Born in rural Ohio, Howard Keylor attended a one-room country schoolhouse. He became a mem-ber of the National Honor Society when he graduated from Marietta High School.
After enlisting in the U.S. Army, Howard fought in the Pacific Theater in World War Two, during which he participated in the Battle of Okinawa as a Corporal. The 96th U.S. Army Division, which Howard trained with, had casualty rates above 50%. The incompetence and racism of the military command, the destruction of the capital city of Naha and the deliberate killings of tens of thousands of Okinawan civil-ians – a third of the population - made Howard a committed anti-imperialist, anti-militarist and anti-racist for the rest of his life.
Upon returning to the United States, Howard enrolled in the College of the Pacific, but dropped out to support Filipino agricultural workers in the 1948 asparagus strike, working with legendary labor leader Larry Itliong. He became a longshore worker in Stockton in 1953. As a member of the Communist Party, Howard and his wife, Evangeline, were attacked in the HUAC (McCarthy) hearings in San Francisco. Later, Howard transferred to ILWU Local 10. In 1971 he, along with Brothers Herb Mills, Leo Robinson and a ma-jority of Local 10’s members, opposed the proposed 1971 contract which codified the 9.43 steadyman sys-tem. This led to the longshore strike of 1971-1972, which shut down 56 West Coast ports and lasted 130 days. It was the longest strike in the ILWU’s history.
In Local 10 Brother Keylor was a member of the Militant Caucus, a class struggle rank-and-file group which published a regular newsletter, the “Longshore Militant”. He later left the Militant Caucus and pub-lished a separate newsletter on his own, the “Militant Longshoreman.” Howard advocated deliberate defi-ance of the “slave-labor” Taft-Hartley law through illegal secondary boycotts and pickets. Running on an open class-struggle program which called for breaking with the Democratic and Republican Parties, form-ing a worker’s government, expropriating the capitalists without compensation and creating a planned economy, Howard won election to the Executive Board of Local 10 for twelve years.
The Militant Caucus was involved in organizing protests and boycotts of military cargo bound for the military dictatorship in Chile in 1975 and 1978 and again in 1980 to the military dictatorship in El Sal-vador. The Caucus also participated in ILWU Local 6’s strike at KNC Glass in Union City, during which a mass picket line physically defeated police and scabs, winning a contract for a workforce composed pri-marily of Mexican-American immigrants.
In 1984, Brother Keylor made the motion, amended by Brother Leo Robinson, which led to the elev-en-day longshore boycott of South African cargo on the Nedlloyd Kimberley. In 1986, Howard again partici-pated in the Campaign Against Apartheid’s community picket line against the Nedlloyd Kemba. When Nel-son Mandela spoke at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990 after his release from prison, he credited Local 10 with re-igniting the anti-Apartheid movement in the Bay Area.
Other actions Brother Howard initiated, organized or participated in included the 1995-98 struggle of the Liverpool dockworkers; the 1999 coastwide shutdown and march of 25,000 in San Francisco to de-mand freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal; the 2000 Charleston longshore union campaign; the 2008 May Day anti-imperialist war shutdown of all West Coast ports; the shutdown of Northern California ports in pro-test of the murder of Oscar Grant; the blockades of Israeli ships to protest the war on Gaza in 2010 and 2014; the 2011 ILWU struggle against the grain monopolies in Longview; Occupy Oakland’s march of 40,000 to the Port of Oakland, and countless other militant job actions and protests. Throughout his life, Brother Keylor always extended solidarity where it was needed. He fought racist police murders and fas-cist terror, defended abortion clinics, and fought for survivors of psychiatric abuse. Having grown up in Appalachia, he has always been an environmentalist, and helped shut down a Monsanto facility in Davis in 2012, as well as fighting pesticide use and deforestation in the East Bay.
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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.
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Petition to Force Amazon to Cut ICE Contracts!
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-amazon-end-contracts-with-ice/?source=group-amazon-labor-union&referrer=group-amazon-labor-
Amazon Labor Union
Over 600,000 messages have already been sent directly to Amazon board members demanding one thing: Amazon must stop fueling deportations by ending its contracts with ICE and DHS.
ICE and DHS rely on the data infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services. Their campaign against immigrants and those who stand with them depends on the logistical, financial, and political support of companies like Amazon.
But workers and communities have real power when we act collectively. That’s why we must expose Amazon’s role in the deportation machine. Help us reach 1 million messages and force Amazon to act by signing our petition with The Labor Force today:
Tell Amazon: End contracts with ICE!
