutes because someone needed "supervisor authority" to send it. Most of the campers didn't have phones, and even in nearby areas, cell service was patchy. (New York Times)
• County officials had been debating a better warning system since 2016 but dismissed it as too expensive and "too loud." During the Obama administration, the federal government offered funding. But locals turned it down, saying they didn't want money from Democrats. (The Economist)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied any link between National Weather Service staffing cuts and the disaster, calling it a "once-in-a-century flash flood" and accusing Democrats of politicizing a tragedy.

• But the NWS is stretched thin. Trump's DOGE cuts reduced staffing by 10%. One key Texas office lacks both a senior hydrologist and a warning coordination meteorologist—the very people responsible for ensuring timely public alerts.
• Meanwhile, FEMA didn't arrive for several days. That's because DHS Secretary Kristi Noem insists on personally approving all emergency requests over $100,000—a policy one official called "bonkers." Noem's review process takes five days. For emergencies. She later blasted FEMA for its slow response—and used it to justify her push to abolish the agency altogether.  (MSNBC | CNN)
• Since then, two-thirds of calls to FEMA's disaster hotline have gone unanswered due to budget cuts approved by Noem just one day after the floods. (New York Times)
• Oddly, FEMA director David Richardson is reportedly missing in action. (MSNBC)

Climate Denial Meets Deadly Consequences

Republicans insist there was no way to foresee or prepare for this kind of weather event. But that's simply not true. Climate change scientists have been warning of more severe weather events for years, but MAGA doesn't believe climate change is real.

• Republicans say this was a "1-in-1000-year" storm, implying it was a fluke — but last week, the U.S. saw four such events. In addition to Texas, extreme rainfall hammered North Carolina, New Mexico and Illinois. 
• Why so much rain? "A warmer atmosphere holds more water, making storms capable of dumping huge amounts of rain over land. Studies have shown that for every degree Fahrenheit that the planet heats up, the atmosphere can hold around 3% to 4% more moisture." (NBC)  
• Flood-related deaths are on the rise. In 2024, there were 145 — far above the 25-year average of 85. From 2013 to 2024, freshwater flooding accounted for 54% of all direct deaths from tropical cyclones. In the 50 years before that, it was just 27%. (Washington Post)
• "Flood deaths will increase in coming years due to heightened environmental risks from climate change and a lack of investment in warning systems that are key to preventing flooding fatalities," said Greg Pierce, co-director of UCLA's Luskin Center for Innovation. (Washington Post)

GAZA

• An Israeli airstrike killed 15 people — including eight children — waiting outside a health clinic in Gaza. The Israeli military claimed the strike was aimed at one person. "The [Israel Defense Forces] is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals in the area. The incident is under review. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible," the Israeli military said in a statement. (CNN)

• At least 798 people have been killed near aid sites in Gaza, according to the UN — most from gunshot wounds. The aid sites are operated by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began operations six weeks ago. (UN)
  • The GHF insists no one has been hurt. But dozens of eyewitnesses — including doctors and staff at local hospitals and clinics — say otherwise. They've confirmed that civilians are being targeted by Israeli forces while en route to aid distribution points. (Sky News)

Israel's Plan: Fenced-In "Transit Areas"

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pushing a plan to build what he calls "humanitarian transit areas." But critics — including Israeli legal experts — say these function more like open-air prisons or de facto concentration camps. Under the plan, Palestinians would be confined to a small, militarized zone where movement is tightly controlled by Israeli forces. They would not be allowed to leave.

• Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed this week that Palestinians would have a "choice" to stay or go. He and Trump have both suggested that "other countries" are willing to take Palestinians in — though no country has said so publicly. (AP)
• Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli human rights attorney, said Katz's plan is "nothing less than… an operational plan for a crime against humanity." He added that the forced removal of Palestinians from Gaza cannot be seen as consensual due to the coercive measures being applied.
• The forced transfer of populations is explicitly prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and classified as both a "crime against humanity" and a "war crime" under the Rome Statute.
• A draft of Katz's plan describes the camps as "large-scale" and "voluntary," where Gazans would "temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so."  (Reuters)

Israel Blocks Baby Formula

Israel continues to block baby formula from entering Gaza, aid groups say. Despite Israel's denial, medical workers on the ground confirm a critical shortage. One hospital reportedly has just a week's supply left.

