*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
We Support Dockworkers Blocking Weapons on October 30, 2026
Unions representing workers at 40 ports in Europe and the Mediterranean are calling for an international day of action on October 30. Read more here. |
| World Federation of Trade Unions |
We Support Dockworkers Blocking Weapons on October 30, 2026
Unions representing workers at 40 ports in Europe and the Mediterranean are calling for an international day of action on October 30. Read more here.
Statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions:
Ports For Peace – Jobs With Dignity
Following the Third International Meeting of Mediterranean and European Dockworkers’ and Port Workers’ Unions, held in Istanbul in May 2026, the participating unions have launched a common international day of action on 30 October 2026.
The meeting focused on the struggle against wars, genocide and military aggression, while also addressing the challenges facing dockworkers and port workers, including wages, working conditions, automation projects, and occupational health and safety.
The participating organizations, CGT Ports and Docks (France), ENEDEP (Greece), LAB (Basque Country), Liman-İş (Turkey), ODT (Morocco), and USB (Italy), representing workers in more than 40 Mediterranean and European ports, are calling on dockworkers and port workers to mobilize together on 30 October 2026.
This mobilization is based on the Istanbul Declaration, adopted unanimously by the participating organizations and now fully endorsed by ORSA Porti of Gioia Tauro (Italy), which has joined our international network.
The declaration sets out the following demands:
· An immediate end to the genocide of the Palestinian people and recognition of an independent Palestinian state, recognized by the international community, within the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
· An end to the US-Israeli wars of aggression in the West Asia and against Iran, and full solidarity with the peoples of Cuba, Venezuela and Sudan, alongside support for the right of all peoples to resist occupation and to self-determination.
· Ports must not be used for the transport of arms, ammunition, military equipment or troops destined for war zones.
· They must not become military bases for NATO, the United States or the European Union, nor serve as tools for shipowners and monopoly groups.
· No to the war economy, government rearmament plans, and the project of militarization of ports and strategic infrastructure from EU. Public resources must be used to meet people’s social needs, not to finance war.
· Collective agreements must guarantee real wage increases, secure employment, reduced working hours, and fair pension provisions.
· Technological progress, mechanization, automation and artificial intelligence must not be used to eliminate jobs or undermine workers’ rights. Dockworkers and port workers say NO to automation.
On October 30, all actions will be united as part of a common international struggle to stop wars, genocide and the militarization of ports at a very critical moment in history, while defending workers’ rights and better working conditions. Each union will decide the most appropriate form of mobilization according to its national circumstances, starting from strike action and from a shared commitment to prevent the loading of death and destruction.
The signatory trade unions of the Istanbul Declaration call on ALL dockworkers’ and port workers’ unions to join this international mobilization. We are ready to meet with organized groups of dockworkers and port workers from any other ports interested in becoming part of this common struggle.
CGT FNPD France – ENEDEP Greece – LAB Basque Country – LIMAN-IS Turkey – ODT Maroc – ORSA Porti Italy – USB Italy
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
NOVEMBER 1-7
WEEK of GLOBAL RESISTANCE
to STOP U.S. IMPERIALISM & GENOCIDE
This year SHUT DOWN DRONE WARFARE (SDDW) Fall Actions will be a "Kick Off for A New Campaign": We want to help build a stronger network of global communities working in coordination to STOP U.S Imperialism & Genocide. Several other national organizations are already co-sponsors. (see below) This global call to action in the fall is only the beginning. We invite national and international organizations to sign on as sponsors/endorsers of the week and to plan simultaneous actions at U.S. Bases, Weapons Industries and AI Data Centers around the world. Organize actions for one day, or numerous days during or near the Week of Global Resistance. We recommend planning actions during weekday commute hours, if possible, when personnel are going into and out of military bases, weapons industry workplaces, AI Data Centers, etc. Educate, educate, educate and encourage resistance from within. Please spread the word: Help us get more sponsors & endorsers! More details to come soon.
"Week of Global Resistance" Co-sponsors: ShutDownDroneWarfare.org, BanKillerDrones.org, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, and Witness Against Empire.
Will your organization sponsor or endorse? Please contact: toby4peace@sonic.net
The above global call to action is part of SDDW Fall Action Week:
SHUT DOWN DRONE WARFARE! (SDDW)
ShutDownDroneWarfare.org
SDDW Fall Action Week:
NEW: Simultaneous Actions at both Creech AFB & Holloman AFB!
November 1-7, 2026
Nov.1-7, Creech AFB Fall Action, Indian Springs, NV
Nov. 4-6, Holloman AFB Fall Action, Alamogordo, NM
17 years of persistent resistance! Come for all or part of Fall Actions!
Shut Down Drone Warfare (SDDW) Campaign is Co-Sponsored by Veterans For Peace, Ban Killer Drones & CODEPINK
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
To Iran’s Political Prisoners, trapped “Between Two Blades of a Scissors”
Open letter
August marks the anniversary of the 1988 mass executions in Iran, a horror that echoes in the country’s current surge in death sentences. It also marks the August 19 anniversary of the UK- and U.S.-orchestrated coup against the prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. Amid the current, indiscriminate waves of U.S.-Israeli military assaults against Iran, this letter of solidarity denounces the repression of the Iranian people and their political prisoners by forces both at home and abroad.
To our fellow activists, students, thinkers, workers, artists, and other prisoners of conscience held behind the walls of all detention centers across Iran:
We write to you from a place of deep solidarity, our hearts heavy with the knowledge of the struggle you face within Iran’s prisons: the torture, the systematic neglect, the enforced silence, and the brutal reality of sham trials and executions. As former and current political prisoners, activists, and scholars committed to the global project of abolition, anti-authoritarianism and anti-imperialism, we see you across the distances of geography and the silence of censorship and internet blackouts. And we stand in solidarity with you, as you are at the intersection of two sources of oppression.
On one side, you face the Islamic Republic that, from its inception, enforced absolute social and political control based on an exclusionary ideology. It is a system that claims to counter imperial power while using its very logic of domination and systems of carcerality, torture and execution. On the other side, you face the aggression and violence of the very imperialist and Zionist forces the Islamic Republic purports to stand against. The U.S. and Israel instigate brutal wars, destroy civilian infrastructure, kill innocent schoolgirls, and treat you as collateral damage in their pursuit of regional dominance. We remember the horror of June 23, 2025, when Israel struck the Evin prison complex, flattening its hospital ward, transgender section, and visitor center. You best exposed this dual oppression when you voiced that you “feel stuck between the two blades of a scissors, the evil regime that imprisons and tortures [you] and a foreign force dropping bombs on [your] heads in the name of freedom.”
In the past year, we witnessed both blades of the scissor sharpen. We see the arbitrary arrests and the horrific wave of state executions. We see the deepening criminalization of the working class and unemployed, the targeting of Kurds, Arabs, and Baloch, and the scapegoating of Afghan migrants: all desperate attempts to kill the spirit of people they cannot contain. This is the logic of carceral states everywhere: when they fail to address the crises people face, they simply attempt to criminalize or disappear the people themselves.
We see the same logic of domination when Israel uses “administrative detention” to hold Palestinian political prisoners for years without charge. We see it when Israeli authorities celebrate a new law that allows them to execute the Palestinian political prisoners they cannot dominate. We see it in the ICE detention centers where the U.S. government imprisons our people in the pursuit of a political agenda of racist exclusion or detains our political activists for daring to speak against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide. We see it in the history of the U.S. targeting freedom fighters, particularly Black, Indigenous, Puerto Rican and other anticolonial organizers, locking them away for decades to crush movements for national liberation and sovereignty. And we see the connections between these carceral systems sharing intelligence and governance techniques, such as when the USP Marion prison in Illinois became a blueprint for prisons built in Iran and Israel in the 1960s. Whether it is a border wall or a prison gate, the goal is the same: to silence people through fear, domination, and isolation.