On Cyber Monday 2025, Amazon workers rallied outside of Amazon’s NYC headquarters to demand that Amazon stop fueling mass deportations through Amazon Web Services’ contracts with ICE and DHS.
ICE cannot operate without corporate backing; its campaign against immigrants and those who stand with them depends on the logistical, financial, and political support of companies like Amazon. Mega-corporations may appear untouchable, but they are not. Anti-authoritarian movements have long understood that repression is sustained by a network of institutional enablers and when those enablers are disrupted, state violence weakens. Workers and communities have real power when they act collectively. That is why we must expose Amazon’s role in the deportation machine.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its most commonly used cloud platform. DHS and ICE cannot wage their attack on immigrants without the critical data infrastructure that Amazon Web Services provide, allowing the agencies to collect, analyze, and store the massive amounts of data they need to do their dirty work. Without the power of AWS, ICE would not be able to track and target people at its current scale.
ICE and DHS use Amazon Web Services to collect and store massive amounts of purchased data on immigrants and their friends and family–everything from biometric data, DMV data, cellphone records, and more. And through its contracts with Palantir, DHS is able to scour regional, local, state, and federal databases and analyze and store this data on AWS. All of this information is ultimately used to target immigrants and other members of our communities.
No corporation should profit from oppression and abuse. Yet Amazon is raking in tens of millions of dollars to fuel DHS and ICE, while grossly exploiting its own workers. Can you sign our petition today, demanding that Amazon stop fueling deportations by ending its contracts with DHS and ICE, now?
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-amazon-end-contracts-with-ice/?source=group-amazon-labor-union&referrer=group-amazon-labor-
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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
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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)
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Dr. Atler 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
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 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 *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* |
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
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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
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Articles
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1) Iranian Forces Claim to Seize 2 Ships After Trump Extends Truce
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked and seized two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported. Both sides were seeking to exert control in the waterway even as President Trump renewed a cease-fire.
By Adam Rasgon, Luke Broadwater, Jonathan Swan and Francesca Regalado, April 22, 2026
A banner of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in Tehran on Tuesday. Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had seized two container ships on Wednesday in the area of the contested Strait of Hormuz, Iranian news media reported, hours after President Trump announced that he was extending a cease-fire.
Earlier Wednesday, U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, a shipping monitor run by the British Navy, reported that two ships had been attacked near the strait, one by a gunboat belonging to the Revolutionary Guards. Iranian news media reported that the Guards had targeted two cargo vessels, the MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, and the force’s Navy later claimed to have seized the ships after they attempted to navigate “without the necessary permits.”
The Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The attacks showed how both Iran and the United States were seeking to exert control over shipping in the area. Even as Mr. Trump announced the cease-fire extension late on Tuesday, before it was set to expire, he said the United States would continue to block ships heading to and from Iranian ports — a move that Iran’s foreign minister called “an act of war.”
Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks was put on hold Tuesday because Tehran had not responded to American demands in the negotiations, a U.S. official said. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Wednesday that Iran remained open to the idea of further talks but stood ready to defend itself militarily.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump said he had renewed the truce on a request from Pakistan, which is trying to mediate an end to the war. He said the cease-fire would remain in place until Iran’s “leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”
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2) Hoarding Is Driving Energy Prices Higher Everywhere
As wealthy nations scramble to secure stocks of oil, the result is higher prices for all and shortages in vulnerable countries.
By Peter S. Goodman, April 22, 2026
Peter Goodman has written about international trade for 25 years and covered unequal vaccine distribution during the pandemic.
“Rich people ensure their luxury consumption while the majority of people gets squeezed.”
People queue for cooking gas cylinders in New Delhi this month. Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images
In economics textbooks, higher energy prices from the war in the Middle East display the power of the markets to efficiently decide who gets what. Yet in the real world, a cruder sort of power appears at work.
The conflict has severely constricted the supply of oil from the Persian Gulf. Countries with the financial means — China, Japan, Europe, the United States — are securing much of what they need, paying whatever it takes. Some are restricting exports to hold on to what they have.
That has pushed prices higher everywhere. At the same time, shortages threaten less affluent nations in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Some economists are describing this as hoarding.
“The market is not some harmonious allocating mechanism, but ends up being the law of the jungle,” said Isabella Weber, an economist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “Rationing by price explosion ends up being fundamentally unjust.”
