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Democracy Now!
- "I Will Govern as a Democratic Socialist": Watch Zohran Mamdani & Bernie Sanders at NYC Inauguration
Zohran Mamdani hailed “a new era” for New York on Thursday, promising in his inaugural address to deliver on the ambitious agenda that electrified progressives in the city and saw him defeat the political establishment in both the Democratic primary and the general election last year. Addressing thousands of supporters who braved freezing temperatures to attend the ceremony at City Hall, Mamdani vowed to “govern expansively and audaciously” for residents. “I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical,” he said. Mamdani was sworn in by Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who also spoke during the ceremony.
- AOC, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams & Poet Cornelius Eady: Voices from the Mamdani Inauguration
“We have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,” said Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her introduction to the historic inauguration of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor. We feature part of her remarks, along with poet Cornelius Eady, who performed his original poem “Proof” during the inauguration ceremony, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who began to cry as he addressed part of his speech to his younger self.
- Zohran Mamdani Supporters Celebrate "Politics of Optimism" at His Inauguration
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers braved freezing temperatures and police barricades to be part of Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as mayor on New Year’s Day. Democracy Now! spoke with many Mamdani supporters, including a high school student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, about what the day represented to them, their hopes for the new administration and how it could set a model for progressives across the country. “Organized people will always be more powerful than organized money,” said Diana Moreno, a fellow democratic socialist who is running for Mamdani’s vacant seat in the New York State Assembly.
- Mamdani Takes Oath at Abandoned NYC Subway Station to Highlight Plan to Improve Public Transit
New York City started 2026 with a new mayor, as democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani made history when he was sworn in as the city’s first Muslim, first South Asian and first African-born leader, as well as the youngest in over a century. Ahead of a public ceremony on New Year’s Day that drew tens of thousands of people in the freezing cold, Mamdani was privately sworn in at midnight by New York Attorney General Tish James in a small ceremony held at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall. He took his oath using two Qur’ans, including one that belonged to his grandfather. Andrew Epstein, one of Mamdani’s closest advisers, spoke with Democracy Now! about the significance of the private ceremony and how it connected the new […]
- Headlines for January 2, 2026
Zohran Mamdani Sworn In as New York’s First Muslim and First Democratic Socialist Mayor, U.S. Federal Minimum Wage Remains Flat for 16th Straight Year as Billionaires’ Wealth Skyrockets, Trump Hosts Netanyahu as Guest of Honor at Lavish Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Party, Winter Storms Batter Tents Housing Displaced Palestinians in Gaza, Killing Two More Children, Israel Demolishes Palestinian Homes in West Bank Refugee Camp, Approves Even More Settlements, Hundreds of Thousands March in Istanbul to Demand End to Israel’s Genocide in Palestine, Pentagon Says It Blew Up 5 More Boats in Caribbean and Pacific, Killing at Least 8, Governor of Russian-Occupied Kherson Says Ukrainian Attack Killed 24 and Wounded 50, Trump Says He’ll Withdraw […]
Anthropocene
- The climate case for cheap food
An analysis of diets worldwide reveals that lower-cost diets are often substantially less carbon-intensive than the meals people eat most often.
- Chasing the dream of transparent insulation, researchers hit on a solution: high-tech “bubble wrap”
A team of scientists have created a porous material that keeps windows almost 100 percent transparent while blocking 10 times as much heat as regular glass windows.