Your struggle is as global as our collective dreams of freedom and dignity. We stand with you, and we reject the false binary of imperialism and hollow anti-imperialism. We invite global civil society and anti-imperialist activists and organizations to extend their unconditional support and solidarity to all incarcerated kin fighting for our collective liberation, to build relationships with Iranian political prisoners and uplift their voices, to put pressure on the Islamic Republic by challenging its narrative, and to call upon that government to immediately stop all the executions and free all political prisoners.
The Iranian authorities must stop their inhumane practice of death and incarceration now. And the U.S. and Israel must end their barbaric wars and brutal sanctions that knowingly devastate our communities.
In solidarity and with love,
Alberto Toscano, emeritus professor of critical theory, Goldsmiths, *University of London
Angela Davis, former political prisoner, distinguished professor emerita, *University of California, Santa Cruz
Bernardine Dohrn, retired professor of law, *Northwestern University
Bill Ayers, professor, *College Unbound
Cherríe L Moraga, distinguished professor emerita, University of California, Santa Barbara, Chicana feminist writer, and activist
Dan Berger, professor of comparative ethnic studies, *University of Washington Bothell
Hossam el-Hamalawy, Egyptian socialist, scholar and former political prisoner
Jairus Banaji, historian, research professor, SOAS, *University of London
Jason Stanley, professor of philosophy, *University of Toronto
Judith Butler, distinguished professor in the Graduate School, *University of California, Berkeley
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author, From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, professor of African American studies, *Princeton University
Michael Löwy, emeritus research director of sociology at the* Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
Michael Mansfield, human rights and civil liberties Bbarrister
Mumia Abu-Jamal, current political prisoner, educator, journalist and activist
Ricardo Jiménez, social activist, former Puerto Rican political prisoner
Ruha Benjamin, professor of African American studies, *Princeton University
Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Graduate Center, *CUNY
Walden F Bello, international adjunct professor of sociology, *State University of New York at Binghamton
Yasin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian writer, political dissident, and former political prisoner in Syria
* Organizations for identification purposes only
** Signatories are sorted alphabetically
—The Guardian, August 20, 2026
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2026/aug/20/iran-political-prisoners
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
The Trump administration is escalating its attack on Cuba, cutting off the island’s access to oil in a deliberate attempt to induce famine and mass suffering. This is collective punishment, plain and simple.
In response, we’re releasing a public Call to Conscience, already signed by influential public figures, elected officials, artists, and organizations—including 22 members of the New York City Council, Kal Penn, Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Alice Walker, 50501, Movement for Black Lives, The People’s Forum, IFCO Pastors for Peace, ANSWER Coalition, and many others—demanding an end to this brutal policy.
The letter is open for everyone to sign. Add your name today. Cutting off energy to an island nation is not policy—it is a tactic of starvation.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
VIDEO:
What Cubans Really Think About Trump
By Jeff Seal, May 28, 2026
Mr. Seal is a comedian and a visual journalist.
End Texas Torture of Revolutionary Elder Xinachtli
Organization Support Letter
Letter to demand the immediate medical treatment and release of Chicano political prisoner Xinachtli (Alvaro Hernandez #00255735)
To the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to urge immediate action to protect the life, health, and human rights of Xinachtli (legal name Alvaro Hernandez). Xinachtli is 73-year-old Chicano community organizer from Texas who has spent 23 years in solitary confinement and 30 years incarcerated as part of a 50-year sentence. His health is now in a critical and life-threatening state and requires prompt and comprehensive medical intervention.
Since his conviction in 1997, Xinachtli has spent decades in conditions that have caused significant physical and psychological harm. As an elder in worsening health, these conditions have effectively become a de facto death sentence.
Xinachtli’s current medical condition is severe. His physical, mental, and overall well-being have declined rapidly in recent weeks. He now requires both a wheelchair and a walker, has experienced multiple falls, and is suffering from rapid weight loss. He is currently housed in the McConnell Unit infirmary, where he is receiving only palliative measures and is being denied a medical diagnosis, access to his medical records, and adequate diagnostic testing or treatment.
A virtual clinical visit with licensed medical doctor Dr. Dona Kim Murphey underscores the severity of his condition. In her report of the visit, she wrote: "Given the history of recent neck/back trauma and recurrent urinary tract infections with numbness, weakness, and bowel and bladder incontinence, I am concerned about nerve root or spinal cord injury and/or abscesses that can lead to permanent sensorimotor dysfunction."
Despite his age and visible disabilities, he remains in solitary confinement under the Security Threat Group designation as a 73-year-old. During his time in the infirmary, prison staff threw away all of his belongings and “lost” his commissary card, leaving him completely without basic necessities. He is experiencing hunger, and the lack of consistent nutrition is worsening his medical condition. McConnell Unit staff have also consistently given him incorrect forms, including forms for medical records and medical visitation, creating further barriers to care and communication.
A family visit on November 29 confirmed the seriousness of his condition. Xinachtli, who was once able to walk on his own, can no longer stand without assistance. He struggled to breathe, has lost more than 30 pounds, relied heavily on his wheelchair, and was in severe pain throughout the visit.
In light of these conditions, we, the undersigned organizations, demand that TDCJ take immediate action to save Xinachtli’s life and comply with its legal and ethical obligations.
We urge the immediate implementation of the following actions:
Immediate re-instatement of his access to commissary to buy hygiene, food, and other critical items. Immediate transfer to the TDCJ hospital in Galveston for a full medical evaluation and treatment, including complete access to his medical records and full transparency regarding all procedures. Transfer to a geriatric and medical unit that is fully accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Xinachtli requests placement at the Richard P LeBlanc Unit in Beaumont, Texas. Approval of Medical Recommended Intensive Supervision, the release program for individuals with serious medical conditions and disabilities, in recognition of the severity and progression of his current health issues. Failure to act will result in the continued and foreseeable deterioration of Xinachtli’s health, amounting to state-sanctioned death. We urge TDCJ to take swift and decisive action to meet these requests and to fulfill its responsibility to safeguard his life and well-being.
We stand united in calling for immediate and decisive action. Xinachtli’s life depends on it.
Signed, Xinachtli Freedom Campaign and supporting organizations
Endorsing Organizations:
Al-Awda Houston; All African People’s Revolutionary Party; Anakbayan Houston; Anti-Imperialist Solidarity; Artists for Black Lives' Equality; Black Alliance for Peace - Solidarity Network; Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society; Community Liberation Programs; Community Powered ATX; Contra Gentrificación; Diaspora Pa’lante Collective; Down South; DSA Emerge; Entre nos kc; Fighting Racism Workshops; Frontera Water Protectors; GC Harm Reductionists; JERICHO MOVEMENT; Jericho Movement Providence; Montrose Anarchist Collective; NYC Jericho Movement; OC Focus; Palestine Solidarity TX; Partisan Defense Committee; Partido Nacional de la Raza Unida; PDX Anti-Repression; Red Star Texas; Root Cause; San Francisco Solidarity Collective; Shine White Support Team; Sunrise Columbia; UC San Diego Faculty for Justice in Palestine; Viva Palestina, EPTX; Water Justice and Technology Studio; Workshops4Gaza.
Sign the endorsement letter for your organization here:
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/MiR1f+iLiRBJC7gSTyfhyxJoLIDhThxRafPatxdbMWI/
IMPORTANT LINKS TO MATERIALS FOR XINACHTLI FREEDOM CAMPAIGN:
PHONE BLAST: Your community can sign up for a 15-minute-long call shift here: bit.ly/xphoneblast
FUNDRAISER: Here is the link to Jericho's fundraiser for Xinachtli: http://givebutter.com/jerichomovement
CASE HISTORY: Learn more about Xinachtli and his case through our website: https://freealvaro.net
CONTACT INFO:
Follow us on Instagram: @freexinachtlinow
Email us:
xinachtlifreedomcampaign@protonmail.com
COALITION FOLDER:
https://drive.proton.me/urls/SP3KTC1RK4#KARGiPQVYIvR
In the folder you will find: Two pictures of Xinachtli from 2024; The latest updated graphics for the phone blast; The original TRO emergency motion filing; Maria Salazar's declaration; Dr. Murphy's report from her Dec. 9 medical visit; Letter from Amnesty International declaring Xinachtli's situation a human rights violation; Free Xinachtli zine (which gives background on him and his case); and The most recent press release detailing who Xinachtli is as well as his medical situation.