Not for the first time, the world is reckoning with the reality that fear of scarcity can become self-fulfilling. Increased prices for critical commodities like oil and natural gas are amplified by a feedback loop of alarm and feverish buying. As national governments understandably seek to protect their economies from running out of vital goods, their purchasing affirms the impetus for others to lock up supply.
This truth has been illustrated over decades by shocks to the world’s food supply. A similar story played out during the Covid-19 pandemic as nations banned exports of protective gear and competed for limited doses of lifesaving vaccines. Now, the same dynamic appears to be driving up prices for energy around the globe, yielding shortages of cooking gas in India and jet fuel in Southeast Asia.
“Once again, a large unanticipated shock hits the world economy and it’s every country for itself,” said Eswar Prasad, an international trade expert at Cornell University. “This is not the world in it together and trying to sort out the problem jointly. Every country is going into survival mode.”
Last week, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the International Energy Agency jointly exhorted countries not to hoard stocks of energy or ban exports, warning that such measures would worsen the situation for the globe.
“Do no harm,” urged the I.M.F.’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, as her institution downgraded its forecast for global economic growth.
That admonition came after China and Thailand halted exports of jet fuel, seeking to ensure adequate stocks at home.
For Thailand, any trouble for aviation poses danger for its enormous tourism industry. And worries about running out of energy had already gotten real. After the government capped the rising price of diesel, drivers massed at gas stations in a surge of panic buying. Then the authorities got ready to ration fuel.
But the impact of banning exports of jet fuel spread the pain elsewhere through the region, causing shortages in importing countries like Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan.
Major airlines in Europe have warned about the risk of running low on fuel. Lufthansa Group cited the doubling of prices said on Tuesday that it would cut 20,000 flights that through October.
Europe depends on Persian Gulf suppliers for three-fourths of its jet fuel, with the bulk moving through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel at the center of hostilities between the United States and Iran.
The Chinese government, long concerned about reliance on energy from the Middle East, has in recent years added to its vast stockpiles of oil and natural gas. China has also become the world’s leader in drawing electricity from renewable sources of energy like solar and wind power. Still, China buys some 13 percent of its oil from Iran, making the war a source of grave concern in Beijing.
Since the United States and Israel launched the war at the end of February, China has sought to replace oil shipments blocked by the conflict with increased purchases from Russia and Brazil.
That is no simple exercise. Overall, China’s crude oil imports have dipped about 10 percent this year compared with 2025. But China’s unrivaled capacity to store oil greatly diminishes the threat of running out.
Smaller economies lack such capacity, putting them at a pronounced disadvantage.
The Philippines, which imports 90 percent of its oil from the Persian Gulf, last month declared a national emergency in the face of spiking gasoline prices. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sought to ease the strain by handing out subsidies to drivers of motorized tricycles and jeepneys, a popular form of transportation. But that has not assuaged the anger of drivers, who have staged strikes. The government has also halted collections of fuel taxes on liquefied petroleum gas — a major source of cooking fuel in urban areas.
In India, which also relies heavily on liquefied petroleum gas for cooking, authorities have been raiding businesses accused of hoarding canisters, exacerbating shortages.
In the United States, President Trump has sought to limit economic disruptions from his war by releasing millions of barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Japan has pursued a similar approach.
European importers of energy, especially vulnerable to turmoil in the Persian Gulf, have been pushing world prices higher by outbidding distressed rivals in Asia for jet fuel and other products.
Some see the skewed availability of energy as a rebuke of economic dogma that has propelled globalization since the end of World War II: the idea that greater trade yields stability by expanding access to vital goods.
“The post-World War II framework was based on this idea that boundaries don’t matter,” said Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate economist at Columbia University. “There’s a global price for everything. But once you have national hoarding, that’s no longer true. Borders matter.”
This is hardly the first incidence of shortages arising from a multinational free-for-all.
More than half a century ago, in 1972, drought ravaged rice crops in much of Southeast Asia, threatening a staple food for tens of millions of people. The next year, Thailand — the world’s largest exporter of rice — banned foreign sales to ensure adequate stocks at home. By early 1974, rice prices had risen fourfold on world markets, according to an analysis by C. Peter Timmer, a development expert at Harvard.
Wealthy importers like Japan and Britain paid more for rice. China cut back its exports to prioritize its own people. But Bangladesh and India — both dependent on imports, and both lacking in foreign exchange reserves — struggled to feed their populations.
In 2007, rising prices for wheat and corn prompted concern about the global food supply. Less developed countries that were heavily dependent on rice sought to amass holdings of that staple crop. Buyers in the Philippines sharply increased rice imports. India and Vietnam restricted exports.