• Malnutrition rates among children in Gaza have doubled in recent months, according to the UN. With limited food and clean water, 90% of pregnant and nursing mothers are malnourished and unable to breastfeed. One doctor, who was permitted entry into Gaza, said Israeli officials confiscated the baby formula he had packed in his suitcase. (The Guardian)
• "Israeli authorities are pressuring aid groups to purchase Israeli-made goods — even though they're significantly more expensive than in the West Bank, Jordan, or elsewhere. This policy has made it financially impossible for some organizations to buy baby formula and other essentials. Israel is not a signatory to the international agreement signed by 136 other countries urging governments not to impose customs duties on humanitarian aid." (The Times Of Israel)
• At least 66 children have died of starvation-related malnutrition since October 2023.
• "The existence of malnutrition in Gaza is the result of deliberate, calculated choices by the Israeli authorities," said Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). They accused Israel of "restricting food to the bare minimum for survival," militarizing its distribution, and destroying Gaza's local food production. (Doctors Without Borders)

Trump and Netanyahu Meet in Washington

Netanyahu made his third trip to the U.S. this year, holding two private meetings with Trump — on Monday and Tuesday. That kind of back-to-back meeting is rare. The two discussed a potential deal with Hamas. A senior Qatari delegation also visited the White House to continue negotiations.

• Netanyahu presented Trump with a letter nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing the 2020 Abraham Accords as a key achievement that "brought dramatic change and created new opportunities to expand the circle of peace and normalization." But it's hard to argue the Middle East is more peaceful in 2025 than it was in 2020. (Netanyahu’s Nobel letter)

While President Trump welcomed a wanted war criminal to the White House, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Francesa Albanese – the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories who has become a human rights icon – because of her criticism of Israel's actions in Palestinian territories.

• Rubio accused Albanese of engaging in a "campaign of political and economic warfare" against the US and Israel, particularly citing her calls for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Israeli officials.
• Albanese, however, dismisses these penalties as "mafia-style intimidation techniques," affirming her commitment to her work documenting alleged human rights violations and what she describes as genocide in Gaza.
• The sanctions have drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations and other UN officials, who argue they undermine the independence of UN experts and international legal frameworks.
• The US has wanted to get rid of Albanese for some time, but the straw may have been her recent report on how companies are helping Israel in its genocide and profiting from it. The report includes criticism of US companies like Google and Amazon. (State Department | Amnesty International | The Guardian)
• Google co-Founder Sergey Brin called the UN "antisemitic." He made the remark in an internal Google forum following criticism of the company's AI work with Israel documented in Albanese's report. Google has come under fire for selling AI tools to the Israeli military and having employees directly assist Israel's Defense Ministry. (Washington Post)

ICE Targets Student Protesters Using Blacklist Website

A senior ICE official has confirmed that the agency used the Canary Mission blacklist — an anonymously run website that smears pro-Palestine students — to target people for detention and deportation.

• The revelation came from Peter Hatch, during testimony in a lawsuit filed by university professors who allege the U.S. government is enforcing an "ideological deportation policy" that violates First Amendment rights.
• Hatch testified that most of the students ICE targeted were listed on Canary Mission — a site with zero transparency about who funds or operates it. It could be run by a foreign government, yet U.S. immigration authorities are using it as a source to police student speech.
• One of those detained, Rumeysa Ozturk, was targeted after writing an op-ed. Her name appeared on the site — a clear sign that expressing political views is now grounds for surveillance, detention, or worse. (CNN)

HEADLINES

Ruh-roh: Despite months of promises from the Trump administration about releasing blockbuster Epstein documents, the Justice Department announced there's no evidence Epstein kept a "client list" and confirmed no additional documents will be released. Trump's MAGA base is pisssssssed and are accusing members of the administration of a cover-up – even singling out Attorney General Pam Bondi and suggesting she be fired, while others are beginning to suspect that Trump himself might be in the Epstein files. (CNN)