Write to:
Alvaro Hernandez CID #00255735
TDCJ-W.G. McConnell Unit
PO Box 660400
Dallas, TX 75266-0400
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
 Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity CampaignAn appeal for financial supportMay 12, 2026 Dear Friends of the Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign, It has been more than two years since Boris Kagarlitsky began serving the five-year sentence meted out to him by a Russian military court as a way of silencing and punishing him for his opposition to Putin’s war on Ukraine. With a multitude of longstanding friends and colleagues throughout the world, Boris is one of the best-known victims of the steadily escalating political repression in Russia. He has borne the gross injustice of his incarceration with characteristic courage, determination and defiance. But there is no denying that Putin’s gulag takes a toll on even the most valiant spirits. The Boris Kagarlitsky Solidarity Campaign has worked continuously these last two years to draw attention to Boris’s plight, and by extension to that of other prisoners unjustly condemned for protesting the ongoing war that has already cost upwards of half a million lives and vastly more maimed, according to estimates. We have sought, through a variety of activities, to bring pressure to bear on the Russian authorities to free Boris. The many people involved in the Campaign are happy to volunteer their time. However, we rely on the generosity of the Campaign’s supporters to cover the periodic expenses we incur. We recently reached out for help to defray costs associated with the participation of Boris’ daughter and tireless advocate for Russian political prisoners, Kseniia Kagarlitskya, in the international antifascist conference in Porto Alegre at the end of March. That trip was a great success. It allowed Kseniia and Mikhail Lobanov, Russian mathematician, political activist, and former associate professor at Moscow State University, to introduce the thousands of conference-goers from Brazil and across the world to the grim realities confronting Russian political dissidents. The Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Committee has many plans in store for the coming months and especially the fall, including a virtual conference devoted to the global manifestations of political repression. We are appealing to you for a little financial help to carry out our projects and support the day-to-day ongoing work of the committee. We would be deeply appreciative of any assistance you can provide. Because the members of the Campaign coordinating committee are scattered across Europe, North America and beyond, it has been a little complicated to set up a campaign bank account, although we are making progress on that front. For the time being we are asking that you send any contributions you can manage directly to our de facto treasurer Suzi Weissman who is located in Los Angeles, California. The details of her account are: Bank: Wells Fargo Swift/Bic: PNBPUS6L Account holder: Susan Claudia Weissman Account number: 0657205076 International wire transfers: WFBIUS6S wise.com personal account: @susanclaudiaw We thank you in anticipation of any contribution you can make to help keep the Campaign running. Yours in solidarity, Dick Nichols Russia Confirms Jailing of Antiwar Leader Boris Kagarlitsky In a secret trial on June 5, 2024, the Russian Supreme Court’s Military Chamber confirmed a sentence of five years in a penal colony for left-wing sociologist and online journalist Boris Kagarlitsky. His crime? “Justifying terrorism” — a sham charge used to silence opponents of Putin’s war on Ukraine. The court disregarded a plea for freedom sent by thirty-seven international luminaries. Kagarlitsky, a leading Marxist thinker in Russia’s post-Soviet period, recently addressed socialists who won’t criticize Putin: “To my Western colleagues, who…call for an understanding of Putin and his regime, I would like to ask a very simple question. [Would] you want to live in a country where there is no free press or independent courts? In a country where the police have the right to break into your house without a warrant? …In a country which…broadcasts appeals on TV to destroy Paris, London, Warsaw, with a nuclear strike?” Thousands of antiwar critics have been forced to flee Russia or are behind bars, swept up in Putin’s vicious crackdown on dissidents. Opposition to the war is consistently highest among the poorest workers. Recently, RusNews journalists Roman Ivanov and Maria Ponomarenko were sentenced to seven, and six years respectively, for reporting the military’s brutal assault on Ukraine. A massive global solidarity campaign that garnered support from thousands was launched at Kagarlitsky’s arrest. Now, it has been revived. This internationalism will bolster the repressed Russian left and Ukrainian resistance to Putin’s imperialism. To sign the online petition at freeboris.info —Freedom Socialist Party, August 2024 https://socialism.com/fs-article/russia-jails-prominent-antiwar-leader-boris-kagarlitsky/#:~:text=In%20a%20secret%20trial%20on,of%20Putin's%20war%20on%20Ukraine. Petition in Support of Boris KagarlitskyWe, the undersigned, were deeply shocked to learn that on February 13 the leading Russian socialist intellectual and antiwar activist Dr. Boris Kagarlitsky (65) was sentenced to five years in prison. Dr. Kagarlitsky was arrested on the absurd charge of 'justifying terrorism' in July last year. After a global campaign reflecting his worldwide reputation as a writer and critic of capitalism and imperialism, his trial ended on December 12 with a guilty verdict and a fine of 609,000 roubles. The prosecution then appealed against the fine as 'unjust due to its excessive leniency' and claimed falsely that Dr. Kagarlitsky was unable to pay the fine and had failed to cooperate with the court. In fact, he had paid the fine in full and provided the court with everything it requested. On February 13 a military court of appeal sent him to prison for five years and banned him from running a website for two years after his release. The reversal of the original court decision is a deliberate insult to the many thousands of activists, academics, and artists around the world who respect Dr. Kagarlitsky and took part in the global campaign for his release. The section of Russian law used against Dr. Kagarlitsky effectively prohibits free expression. The decision to replace the fine with imprisonment was made under a completely trumped-up pretext. Undoubtedly, the court's action represents an attempt to silence criticism in the Russian Federation of the government's war in Ukraine, which is turning the country into a prison. The sham trial of Dr. Kagarlitsky is the latest in a wave of brutal repression against the left-wing movements in Russia. Organizations that have consistently criticized imperialism, Western and otherwise, are now under direct attack, many of them banned. Dozens of activists are already serving long terms simply because they disagree with the policies of the Russian government and have the courage to speak up. Many of them are tortured and subjected to life-threatening conditions in Russian penal colonies, deprived of basic medical care. Left-wing politicians are forced to flee Russia, facing criminal charges. International trade unions such as IndustriALL and the International Transport Federation are banned and any contact with them will result in long prison sentences. There is a clear reason for this crackdown on the Russian left. The heavy toll of the war gives rise to growing discontent among the mass of working people. The poor pay for this massacre with their lives and wellbeing, and opposition to war is consistently highest among the poorest. The left has the message and resolve to expose the connection between imperialist war and human suffering. Dr. Kagarlitsky has responded to the court's outrageous decision with calm and dignity: “We just need to live a little longer and survive this dark period for our country,” he said. Russia is nearing a period of radical change and upheaval, and freedom for Dr. Kagarlitsky and other activists is a condition for these changes to take a progressive course. We demand that Boris Kagarlitsky and all other antiwar prisoners be released immediately and unconditionally. We also call on the auth *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* |
Self-portrait by Kevin Cooper
Funds for Kevin Cooper
Kevin was transferred out of San Quentin and is now at a healthcare facility in Stockton. He has received some long overdue healthcare. The art program is very different from the one at San Quentin but we are hopeful that Kevin can get back to painting soon.
For 41 years, an innocent man has been on death row in California.
Kevin Cooper was wrongfully convicted of the brutal 1983 murders of the Ryen family and houseguest. The case has a long history of police and prosecutorial misconduct, evidence tampering, and numerous constitutional violations including many incidences of the prosecution withholding evidence of innocence from the defense. You can learn more here .
In December 2018 Gov. Brown ordered limited DNA testing and in February 2019, Gov. Newsom ordered additional DNA testing. Meanwhile, Kevin remains on Death Row at San Quentin Prison.
The funds raised will be used to help Kevin purchase art supplies for his paintings . Additionally, being in prison is expensive, and this money would help Kevin pay for stamps, books, paper, toiletries, supplies, supplementary food, printing materials to educate the public about his case and/or video calls.
Please help ease the daily struggle of an innocent man on death row!