By early 2008, rice prices had more than doubled, forcing ordinary households in much of Asia to limit their caloric intake and sending nearly a billion people into poverty, according to an analysis by the Asian Development Bank.
The pandemic delivered another lesson about the perils of national rivalry for goods absent international coordination. During the first months, 76 countries imposed restrictions on the export of critical medical supplies, according to a compilation by Simon J. Evenett, a trade expert at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
National authorities were eager to prioritize the welfare of their own people in the face of a global disaster. But the net effect was to limit the availability of components for the manufacturing of ventilators and other equipment needed to treat Covid patients.
China’s restrictions on shipments of protective gear were especially potent given that its factories were the source of more than 40 percent of many such products, according to research by Chad Bown, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Prices for protective gear multiplied around the globe.
Even in wealthy countries in North America and Europe, federal governments competed with local authorities for access to medical goods. The ability to pay trumped considerations of collective protection.
“Even the chemicals that went into the vaccines they hoarded,” said Mr. Stiglitz, the economist. “That interrupted the supply chain and made it more difficult to produce some of the vaccines. It was destructive, but everybody said, ‘We don’t know what we’re going to need.’”
A similar dynamic determined which countries gained access to Covid vaccines. By the middle of 2021, three-fourths of the people who had received the vaccines lived in just 10 countries, among them the United States, Britain, Germany and France, according to research published in a scientific journal. Only 5 percent of the human population had received a single dose of vaccine.
Pfizer, the American pharmaceutical giant, developed a leading Covid vaccine. The company promised to contribute 40 million doses at not-for-profit prices to Covax, an initiative aimed at ensuring that poor countries would gain protection. That volume was less than 1 percent of the 11 billion doses that were estimated to be needed to ensure that 70 percent of the world’s population was covered. And by the middle of 2021, as Pfizer logged big profits for its sale of vaccines to the highest bidder, the company had delivered only 1.25 million doses to Covax — less than it produced in a single day.
The consequences of leaving much of the world beyond reach of vaccines represented a collective vulnerability.
The energy shocks are similarly universal: Hoarding lifts market prices everywhere.Yet which countries manage to secure ample stocks is a tale of inequality.
“Rich countries outbid poor countries,” said Ms. Weber, the University of Massachusetts economist. “Rich people ensure their luxury consumption while the majority of people gets squeezed.”
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3) A New Era and New Leadership: The Generals Who Are Running Iran
The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ushered in a new form of collective leadership in the country, with more power for the Revolutionary Guards.
By Farnaz Fassihi, April 23, 2026
Farnaz Fassihi has covered Iran for three decades. For this article, she interviewed 23 people in Iran, including senior officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards and individuals with ties to Ali and Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iranians gathered last month in Tehran with flags and posters to show their support for Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader. Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times
When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as the supreme leader, he exerted absolute power over all decisions about war, peace and negotiations with the United States. His son and successor does not play the same role.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son, is an elusive figure who has not been seen and whose voice has not been heard since he was appointed in March. Instead, a battle-hardened collective of commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and those aligned with them are the key decision makers on matters of security, war and diplomacy.
“Mojtaba is managing the country as though he is the director of the board,” said Abdolreza Davari, a politician who served as senior adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he was president and knows Mr. Khamenei.
“He relies heavily on the advice and guidance of the board members, and they collectively make all the decisions,” Mr. Davari said in a phone interview from Tehran. “The generals are the board members.”
This account of Iran’s new power structure is based on interviews with six senior Iranian officials, two former officials, two members of the Revolutionary Guards, a senior cleric familiar with the inner workings of the system and three individuals who know Mr. Khamenei well. Nine other individuals with ties to the Guards and the government also described the command structure. They all spoke on the condition they not be identified because they were discussing sensitive matters of state.
Mr. Khamenei, who was selected by a council of senior clerics as the new supreme leader, has been in hiding since American and Israeli forces bombed his father’s compound on Feb. 28, where he also lived with his family. His father, wife and son were all killed. Access to him is extremely difficult and limited now. He is surrounded mostly by a team of doctors and medical staff who are treating the injuries he sustained in the airstrikes.
Senior commanders of the Guards and senior government officials do not visit him, fearing that Israel may trace them to him and kill him. President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is also a heart surgeon, and the minister of health have both been involved in his care.