Unexpected Ally: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she's introducing amendments to cut $500 million for Israel from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets annual defense spending priorities. Greene said: "it’s important to say nuclear-armed Israel, because they do have nuclear weapons. This is not a helpless country, and we already give them $3.4 billion every single year in the state — from the State Department. $3.4 billion every single year. They don’t need another $500 million in our defense budget,” she added. (The Hill)

Israel Threatens More Iran Strikes: In a briefing Wednesday night, a senior Israeli official said Iran still possesses enriched uranium that survived last month's Israeli airstrikes — contradicting earlier White House claims. "If we think Iran will use it," the official said, "we will attack again." (NBC)

Columbia Graduate Sues Over Detention: Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate, is suing the DHS, ICE, and State Department for $20 million after being detained for three months without charge. (Al Jazeera)

Public Opinion on Immigration is Shifting: A new Gallup poll shows growing support for immigration, even among Republicans. Sixty percent of Republicans now support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants—up from 46% last year. And 64% of Republicans say immigrants are "good" for the country, a sharp rise from just 39% last year. (Gallup | AP) 

Trump Bans Undocumented Children from Head Start: Undocumented immigrant children will no longer be eligible for early education programs like Head Start, under new Trump administration rules. (Chalkbeat)

John Kerry Criticizes Democrats on Immigration: In a rare rebuke of his own party, former Secretary of State John Kerry said Democrats gave Trump an opening on immigration by not being firm enough. "The first thing any president should say — or anybody in public life — is without a border protected, you don't have a nation," Kerry said. (BBC)

Trump-Russia Audio Revealed: In a new book, reporters reveal audio recordings from 2024 fundraisers where Trump bragged about threatening Russia. "With Putin I said, 'If you go into Ukraine, I'm going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I'm telling you I have no choice,'" Trump said, according to the audio. (CNN | Transcript clip)

Ukraine Weapons Pause Confusion: Last week, the Department of Defense said it would pause weapons shipments to Ukraine because U.S. stockpiles were running low. Apparently, no one told Trump. "One of the people described Trump as being caught 'flat footed' by the announcement." The shipments are quietly back on. (AP)

Higher Prices for OJ and Coffee: Trump announced a sweeping 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil, set to take effect August 1. The move is framed as retaliation against Brazil’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of both coffee and orange juice. The new tariffs are expected to raise U.S. prices for these breakfast staples, as importers will face sharply higher costs and likely pass them on to consumers. 

Cop Out: Trump sent letters – some that sound like they were written by fourth graders – to a dozen or so other countries announcing new tariff rates as his supposed 90-day deadline was coming to an end. Trump framed these letters as a substitute for traditional negotiations, arguing that it’s impractical to meet individually with so many countries and that the letters themselves constitute a form of deal-making. Duh - everyone with half a brain told him that weeks ago.

GOP Congressman Attacks Ilhan Omar: Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) called fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) a "Muslim terrorist" on X after she criticized Netanyahu. (New Republic)

Supreme Court Gives Trump Power to Fire Federal Workers: In a sweeping decision, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling, giving Trump the authority to mass-fire federal workers and downsize agencies at will. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson publicly dissented. (AP)

Biden's Doctor Pleads the Fifth: In a House Oversight Committee investigation into President Biden's cognitive health, his White House physician Kevin O'Connor refused to answer key questions, invoking the Fifth Amendment and citing doctor-patient privilege. (Politico)

Trump's Science Budget Cuts: According to a new analysis, Trump's budget would slash federal support for scientific research by $15 billion — a 34% cut to basic research. (NYT)

Teachers Union Cuts Ties with ADL: The National Education Association — the largest teachers union in the U.S. — has voted to end its use of ADL materials and programs in schools, citing the organization's "abuse" of the term antisemitism to silence support for Palestinians.  (NEA)

TSA Shoe Removal Ends: TSA says you'll no longer need to remove your shoes in airport security lines. (TSA)

Measles Outbreak: Measles cases hit record high since the U.S. declared the disease eradicated in 2000. The outbreak has spread to 38 states, killing three people, including two children.  (NYT | NYT)

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