An immediate act of solidarity we can all do right now is to write to Kevin and assure him of our continuing support in his fight for justice. Here’s his address:
Kevin Cooper #C65304
Cell 107, Unit E1C
California Health Care Facility, Stockton (CHCF)
P.O. Box 213040
Stockton, CA 95213
www.freekevincooper.org
Call California Governor Newsom:
1-(916) 445-2841
Press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish,
press 6 to speak with a representative and
wait for someone to answer
(Monday-Friday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. PST—12:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. EST)
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
Dr. Alter Still Needs Our Help!
Please sign the petition today!
https://www.change.org/p/texas-state-university-give-tom-alter-his-job-back
What you can do to support:
—Donate to help Tom Alter and his family with living and legal expenses: https://gofund.me/27c72f26d
—Sign and share this petition demanding Tom Alter be given his job back: https://www.change.org/p/texas-state-university-give-tom-alter-his-job-back
—Write to and call the President and Provost at Texas State University demanding that Tom Alter be given his job back:
President Kelly Damphousse: president@txstate.edu
President’s Office Phone: 512-245-2121
Provost Pranesh Aswath: xrk25@txstate.edu
Provost Office Phone: 512-245-2205
For more information about the reason for the firing of Dr. Tom Alter, read:
"Fired for Advocating Socialism: Professor Tom Alter Speaks Out"
Ashley Smith Interviews Dr. Tom Alter
—CounterPunch, September 24, 2025
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* |
Mumia Abu-Jamal is Innocent!
FREE HIM NOW!
Write to Mumia at:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM-8335
SCI Mahanoy
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Join the Fight for Mumia's Life
Since September, Mumia Abu-Jamal's health has been declining at a concerning rate. He has lost weight, is anemic, has high blood pressure and an extreme flair up of his psoriasis, and his hair has fallen out. In April 2021 Mumia underwent open heart surgery. Since then, he has been denied cardiac rehabilitation care including a healthy diet and exercise.
He still needs more complicated treatment from a retinal specialist for his right eye if his eyesight is to be saved:
Donate to Mumia Abu-Jamal's Emergency Legal and Medical
Defense Fund
Mumia has instructed PrisonRadio to set up this fund. Gifts donated here are designated for the Mumia Abu-Jamal Medical and Legal Defense Fund. If you are writing a check or making a donation in another way, note this in the memo line.
Send to:
Mumia Medical and Legal Fund c/o Prison Radio
P.O. Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94103
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
Resources for Resisting Federal Repression
https://www.nlg.org/federalrepressionresources/
Since June of 2020, activists have been subjected to an increasingly aggressive crackdown on protests by federal law enforcement. The federal response to the movement for Black Lives has included federal criminal charges for activists, door knocks by federal law enforcement agents, and increased use of federal troops to violently police protests.
The NLG National Office is releasing this resource page for activists who are resisting federal repression. It includes a link to our emergency hotline numbers, as well as our library of Know-Your-Rights materials, our recent federal repression webinar, and a list of some of our recommended resources for activists. We will continue to update this page.
Please visit the NLG Mass Defense Program page for general protest-related legal support hotlines run by NLG chapters.
Emergency Hotlines
If you are contacted by federal law enforcement, you should exercise all of your rights. It is always advisable to speak to an attorney before responding to federal authorities.
State and Local Hotlines
If you have been contacted by the FBI or other federal law enforcement, in one of the following areas, you may be able to get help or information from one of these local NLG hotlines for:
Portland, Oregon: (833) 680-1312
San Francisco, California: (415) 285-1041 or fbi_hotline@nlgsf.org
Seattle, Washington: (206) 658-7963
National Hotline
If you are located in an area with no hotline, you can call the following number:
National NLG Federal Defense Hotline: (212) 679-2811
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
Articles
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
1) Protests Spread Across France as Unions Join Student Demonstrations
The rallies are a test of the strength of the student-led protest movement that has closed hundreds of French high schools since late September.
By Catherine Porter and Ségolène Le Stradic, October 6, 2026
Demonstrations swept across France on Tuesday as labor unions rallied in solidarity with high school students who have spent two weeks blockading schools to protest understaffing, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.
Marches were held in more than a dozen cities, from Caen in the north to Marseille in the south, drawing roughly 256,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry, or more than twice that many, according to a major union.
Parents and university students joined the protests, which were mostly peaceful, but a fire was started in Lyon and police officers unleashed tear gas in Nantes. The biggest march was held in Paris, where the Interior Ministry said there were 56,000 demonstrators.
The demonstrations are a litmus test of the longevity of a protest movement that began late last month in the suburbs of Paris and quickly spread to hundreds of schools across France. Some demonstrators have barricaded school doors, set buildings on fire and shot fireworks at police officers, though many protests have been peaceful.
Roughly 6,000 people have been arrested since the unrest began. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told lawmakers on Tuesday that 215 students and 85 school staff had been injured, blaming “violent individuals who mingle with the nonviolent high school students.”
Mr. Lecornu said the government hoped to find more money for “urgent solutions” but that many of the students’ demands required long-term fixes. He also said regular classes would be “completely suspended” on Thursday and Friday so that principals could host sessions with students.
The government has called some of the protesters’ demands “legitimate” but has condemned the violence. Others, including a major union of French judges and prosecutors and a prominent human rights group, have accused the police of using disproportionate force against students as young as 14.
Here’s what else to know:
· Roots of the unrest: France’s struggle to fund its state has been exacerbated by high borrowing costs, surging fuel prices and political uncertainty, with jockeying underway to replace President Emmanuel Macron next spring.
· Violence: A 15-year-old boy’s left hand was mutilated on Monday in northern France by what the interior minister said was possibly a stun grenade. In southern France, a 15-year-old was arrested after he aimed a makeshift flamethrower, formed from a spray container, at a woman during a protest in Marseille, the local prosecutor said.
· Politics: The demonstrations have heightened scrutiny of a far-left party, France Unbowed, whose leader could make the runoff in next year’s presidential election, according to recent polling. Government officials have accused France Unbowed, which backs the protesters, of fomenting the unrest — an accusation it denies.
· Application issues: Student complaints include frustration at a state-run website used to apply for higher education programs. The site has left tens of thousands of applicants waiting for months before learning if they have earned a place.
Reporting was contributed by Mark Landler and Giulia Imbert from Paris, and Axel Boada and Monika Cvorak from London.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
2) Strikes, Barricades and Fiscal Turmoil: An Autumn of Discontent Grips France
Chaos in schools, on the streets and in the markets is rooted in France’s struggles to fund its social welfare state, with a presidential election approaching.
By Mark Landler, Reporting from Paris, Oct. 6, 2026
"France can no longer afford its social-welfare state."
The damaged entrance to a high school in Paris on Monday. Unrest at French schools has compounded a sense of crisis in France. Credit...Yves Herman/Reuters
Striking public workers. Barricaded high schools. Blocked ports. Budget paralysis. Spiraling bond rates. Fears of a far-right takeover.
France suddenly finds itself engulfed by crisis — not a single spasm of unrest, but a cascade of disruption that is roiling city streets, trading floors and public offices across the country. France’s “rentrée,” or “return,” as the French call the back-to-school and back-to-work season, has been anything but orderly.
While the causes of the chaos may appear disparate, they can be traced to a common root: France’s two-decade-long struggle to fund its state, now exacerbated by high borrowing costs, surging fuel prices and political uncertainty, with jockeying underway to replace President Emmanuel Macron next spring.
French public finances, already fragile, continue to deteriorate, fanning fears in financial markets that France could be the next European country to tumble into a full-blown financial crisis. The fiscal jitters were amplified by recent polls that show the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, would beat all her rivals in presidential elections that will be held next spring.
On Tuesday, teachers and other public workers plan rallies against proposed wage freezes as the government labors to pass a budget. They will join thousands of students who have blockaded schools to protest underfunding that has led to crumbling facilities and a shortage of teachers.
With images of young protesters clashing with the police amid clouds of tear gas, the student protests have become the most vivid manifestation of France’s unrest and grievances. Hundreds of schools around the country have closed, dozens have been damaged, and many people have been arrested or injured.