Though Mr. Khamenei was gravely wounded, he is mentally sharp and engaged, according to four senior Iranian officials familiar with his health. One leg was operated on three times, and he is awaiting a prosthetic. He had surgery on one hand and is slowly regaining function. His face and lips have been burned severely, making it difficult for him to speak, the officials said, adding that, eventually, he will need plastic surgery.
Mr. Khamenei has not recorded a video or audio message, the officials said, because he does not want to appear vulnerable or sound weak in his first public address. He has issued several written statements that have been posted online and read on state television.
Messages to him are handwritten, sealed in envelopes and relayed via a human chain from one trusted courier to the next, who travel on highways and back roads, in cars and on motorcycles until they reach his hide-out. His guidance on issues snakes back the same way.
The combination of concern for his safety, his injuries and the sheer challenge of reaching him has resulted in Mr. Khamenei’s delegating decision making to the generals, at least for now. Reformist factions, as well as ultra-hard-liners, are still involved in political discussions. But analysts say that Mr. Khamenei’s close ties to the generals, whom he grew up with when he volunteered to fight in the Iran-Iraq war as a teenager, have made them the dominant force.
President Trump has said that the war, along with the killings of layers of Iran’s leaders and security establishment, has ushered in “regime change” and that the new leaders are “much more reasonable.” In reality, the Islamic republic has not been toppled. Power is now in the hands of an entrenched, hard-line military, and the broad influence of the clerics is waning.
“Mojtaba is not yet in full command or control,” said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa for Chatham House who has contact with people in Iran. “There is, perhaps, deference to him. He signs off or he is part of the decision-making structure in a formal way. But he is presented with fait accompli presentations right now.”
The speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former Guards general and the lead negotiator with the United States in Pakistan, said in a television address on Saturday that the U.S. proposal for a nuclear deal and peace plan and Iran’s response had been shared with Mr. Khamenei and his views taken into account when making decisions.
The Rise of the Guards
The Revolutionary Guards, formed as protectors of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, have steadily amassed power through top political roles, stakes in key industries, domination of intelligence operations and cultivation of ties with militant groups in the Middle East that share Iran’s enmity toward Israel and the United States.
But under the elder Mr. Khamenei, they still had to mostly adhere to his will as a singular religious figure who also served as commander in chief of the armed forces. He empowered the Guards, and over time they became the tool and pillar of his rule.
Mr. Khamenei’s killing on the first day of the war created a void and an opportunity. The Guards rallied behind Mojtaba in the succession struggle that ensued and played an instrumental role in his selection as Iran’s third supreme leader.
The Guards have multiple levers of power. The commander in chief is Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. Gen. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the newly appointed head of the Supreme National Security Council, is a former hard-line commander of the Guards. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, a commander, has served as the top military adviser to both father and son supreme leaders.
“Mojtaba is not supreme; he might be leader in name, but he is not supreme the way his father was,” said Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group who has extensive contacts in Iran. “Mojtaba is subservient to the Revolutionary Guards because he owes his position and he owes the survival of the system to them.”
The officials interviewed say the generals view the war with the United States and Israel as a threat to the regime’s survival, and after five weeks of fierce fighting, the generals are confident that they have contained the threat. At every juncture, they have taken the lead in deciding strategy and the use of resources.
They have upended the global economy by closing the Strait of Hormuz and have used any gains in the war as leverage to outmaneuver political rivals at home. The elected president and his cabinet have been sidelined and told to focus only on domestic affairs, such as providing a steady flow of food and fuel, and to make sure the country is functioning, according to knowledgeable officials.
The foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has been marginalized in the negotiations that he led with the United States before the war, the officials said. Mr. Ghalibaf, the speaker of Parliament, has taken the lead instead.
The newly minted supreme leader has followed along, rarely if ever objecting to the generals, they said.
It was the Guards who came up with the strategy for Iran’s attacks on Israel and the Persian Gulf states, along with the closing of the strait to maritime traffic. They were the ones who agreed to a temporary cease-fire with the United States and approved back-channel diplomacy and direct negotiations with the United States. They tapped Mr. Ghalibaf from among their own ranks to lead the talks with Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad.
For the first time, several military generals from the Guards were part of the Iranian delegation negotiating with the United States.
Iranian officials and three others individuals who know Mojtaba Khamenei said in interviews from Tehran that his deference to the Guards was partly because he was new to the leadership role. He lacks the political stature and religious clout that made his father such a singular force. And it is partly because of his deep personal ties to the Guards.
When Mr. Khamenei was 17, he volunteered to fight in the Iran-Iraq war. He was deployed to a brigade of the Guards called the Habib Battalion. The experience shaped him, and he made lifelong bonds. As they grew and aged, many members of the battalion rose into influential military and intelligence roles.
Mr. Khamenei completed his studies at a theological seminary, reaching the rank of ayatollah, considered a scholar and jurist of the Shiite faith. He worked at his father’s compound, coordinating military and intelligence operations for his father, a role that further cemented his ties to the generals and intelligence chiefs.
Among Mr. Khamenei’s close friends from the Habib Battalion is the Guards’ former intelligence chief, the cleric Hossein Taeb; and Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, who commanded him in the 1980s and has been called back from retirement. Mr. Ghalibaf is also a longtime friend.
For years, Mr. Khamenei, Mr. Taeb and Mr. Ghalibaf met once a week for long working lunches at the ayatollah’s compound, according to Iranian officials and the three individuals who know Mr. Khamenei personally. They became known as the “triangle of power.” The trio was accused by a more moderate cleric, Mehdi Karroubi, of intervening in the 2009 presidential election in which he was a candidate and rigging the results in favor of the incumbent president, Mr. Ahmadinejad. Mr. Karroubi lost, and the election upset led to months of upheaval, protests and violence.
These personal relationships are now playing heavily into the dynamic between Mr. Khamenei and the generals. They are on a first-name basis and view one another as peers, not superior and subordinate, said Mr. Davari.
Differences Emerge
The generals are not the only voices at the table. Iranian politics have never been monolithic, and the system is designed to have parallel power structures. Disagreements and divisions have always been common and, in many instances, public among Iranian political figures and military commanders. Mr. Pezeshkian and Mr. Araghchi also have seats on the National Security Council.
But under the current collective leadership, it is the generals who prevail and currently there are no signs of disarray among them.
On Tuesday, as the Iranian and American negotiating teams prepared to fly to Islamabad to meet for a second round of talks, the generals pulled the plug. For days differences had simmered over whether Iran should continue talks with Mr. Vance if Mr. Trump maintained a sea blockade on Iran. Already, some 27 Iranian ships had been turned around while trying to enter or exit Iranian ports.
Mr. Trump had fired off a series of social media posts about forcing Iran to give in to all his demands, and he had renewed threats to bomb the country’s power plants and bridges if Iran did not agree to a deal. The United States then seized two ships belonging to Iran, further infuriating the generals, who thought the move amounted to a violation of the cease-fire, officials said.
The commander in chief, General Vahidi, and several other generals argued that talks were futile because the blockade showed Mr. Trump was not interested in negotiations and wanted to pressure Iran to surrender, according to officials and two members of the Guards who were briefed on the meeting.
The officials said Mr. Pezeshkian and Mr. Araghchi disagreed. Mr. Pezeshkian warned of the dire economic losses from the war, estimated by the government to be about $300 billion, and the need for sanctions relief for reconstruction. Disagreements also emerged over how far Iran should push with its closure of the strait.
The generals won, and the talks fell apart.
Mr. Trump extended the cease-fire but is keeping the blockade in place until, he said, Iran’s “fractured leaders” present their own peace proposal. What happens next is not clear. Nor is it clear whether the Guards will allow enough concessions to the United States on Iran’s nuclear program for a peace deal to materialize, including on the two contentious issues: freezing enrichment and giving up the 970 pound stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
A hard-line fringe faction in Iran, while not dominant, has opposed making any concessions, believing that if Iran continued fighting it would defeat Israel and the United States. Supporters of the hard-liners have filled the streets with rallies at night, waving flags and pledging their blood for the Islamic republic. When Mr. Araghchi posted on social media at one point that Iran was opening the strait, the hard-liners attacked him, accusing the negotiating team of betraying their supporters.
The firebrands are supporters of Saeed Jalili, an ultra-hard-line presidential candidate, who has been sidelined from making decisions but still has some influence, including over state television, which his brother runs. Some demanded that Mr. Khamenei make a video or audio message to confirm to the public he was on board with the negotiations with Washington. At a rally in Tehran, crowds addressing Mr. Khamenei chanted, “Commander, give us the order and we will follow.”
Mr. Ghalibaf addressed the nation on state television on Saturday night local time, assuring Iranians that Mr. Khamenei was involved. He struck a defiant but pragmatic tone, saying that Iran had gained military achievements, including shooting down an American fighter jet, but that now it was time to leverage those gains in diplomatic negotiations.
“Sometimes, I see our people say we destroyed them,” Mr. Ghalibaf said. “No, we did not destroy them; you need to understand this. Our military gains do not mean that we are more powerful than the United States.”