The street clashes have rattled financial markets that were already nervous. Traders kept the yield on 10-year French bonds near 5 percent on Monday, one of the highest levels of any European Union member and a sign that investors lack confidence in the lame-duck government’s ability to manage its mushrooming challenges.
“In France, we say ‘fin de règne,’” meaning the end of Mr. Macron’s decade-long reign over French politics, said Jean-Yves Camus, a political scientist at the Jean Jaurès Foundation, a left-leaning think tank in Paris. “The regime is at the end of its term and does not seem to have a plan for the next seven months.”
These deepening anxieties do not mean France is destined to suffer a Greece-style debt crisis or the kind of market backlash that toppled a British prime minister, Liz Truss, after she proposed budget-busting tax cuts in 2022.
Economists pointed out that other countries, including the United States, face pressure on their public finances because of rising interest rates. France’s anchor role in the European Union, they said, means that the bloc’s other members would bail it out, should it ever come to that.
“France’s position looks unsustainable and the bond markets are saying that, but they’re not screaming it yet,” said Kenneth Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard and a scholar of financial crises. “It’s a slow-motion train wreck.”
France, of course, is no stranger to social unrest, most recently the yellow-vest protests, which raged between 2018 and 2020. Tens of thousands of people, wearing high-visibility safety vests, turned out for weekly demonstrations that began as a protest against rising fuel prices and grew into demands for political and economic justice.
Some analysts note a disquieting similarity between that period and today, with oil and gas prices spiking as a result of the Iran war. Mr. Macron appears mindful of those dangers. Last Thursday, he chaired a meeting of leaders of Group of 7 wealthy democracies, in which they agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their stockpiles to ease pressure on fuel prices.
With French fishermen having blocked ports and fuel terminals to protest the cost of diesel, Mr. Macron said he hoped the emergency measure would cause prices to “drop at the pump as quickly as possible.”
Still, energy prices are only one piece of France’s precarious fiscal picture. The country’s public debt stands at roughly $4 trillion, which is 119 percent of its annual economic output. With rates on French government bonds spiking, the cost of servicing that debt is projected to increase to roughly $100 billion in 2027.
On top of that, France faces higher health care and pension costs because of its aging population, as well as increased military spending driven by the war in Ukraine and the disengagement of the United States.
To pay for all that, and keep France’s budget deficit from exploding, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu proposes to raise some taxes and freeze spending on social programs like housing aid and family allowances. Analysts said Mr. Lecornu was likely to get a budget passed, even if it takes months of messy negotiations and requires him to invoke special powers to push it through.
To do that, however, the government will have to rely on Ms. Le Pen’s party, the National Rally, not to torpedo the legislation. It has 118 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, the most of any party. Some analysts expect Ms. Le Pen to order her lawmakers to abstain and allow the budget to pass, if only to protect herself from facing fiscal chaos if she wins the presidential election in April.
On Tuesday, Ms. Le Pen is scheduled to deliver a much-anticipated speech on her economic agenda. Analysts will dissect it for evidence that the National Rally has become more realistic about France’s fiscal problems since her last run for president, in 2022, when she was widely criticized as lacking credibility on economic policy.
While some analysts said they expected Ms. Le Pen to try to reassure bond markets about France’s deficit, they predicted she would continue to be implacably hostile to the European Union. If she were elected, they said, it would raise hard questions about France’s future contribution to the E.U.’s budget.
For that reason, some liken France’s election to the Brexit referendum in Britain, in which voters decided to break away from the European Union. “This is France’s 2016 moment,” said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst who specializes in Europe at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy.
“It’s not just a debt crisis or bond-market crisis,” Mr. Rahman continued. “The investors I’m talking to are worrying about an existential political and constitutional crisis. It’s all of these issues coming together in a deeply unhelpful way for whoever wins the presidential election.”
A victory by Ms. Le Pen is far from preordained. She has been convicted of financial corruption, which she denies, and her party president, Jordan Bardella, has been accused of antisemitism, which he also denies. Analysts say that in a runoff against a centrist, Ms. Le Pen might lose.
But in another scenario, analysts said, the double whammy of economic problems and social unrest could play to the advantage of hard-line politicians on both the right and left. That could send Ms. Le Pen into a runoff against a far-left candidate whom she might more easily defeat.
Whoever prevails after this autumn of discontent, the crisis may force a more basic reckoning: France can no longer afford its social-welfare state.
“That is the deepest source of anger in France,” said Michel de Rosen, a French author and businessman. “We’re a country that can no longer do what it wants to do.”
Giulia Imbert contributed reporting.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
3) Fury in California After Trump Suggests Iran ‘Take Out’ L.A. or San Diego
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president “dangerous and deranged” after his remarks at a political rally, where Mr. Trump said the Iran war was necessary to “keep the world safe.”
By Laura Chung, Oct. 6, 2026
President Trump at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Neb., on Monday. Doug Mills/The New York Times
California leaders condemned President Trump on Monday night after he appeared to suggest that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego if it develops a nuclear weapon.
Speaking at a Republican political rally in Nebraska, the president sought to justify the Iran war as necessary for “keeping the world safe.” He then suggested there could be strikes on the United States, including the Democratic-led Californian cities.
“They could take out a city,” he said. “Let them take — Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”
It was not immediately clear what Mr. Trump meant, but his comments were met with anger from officials in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the president “deranged and dangerous.”
“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” Mr. Newsom posted on social media.
Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego wrote on social media that his city was not “collateral damage” and not “expendable.”
“Keep our city out of your reckless war talk,” he added.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass said that the president’s comments were “dangerous” and could “potentially compromise” the city’s safety.
“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” she said in a social media statement.
Mr. Trump’s comments also drew in politicians in California campaigning for Congress in a competitive district.
Jim Desmond, a member of San Diego County’s board of supervisors who was endorsed by Mr. Trump in his campaign to represent California’s 48th congressional district, said he “vehemently” disagreed with the president.
“No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage,” he wrote in a post on social media.
His Democratic opponent, Marni von Wilpert, a member of San Diego’s City Council, highlighted Mr. Desmond’s ties to the president.
“It’s indefensible that Jim Desmond continues to support Trump’s war and continues to be backed and funded by a President who jokes about the 1.4 million people in San Diego being ‘taken out’ by a foreign adversary,” she wrote in a social media post.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Trump’s remarks.
In his speech on Monday, Mr. Trump also suggested the war with Iran was “going to end very soon,” but did not provide any information as to how. Among his key justifications for launching the war in Iran this year was to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Last week, Mr. Trump turned down Iran’s latest cease-fire proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks on the country’s nuclear program in exchange for U.S. concessions.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
4) U.S. Sends ‘Hunter-Killer’ Drones to South America to Target Cartels
MQ-9 Reaper drones — known for high-profile deadly strikes — have been shifted from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador, U.S. officials said.
By Annie Correal and Eric Schmitt, Oct. 6, 2026
Annie Correal reports on Latin America, and Eric Schmitt reports on the U.S. military and national security.
The Baghdad site where an MQ-9 Reaper drone strike killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani of Iran, the Quds Force’s leader, in 2020.Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
In a sign of the Trump administration’s new focus on combating Latin American cartels, the U.S. military has moved a number of MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador, U.S. officials said.
MQ-9 Reaper drones are often used for precision strikes like the lethal operation that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, who led the powerful Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in 2020. The aircraft, which can cost up to $50 million, are in short supply after losses in the Iran war, where at least 45, or about a quarter of the overall U.S. fleet, have been destroyed.
The transfer was described by two U.S. officials familiar with the decision who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on an operational matter.
The move comes as the administration ramps up its military offensive against Latin American trafficking groups. The top U.S. military commander for most of Latin America, Gen. Francis L. Donovan, has said that the United States plans to expand operations from strikes on boats to strikes on land.
The redeployment of drones is “a significant signal from the administration that we are getting serious,” said Francisco Palmieri, a former U.S. diplomat who helped shape U.S. counternarcotics strategy, including during the first Trump administration, and who served as acting ambassador to Colombia under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Mr. Palmieri said he could not comment on the significance of the redeployment at the operational level. “But as a political symbol, it’s unmistakable,” he said. “It’s a sign of a commitment to expand both the level and type of cooperation.”