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4) Israel Is Weaponizing Lebanon’s Diversity
By Ussama Makdisi, April 23, 2026
Dr. Makdisi is a professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Hezbollah does not resist Israel simply because it is a Shiite organization supported by Iran; it resists Israel primarily because Israel has repeatedly invaded, scorched and occupied Lebanese land, and because Israel uprooted and terrorized its community. …Israel’s expansion into Lebanon and apparent weaponization of Lebanon’s religious diversity ultimately underscores its own commitment to its prevailing ideology as a Jewish state committed to subjugating its regional environment: from the occupied Palestinian territories to the Syrian Golan Heights, and now to southern Lebanon. In that way, Lebanon is its antithesis: a state that reflects, however imperfectly, an indigenous pluralism. It is a state that constitutionally belongs to all its citizens of many different religions, most of whom share an aspiration to live together in freedom and dignity.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/opinion/israel-exploits-lebanon-sectarian-divides.html
This week, a picture of an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of Jesus in a Christian village in southern Lebanon has sparked an international furor. Israeli leaders have apologized for that act, but they have not expressed regret for the destruction of a mosque in a southern town last month, or its public school, or for the extreme violence they have unleashed on the nation of Lebanon over the past six weeks.
Despite the tenuous cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel that is now in place, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire, while the Israeli Army has destroyed several Shiite villages along the border. The current cessation of hostilities follows a brutal Israeli assault that killed more than 2,300 people and displaced over a million from their homes. More than 350 Lebanese were killed in a shocking 10-minute aerial blitz on Beirut on April 8, hours after a cease-fire between Iran and the United States had been announced and was widely presumed to include Lebanon. Although many of the groups that make up Lebanon’s rich tapestry of religious diversity have been affected by Israel’s relentless bombing, the civilians most devastated are members of Lebanon’s Shiite community.
Israel claims it has been targeting Hezbollah, the political party and resistance movement rooted in Lebanon’s Shiite community. But its actions have gone well beyond attacking that group. It has repeated its Gaza doctrine of collective punishment. “Very soon, Dahiyeh” — the predominantly Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut, in which Hezbollah has maintained a strong presence — “will resemble Khan Younis,” boasted Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, in early March. During the war, Israel’s minister of defense said that Shiite residents would be specifically prohibited from returning to their homes in southern Lebanon until Israel achieved its military goals. Military officials pressed Druse and Christian leaders to force out their neighbors from Shiite communities who have sought refuge among them. And after devastating the southern suburbs of Beirut, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman explicitly threatened religiously “mixed” parts of the city. He claimed, without providing evidence, that Hezbollah had now moved to those areas.
Such an insidious and dangerous tactic wages war not just on the people, but also on the very nature of Lebanese society. Modern Lebanon embodies a long history of religious coexistence that goes back centuries. As in any socially diverse country, that pluralism is imperfect; it still struggles with sectarian tensions that both led to and are the legacy of the Lebanese civil war. Israel is exploiting these divides not just to vanquish Hezbollah, but also to expand at the expense of religiously diverse Lebanon.
Since its creation as a Christian-dominated state by France in 1920, Lebanon has maintained a sectarian system of government, in which representatives of each of the main religious communities are given a share of power. That system continued after independence: The powerful presidency is reserved for Maronite Christians, the prime minister for Sunni Muslims and the speaker of parliament for Shiite Muslims.
Before the Lebanese civil war in 1975, the Shiite population was largely marginalized, concentrated in the rural south of the country and the Bekaa Valley. They were not so much despised as neglected by Lebanon’s Christian and Sunni Muslim political elites. The creation of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948 came at the expense of hundreds of thousands of mostly Sunni Muslims as well as Christian Palestinians, who were uprooted or expelled from their homeland; many of them sought refuge in Lebanon.
Maronite elites feared that the largely Muslim Palestinian presence in the country would spur calls for democratizing Lebanon’s unequal system of governance. They also feared that the autonomous Palestine Liberation Organization — which made its headquarters in Beirut in 1971 and launched guerrilla raids from southern Lebanon to liberate its homeland — could destabilize the country. In 1975, these tensions exploded into all-out civil war, pitting predominantly Christian militias that wanted to uphold the sectarian system against their mostly Muslim and Palestinian rivals, who sought to reform or overthrow it.
Long before the P.L.O. was formed, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, had identified southern Lebanon, including the Litani River, as territory that might be seized to expand the border of Israel into Lebanon.