Signs of an escalating U.S.-led military campaign against drug traffickers have raised concerns among human rights advocates that attacks could endanger civilians. And experts say killing members of trafficking groups, even top leaders, does little to effectively stem the flow of drugs since those killed can be replaced.
The MQ-9 Reaper, which can stay aloft for longer periods and carry a larger payload of missiles and bombs than its predecessor, the Predator, has been used in airstrikes against groups such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in the Middle East and Al Shabab in Africa.
The drone is capable of carrying thermal cameras as well as equipment that can intercept electronic communications, and it has been called the U.S. military’s “hunter-killer.”
The Trump administration has made exerting greater influence in Latin America a priority, focusing especially on security. It has built a coalition of regional leaders that has pledged to help dismantle cartels; the group’s official slogan is “We do bad things to bad people.”
Washington has previously justified lethal strikes on drug traffickers by claiming that they are enemy combatants.
A range of legal experts say the administration’s lethal strikes on alleged drug boats off South America are illegal because those killed, even if they are committing crimes, do not pose a direct threat to the United States.
Colombia and Ecuador — home to trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations by Washington — are among a handful of nations that have agreed to conduct joint operations with the United States within their borders.
It is not clear how many MQ-9 Reaper drones have been sent to each country, though the U.S. officials said it was a small number, or how many of the aircraft have already arrived.
In September, CNN first reported that reapers assigned to the Pentagon’s Africa Command were likely to be sent to Latin America, but it was not clear exactly where the drones would go.
The Defense Ministries in Colombia and Ecuador did not respond to requests for comment. U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the region, declined to comment, citing operational security reasons.
Defense officials in Colombia and Ecuador have acknowledged plans to receive MQ-9 Reaper drones, according to local news media.
Colombian officials said over the summer that they had agreed to receive three MQ-9 Reaper drones, and that Colombia would consider purchasing one additional craft.
“Two were turned over to Ecuador for cooperation and are already operating in our skies,” Gian Carlo Loffredo, Ecuador’s defense minister, said in a radio interview on Friday.
Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, was the first regional leader to allow joint military operations in his country this year and has recently faced scrutiny over the presence of U.S. troops at one base. Ecuador’s Constitution bars foreign military bases in the country, a prohibition voters affirmed in a referendum last year.
Colombia’s new right-wing president, Abelardo De La Espriella, has launched an aggressive military effort targeting leaders of several groups said to be involved in cocaine trafficking.
Reaper drones might help track down leaders in complex mountain and jungle terrain, where they have long managed to hide from the local authorities. But analysts say that moving the drones from Africa to South America could also hinder combating terrorist groups in Africa.
This year alone, the Pentagon’s Africa Command has conducted scores of strikes against Al Shabab in Somalia — relying heavily on MQ9 Reaper drones.
Simón Posada contributed reporting from Bogotá, Colombia; José María León Cabrera from Quito, Ecuador; John Ismay contributed reporting from Washington and Christiaan Triebert from New York.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
5) Christa Pike Regains Consciousness After Her Failed Execution
The death row inmate in Tennessee received two doses of a lethal injection drug last week but lived. She was taken from the execution chamber in an ambulance.
By Emily Cochrane, Reporting from Nashville, Oct. 6, 2026
Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted. George Walker IV/Associated Press
Christa Pike, who survived two doses of a lethal injection drug last week during a botched execution in Tennessee, is conscious and speaking, her lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ms. Pike continues to receive critical medical care at a Nashville hospital, the lawyers said. The prognosis remains unclear, they said, but they expect a long recovery.
“Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” the lawyers said.
Ms. Pike, 50, is believed to be the first person to have survived doses of a lethal injection drug. She has been hospitalized since the execution attempt on Sept. 30, after it became clear to witnesses that she was still breathing after two doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injection executions.
She had been unconscious and on a ventilator in recent days as medical staff members worked to rid her body of the drug. The lawyers pointedly noted that Ms. Pike, who they said had sustained burns and other injuries to her arm, remained handcuffed and shackled to her bed.
Ms. Pike’s lawyers are set to appear in court in Nashville on Wednesday as they push for transparency and details about what went wrong.
Ms. Pike had been on death row for three decades after a conviction for her role in the 1995 torture and murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Ms. Pike’s lawyers have renewed their plea for Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, to reconsider allowing her to serve the rest of her life in prison.
Ms. Pike’s medical condition is likely to determine whether Tennessee officials try to execute her again. The U.S. Supreme Court has forbidden the execution of someone who does not have a “rational understanding” of why they’re being put to death.
Mr. Lee, in the final months of his term as governor, put a moratorium on executions after the failed attempt with Ms. Pike, given that it was the second time this year that Tennessee had been unable to carry out a capital punishment.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Lee did not immediately respond to a question about whether he would grant Ms. Pike clemency.
But state Republicans — including Senator Marsha Blackburn, the front-runner in the governor’s race next month — have signaled a desire to press forward with executions using a different method. Ms. Blackburn has suggested the electric chair.
The failed attempt to execute Ms. Pike left potent questions about the secretive process of lethal injection in Tennessee and how transparent the state would be about what went wrong. The state’s Department of Correction has not answered questions about Ms. Pike’s condition beyond acknowledging her hospitalization last week.
“The whole judicial system is called into question, the way this happened and the way it’s being handled,” said David Raybin, a Nashville lawyer who helped write Tennessee’s death penalty law. The failure in Ms. Pike’s case, paired with the government’s secrecy, he said, is “eroding public confidence.”
Mr. Lee said on Saturday that he had tapped Ed Stanton, a former U.S. attorney, for an independent investigation.
At the hearing on Wednesday, Ms. Pike’s lawyers are expected to argue that a judge should order the state to preserve records related to the failed execution and that an expert should examine any residual amounts of chemicals, as well as syringes and intravenous lines, used in the execution.
The office of the Tennessee attorney general said in court filings on Tuesday that the request was “unnecessary and unreasonably cumulative because it targets evidence that must already be preserved.”
The prison agency and state officials, the office added, had “taken the necessary steps” to get Ms. Pike medical care and figure out what happened.
In a screenshot of an email included with the filings, an assistant attorney general wrote to Ms. Pike’s lawyers on Friday denying that the Department of Correction was controlling access to her in a private hospital and rejecting the request for independent testing.
In 1995, Ms. Pike was at a Knoxville educational program with Ms. Slemmer, a 19-year-old who had come to Tennessee from Florida to pursue her interest in computers. Ms. Pike, along with two other classmates, lured Ms. Slemmer into the woods, where they tortured and killed her.
Ms. Pike’s case became riddled with ethical complexities over decades of appeals and litigation. Her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, was also convicted in connection with Ms. Slemmer’s killing, but was spared the death penalty because he was 17. Ms. Pike was 18.
Ms. Pike would have been the first woman in more than 200 years to be executed in Tennessee. As the lone woman on death row for most of her time in prison, she was effectively in physical isolation for most of her life.
Her lawyers had argued against lethal injection, saying it would be particularly painful and traumatic given her history of childhood sexual trauma and medical conditions that led to smaller veins. Her request for hanging as the execution method, as well as her warnings over the lethal injection process, were dismissed in court and by the state.
The uncertainty of Ms. Pike’s fate have been particularly painful for both her loved ones and those who want to see capital punishment carried out. May Martinez, the mother of Ms. Slemmer, has said that she feels her family has been denied justice.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
6) France in Crisis
By Sam Sifton, I’m the host of The Morning, Oct. 7, 2026
At the Place de la République in Paris, October 6, 2026. Credit...Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
French drain
It is an autumn of discontent in France. Students are demonstrating and workers are striking. Mariners have blockaded ports to protest surging fuel costs. Financial markets are rattled, and bond yields are soaring. The nation will replace a term-limited President Emmanuel Macron next spring, and its politics are turbulent.
Mark Landler, our Paris bureau chief, puts it well in his reporting:
“France suddenly finds itself engulfed by crisis — not a single spasm of unrest, but a cascade of disruption that is roiling city streets, trading floors and public offices across the country. France’s ‘rentrée,’ or ‘return,’ as the French call the back-to-school and back-to-work season, has been anything but orderly.”
Why? The proximate cause is student anger over conditions in the nation’s schools. An austere new budget offered by Macron won’t dampen the sentiment — the proposal would cut billions of euros in public spending. But the markets are jittery, too, fearful that France could tumble into an all-out financial crisis. Meanwhile, the far-right candidate for president, Marine Le Pen, could take over the country and break from European Union rules. Le Pen is leading in the race, according to recent polls. It’s a lot!
In the streets
There were more than 40 demonstrations across France yesterday, as labor activists, teachers, parents and university students rallied to support high schoolers who have spent the past two weeks blockading schools. They’re upset about understaffing, overcrowded classrooms and decrepit buildings. One of the protesters in Paris told The Times he was happy that so many adults had joined the protests. “We feel like we’re not alone,” he said.
Another lamented the state of suburban schools. Hers is in the Marais, in the heart of Paris, and she said she was one of the lucky ones. “The buildings are falling apart, their teachers are absent all the time, their classes are overcrowded,” she said. “We have 36 people in our class, and we are among the privileged.”
The government said more than 250,000 people had joined the marches. (One union said it was twice that many.) They were mostly peaceful, though a fire was set in Lyon yesterday and the authorities deployed tear gas on the crowds in Marseille and Paris. Some were suspicious. “The government is pushing them to violence, so that public opinion will turn against them and their demands won’t be heard,” one union member told The Times.
Beyond the schools
The anger in France is not simply about education. The country’s debt stands at around $4 trillion, nearly 120 percent of the value of everything it makes in a year. The cost of servicing that debt will be near $100 billion next year. Add on the costs of health care and pensions for the country’s aging population, as well as increased military spending as France supports the war in Ukraine. Now the folks who watch and run the country sound nervous. Next year’s presidential elections intensify that jumpiness.
“It’s not just a debt crisis or bond-market crisis,” one European political analyst told Mark. “The investors I’m talking to are worrying about an existential political and constitutional crisis. It’s all of these issues coming together in a deeply unhelpful way for whoever wins the presidential election.”
I tracked Mark down in Paris yesterday and asked him what to make of all of it — the students and the nation’s mood. He told me he spent some time with young people in the suburbs last week and found them genuine and idealistic, mostly well intentioned. He offered a caution as well. This crisis isn’t going away, and when it comes to protests, “the French have a lot of muscle memory.” Again he puts it well:
“But there are no easy remedies, certainly not from a cash-strapped, debt-laden French government. As the protests expand, other groups with grievances will be tempted to join in. That could change their mostly peaceful character. The question many here are asking is whether France is on the cusp of something like the yellow-vest movement, which disrupted the country, often violently, between 2018 and 2020.”
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
7) The Military Explodes Bombs on This Beach. Is It Following the Law?
The Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether the U.S. Air Force can keep destroying munitions on a beach in Guam, a practice it began in 1982.
By Abbie VanSickle, Visuals by Hiroko Masuike, Oct. 7, 2026
Abbie VanSickle covers the Supreme Court. Hiroko Masuike traveled to Guam to photograph the story.
Tarague Beach is a tropical expanse of white sand on the island of Guam, where sea turtles lay their eggs, migratory seabirds forage and reef fish glide in the clear blue-green water.
But the future of this beach, nearly 8,000 miles from Washington, D.C., now rests with the Supreme Court. The court will hear arguments on Wednesday to decide whether the U.S. Air Force can continue to use it to dispose of expired rockets, bombs and hazardous waste munitions.
The dispute pits Prutehi Guahan, a local nonprofit dedicated to protecting Guam’s natural and cultural resources, against the U.S. military, which has long maintained a major presence on the island.
Guam’s proximity to Asia — it’s closer to Beijing than to Hawaii — has made it an increasingly important military outpost. That presence has only grown in recent years with rising tensions in the Pacific. Military experts often refer to the small island — about 170,000 people live on its 210 square miles, roughly five times smaller than Rhode Island — as the tip of the spear for American military might in the region.
Tarague Beach is near the northern tip of the island, within the bounds of Andersen Air Force Base, and for decades the military has used it a place to destroy expired munitions. The leaders of Prutehi Guahan have challenged the practice, arguing that the explosions threaten the fragile marine ecosystem, nearby archaeological remains, traditional fishing sites, and the island’s water supply, sending dangerous toxins and debris hurtling into the air and the water.
The legal question for the Supreme Court is a technical one about whether the Air Force followed environmental regulations as it sought a permit in recent years to continue detonations on the beach. In court filings, the Air Force has said that the detonation site is crucial for disposing of hazardous waste and that although it must reapply for a permit every three years, that process is meant to ensure ordinary compliance with the rules and not impose new restrictions.
The challengers say that the dispute is deeply personal. They argue that enforcing federal environmental laws is among the few ways for Guam residents — who are U.S. citizens by birth but who cannot vote for the president — to make their voices heard against the powerful U.S. military.
“It’s truly one of the only mechanisms that we have to have an impact on federal projects that will permanently alter our physical landscape, our environment, our cultural resources and our daily lives,” said Monaeka Flores, executive director of Prutehi Guahan, who is Chamorro, the Indigenous people of Guam.
Ms. Flores, whose family has deep roots in Guam, said that her relatives took shelter on the beach when Japan attacked the island hours after Pearl Harbor, hiding from the bombing and fishing for food.
Her great-grandfather, Luis, ranched and farmed the land, cultivating coconuts and raising pigs. Ms. Flores’s parents used to go on camping trips near the beach. After she was born, they brought her to the clear waters to learn to swim.
Near the beach is the site of what is thought to be a more than 3,000-year-old Chamorro village, with stone megaliths and prehistoric rock paintings. The Guam National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area for fruit bats, birds and turtles, is only a few hundred yards away.
“This is part of the collective memory, and therefore collective stewardship, of the Chamorro people,” she said. “We need to preserve it for all future generations, and everybody should have a chance to come and appreciate how special the area is.”
Since 1982, the U.S. Air Force has used the beach as a site for disposing of unexploded ordnance — tear gas, ammunition and other explosives — some dating back to World War II. The military set up what it calls an open detonation site on the sand.
Prutehi Guahan argues that when the Air Force reapplied for a permit from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency to continue the explosions in May 2021, it did so without properly examining the environmental consequences or allowing for public comment.
The requirement for the Air Force to renew the permit comes from a 1976 law called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. That law gives the Environmental Protection Agency the power to authorize state and territorial regulators to handle the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste. In court filings, lawyers for the Air Force asserted that the military viewed the permitting process as part of ensuring its ongoing compliance with environmental rules.
But the challengers say that the military should also be required to undergo a vigorous environmental review under a Nixon-era law called the National Environmental Policy Act. That law has been interpreted by federal courts to require the government to take a “hard look” at any environmental consequences of plans before taking actions that could significantly affect “the quality of the human environment.”
After the Air Force sought the new permit, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency, the local territorial agency tasked with ensuring compliance with environmental laws, held a public hearing on the plan. After hearing concerns about the explosions, the agency announced it would consider whether to give the military its permit. In the meantime, though, the Air Force was allowed to keep detonating munitions on the beach.
Joni Quenga Kerr, a member of Prutehi Guahan who teaches science courses at Guam Community College, said she only learned about the open detonation program when the Air Force applied for its permit renewal.
“It’s so close to the ocean — it’s right on the beach,” Ms. Kerr said. “Just a few yards away is open ocean, the reef, and so, what kind of things could possibly happen to the air, the land, the water, the ocean, the organisms that live there?”
In January 2022, Ms. Flores and other members of Prutehi Guahan sued to stop the explosions. The plaintiffs raised concerns that land owned by neighbors could face contamination, and they asserted that the group’s members regularly used the beach for recreation, cultural and spiritual practices that would be harmed by the smoke, noise and pollution. They also worried that shock waves from the explosions would harm scientists’ efforts to study sea turtles.