When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, it sought to defeat the P.L.O., while at the same time pushing for a pliant Christian leader in Lebanon. Israel besieged Beirut in the summer of 1982, indiscriminately bombing civilian areas and killing between an estimated 17,000 and 19,000 people. It bombed hospitals and prevented food, water and fuel from entering parts of Beirut to force the P.L.O. to withdraw from Lebanon.
Hezbollah is the product of Israel’s 1982 invasion and subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon. It grew into the main resistance organization in the country, sustained by profound ideological, financial and military ties with Iran. In 2000, Hezbollah forced Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon. This is the same area Israel is attempting to occupy today.
Over the years, the group has become a divisive issue within Lebanon. Some Lebanese resent Hezbollah’s potency, fearing that it has given the Shiite community too much power, and many support its disarmament. The group has also earned popular backing and is a source of pride for other Lebanese — overwhelmingly so among Shiites. Hezbollah does not resist Israel simply because it is a Shiite organization supported by Iran; it resists Israel primarily because Israel has repeatedly invaded, scorched and occupied Lebanese land, and because Israel uprooted and terrorized its community.
In the current conflict, Lebanese debates about Hezbollah have increased in rancor. Although the Lebanese government has declared Hezbollah’s military wing unlawful, the chief of the Lebanese army has been unwilling to disarm Hezbollah by force, lest it push the country into outright civil war.
Last week, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States met with her Israeli counterpart in Washington, leading to the cease-fire days later. The agreement does not compel Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — Israeli troops continue to occupy large swaths of Lebanon’s southern border — and allows Israel to “preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks.” Lebanon has no such right, and Hezbollah was not a party to the agreement. The government lacks the ability to compel Israel to withdraw, and at the same time it is unlikely to persuade Hezbollah to disarm as long as Israel threatens Lebanon.
Israel understands these dynamics, which is why it cajoles the Lebanese government to take action against Hezbollah, while at the same time threatening and attacking Lebanon itself.
Israel’s expansion into Lebanon and apparent weaponization of Lebanon’s religious diversity ultimately underscores its own commitment to its prevailing ideology as a Jewish state committed to subjugating its regional environment: from the occupied Palestinian territories to the Syrian Golan Heights, and now to southern Lebanon. In that way, Lebanon is its antithesis: a state that reflects, however imperfectly, an indigenous pluralism. It is a state that constitutionally belongs to all its citizens of many different religions, most of whom share an aspiration to live together in freedom and dignity.
Early in this war, Youssef Assaf, a volunteer paramedic, was killed by an Israeli airstrike as he got out of an ambulance. He was trying to rescue wounded people in southern Lebanon. His religion, and theirs, should not matter, but his funeral in the city of Tyre was attended by both Muslim and Christian religious leaders.
While Israel displaces and destroys, many Lebanese continue to defend their country, defying attempts to divide it. At stake is the very future of the Middle East: either domination over a vibrant, multireligious world, or defiance of this world in the face of those who seek its destruction.
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5) The Trump administration moves medical marijuana into a class of drugs with fewer restrictions.
Devlin Barrett, Reporting from Washington, April 23, 2026
The Justice Department announced on Thursday that it had loosened legal restrictions for medical marijuana, which officials said would allow for more research and treatment options.
The move does not affect the broader criminal classification of recreational marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. But the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, said the Drug Enforcement Administration would hold a hearing in June to consider doing so.
The new rule moves F.D.A.-approved marijuana and state-regulated marijuana out of the Schedule I category, which includes drugs like heroin that have the strictest restrictions, and into Schedule III, a group of drugs that includes ketamine and carries fewer restrictions.
Marijuana advocates have long argued that federal drug laws are too restrictive with cannabis, an argument that has gained traction among federal and state officials. The Biden administration began the regulatory process to loosen restrictions on marijuana, but that effort was hampered by delays inside the D.E.A.
Last December, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Justice Department to redouble efforts to change the classification of marijuana, removing it from the list of addictive drugs with no medical purpose, like heroin, and placing it instead among less addictive drugs that have medical uses.
The Justice Department action comes days after Mr. Trump publicly complained that officials had not enacted his order.
At an Oval Office ceremony last weekend with the podcaster Joe Rogan, Mr. Trump told other officials, “Will you get the rescheduling done?” He then turned to Mr. Rogan and said, “Joe, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling.”
The ceremony was held to honor the signing of another executive order about drugs, one that directed more research into the therapeutic benefits of mind-altering drugs like Ecstasy, LSD and psilocybin.
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