They argued in court filings that the Air Force had failed to take a “hard look” at the consequences of the explosions, as required by law, or to consider “a reasonable range of alternatives.”
In court filings, the Air Force argued that it had followed the rules to reapply for its permit for the site. To require yet another layer of environmental review, the lawyers for the Air Force argued, “threatens to make the permitting process unduly burdensome and time consuming.”
In February 2025, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with Prutehi Guahan.
Prutehi Guahan organized a rally to support their cause last week. The group sees the beach and the land on Guam as an integral part of their cultural heritage.
The judges in the majority, Marsha S. Berzon, a Clinton appointee, and Eric D. Miller, a Trump appointee, ruled that if the Air Force had undertaken the required examination of the environmental impacts of its plan and had “appropriately engaged the public,” the military might have “chosen a different place or method for handling the waste munitions.”
The dissenting judge, Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump appointee, argued that the Air Force should be allowed to continue its detonations on the beach, as it had for decades.
In court filings, Trump administration lawyers, representing the Air Force, called the Ninth Circuit decision “inconsistent with basic principles of administrative and environmental law.”
Wednesday’s Supreme Court argument is likely to lean heavily into the technical reading of federal statutes and administrative procedure, but it will be closely watched in Guam, where the practical implications of the court’s decision will play out.
As the oral argument date approached, Ms. Flores prepared to fly to Washington. She walked along the shoreline of Tarague, gathering shells. She planned to slip them into her pockets the morning of the argument, to bring a bit of the beach past the red velvet curtains and into the courtroom.
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
8) The School Near Paris That Shows Why French Students Are Protesting
Angered by poor classroom conditions, students at Paul Éluard High School in a suburb of the capital were among the first to blockade their campus during an ongoing round of unrest.
By Ségolène Le Stradic, Oct. 7, 2026
Ségolène Le Stradic reported from Seine-St.-Denis, France, speaking with teachers and students at a school at the heart of France’s protests.
Students blocking access last week to Paul Éluard High School, during a protest for better learning conditions. Abdul Saboor/Reuters
When students at Paul Éluard, a high school in a working-class suburb north of Paris, arrived for the first day of school, they found classrooms lacking chairs, tables and reliable electricity, students and teachers said. With the school under renovation, students were being taught instead in prefabricated buildings with bad insulation, filthy toilets and regular power outages, they said.
Then came the staffing shortage. Two mathematics professors were moved to another school, leaving no one to cover their classes for over a week. There were no replacements for the school’s absent psychologist or careers adviser, they said, and there was only a single part-time nurse to provide on-site medical care to roughly 2,000 students.
“It was a completely chaotic way to welcome students,” said Irène Cailleteau, a mathematics teacher at Paul Éluard since 2020. “It was an extremely difficult way to start the year.”
Those are among the frustrations that have fueled a surge of student protests since late September, both at Paul Éluard — one of the wellsprings of the unrest — and at hundreds of high schools across France.
Thousands of students, sometimes backed by teachers like Ms. Cailleteau, have blockaded their schools to protest widespread teacher shortages, creaking school infrastructure and grueling schedules — and to demand an overhaul of the national system that allocates places in higher education programs.
The movement, which was bolstered on Tuesday by union-led rallies in more than 40 French cities, has divided the country and inflamed political tensions, particularly after many demonstrations descended into violence. Some protesters have shot off mortar-style fireworks, burned public buildings and looted shops, while rights groups and jurists have accused the police of disproportionate force. In just over two weeks, more than 6,500 people have been arrested, and more than 750 police officers, as well as roughly 300 students and staff members, have been injured, according to French officials.
At the demonstrations at Paul Éluard, footage showed largely peaceful protesters, disrupted by some participants who pulled down part of the school fence and set fires in the street outside. That led the authorities in late September to order the school’s closure, ban protests in front of it and arrest several students.
The school’s principal and the local branch of the Education Ministry declined to comment on the accounts in this article. The office of the regional president, Valérie Pécresse, said that her administration had recently invested about $50 million to improve the school, which is among more than 50 in the area, a suburb called Seine-St.-Denis, that has been newly renovated.
To students and teachers at Paul Éluard, that investment doesn’t do enough to reverse decades of neglect, both at the school and in the wider district.
In Seine-St.-Denis, a sprawling area with a large immigrant community, the unemployment and poverty rates far exceed the national average. That inequity is mirrored in the district’s education system: 61 percent of middle and high schools in Seine-St.-Denis and its neighboring areas had a missing teacher at the start of the year, according to a survey by a major labor union of more than 1,000 French schools. That was eight points higher than the national average.
“The problem is national, but it’s three times as bad in the suburbs,” said Bilel Narjissi, a senior at Paul Éluard and a member of the school’s student council.
Recent students and teachers at Paul Éluard said classes had spent an entire school year without a professor in some subjects, including philosophy, which heavily affected students’ preparation for their senior exams.
France’s education minister, Édouard Geffray, said on Tuesday that the number of teaching vacancies had fallen by more than half over the past year.
But students said they had yet to feel meaningful change.
Zakarya Boukhadda, a 16-year-old at Paul Éluard, said at a rally this week that there weren’t enough special educators at the school, especially “for students with neurodivergent conditions or autism like myself.”
Frustrations That Boiled for Years
Paul Éluard, founded in 1965, was named for a French writer whose poem “Liberté” became a widely read ode to freedom during World War II.
Over time, the school bearing his name became synonymous with decline.
In May 2023, staff members created a social media account comparing the high school to the Titanic. Pictures and videos showed cracked and crumbling walls, leaking or collapsed ceilings, and flooded floors. Those conditions were also described in interviews with former and current students, who recalled rats scouring the hallways.
In late 2024, regional officials reported finding parts of the school in a state of disrepair, warning of fire doors that had been wedged shut, a blocked emergency exit and signs of vandalism.
Ms. Pécresse’s office said that the regional government had tried to resolve the structural problems at the school, including by waterproofing its buildings, adding fire doors and providing more security, as well as investing the $50 million, about 45 million euros, which would go toward “a comprehensive transformation of the entire site.”
But to the students and their supporters, those additions are too little too late and have left students cooped up in substandard temporary buildings while the renovation goes on.
Bally Bagayoko, a far-left local mayor, told journalists at a rally on Sunday that the regional council’s response was “contemptuous.”
“They say, ‘We’re giving you 45 million,’” said Mr. Bagayoko, who has often joined demonstrations in solidarity with the students. “That means, ‘Be satisfied with what we’re giving you, be happy that we’re giving you anything at all,’” he added
Mr. Bagayoko, 53, grew up in the area and recalled studying in badly insulated buildings when he was a student himself.
“How many times did I sit in a classroom where there was so much construction going on?” he asked. “We were sitting there in our coats because we were freezing our butts off,” he added. “That’s why it’s unbearable to see those who have the power to act pretending that they’re just now discovering this.”
Ms. Pécresse has dismissed Mr. Bagayoko as a rabble-rouser, pledging on social media to send him “the bill for the 100,000-euro replacement of the gate at Paul Éluard High School.”
“Let the mayor take responsibility for his actions,” she added. “I’ve taken responsibility for mine: a complete renovation of the high school.”
For some at Paul Éluard, the conditions at the schools compound the perception that the national leaders care little for the area or its alienated and underprivileged residents, many of whose families come from France’s former colonies in Africa.
“They simply don’t care about us,” said Zorah Adrachi, 19, who graduated from Paul Éluard in the summer hoping to study psychology or train as a teacher. Despite passing her senior exams, an achievement that generally guarantees entry to university, Ms. Adrachi is among thousands of young high school graduates who have not been offered a place on a higher education program, leaving her in limbo.
Mr. Narjissi, the student council member, who wore the French tricolor on the collar of his woolen coat, said he would not give up the fight for better learning conditions.
“Maybe our parents didn’t dare pursue executive careers or positions of responsibility,” he said. “But tomorrow we’ll be the members of Parliament, we’ll be the mayors, and we’ll keep going and we won’t give up.”
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*