The Guardian
- Nicolás Maduro jailed in New York as Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela – live
Venezuelan leader is expected to make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday after capture by US forcesFull report: Trump says US will ‘run’ VenezuelaExplained: Is there legal justification for the US attack on Venezuela?Keir Starmer also told the BBC that he thinks we are living in a more “volatile” world than we have been for “many, many years” and said global affairs have much more of a “direct impact” on the UK than they have in a long time, citing the effects of military conflicts and the climate crisis.Asked if Donald Trump is worsening global turmoil, Starmer dodges the question and speaks about the so-called special relationship between the UK and the US.The relationship between the US and the UK […]
- Republican claims of ‘terrorism’ leave everyone unsafe, Muslim leader warns
Edward Ahmed Mitchell of Council on American-Islamic Relations says Texas and Florida governors abusing powerThe deputy director of the US’s biggest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group warns that Republican governors’ steps to declare his organization a “terrorist organization” won’t stop with the Muslim community.“No governor should have the power to unilaterally declare a civil rights or advocacy group he disagrees with a terrorist organization, take punitive action against them, all in violation of due process and free speech,” Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Guardian this month. “If any governor can get away with abusing that kind of power, then no […]
- ‘It’s an opportunity’: joy and wariness among US Venezuelans after Maduro toppled
Hundreds of people danced, sang and waved the flag of Venezuela in the suburban Miami city of Doral on SaturdayThe first chants of “libertad” cut through the air well before dawn in Doral, the suburban Miami city where up to 40% of the population is Venezuelan. Hundreds of people, dancing, singing and waving Venezuela’s yellow, blue and red flag filled the street outside the El Arepazo restaurant, the traditional community meeting place, as they celebrated the downfall of the despised president Nicolás Maduro.The euphoria lasted well into the day on Saturday as residents learned how the strongman and his wife, first lady Cilia Flores, were snatched from their beds by US military members and bundled away towards an eventual court […]
- Celebrations and protests take place around the world after Venezuela strikes – video
Venezuelans around the world celebrated after the US government captured and removed the president, Nicolás Maduro. Crowds of people gathered in countries including Argentina, Chile and Colombia. They waved flags, sang songs and danced. Others gathered to condemn the US government's strikes on the country and to oppose military action US politics liveVenezuela attack: what we know so far as US captures President Maduro Continue reading...
- US attack on Venezuela raises fears of future Greenland takeover
Danish ambassador posts ‘friendly reminder’ about defence ties after provocative Maga post over territoryVenezuelan president jailed in New York – live updatesThe US bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, have renewed fears of an American takeover of Greenland, as members of Donald Trump’s Maga movement gleefully set their sights on the Danish territory after the attack in South America.Just hours after the US military operation in Venezuela, the rightwing podcaster Katie Miller – the wife of Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s powerful deputy chief of staff for policy – posted on X a map of Greenland draped in the stars and stripes with the caption: “SOON.” Continue reading...
Aeon
- Voices of Russia
In rare interviews, Russians speak candidly about their lives in the presence of war – animated to protect their identities- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon
The Conversation
- 5 scenarios for a post-Maduro Venezuela — and what they could signal to the wider region
President Donald Trump has said the US will ‘run’ Venezuela until a ‘safe, proper and judicious transition’ can take place. But that still leaves many options.
- A predawn op in Latin America? The US has been here before, but the seizure of Venezuela’s Maduro is still unprecedented
The operation in Venezuela has echoes of Panama in 1989. But in ordering President Maduro’s capture, Trump has broken with long-standing US policy in Latin America.
- I wrote a book on the politics of war powers, and Trump’s attack on Venezuela reflects Congress surrendering its decision-making powers
Congress has a legal, constitutional and even moral responsibility to assert itself as a branch when it comes to military actions by the US, says an expert on war powers.
- Oldest known cremation in Africa poses 9,500-year-old mystery about Stone Age hunter-gatherers
An ancient cremation would have been a community spectacle in a place returned to and reignited over many generations. What was behind this unexpected funeral ritual?
- West Coast levee failures show growing risks from America’s aging flood defenses
Levees protect more than 7 million buildings in the US today, yet they got a D-plus grade in 2025. A new study found 487 cases where rising water overtopped levees in the past 15 years.
Inter Press Service
- ‘This Anti-LGBTQI+ Bill Can Still Be Blocked – but Only With Sustained International Pressure’
CIVICUS discusses Kazakhstan’s anti-LGBTQI+ bill with Temirlan Baimash, activist and co-founder of QUEER KZ youth initiative, a Kazakhstani LGBTQI+ organisation. On 12 November, Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament unanimously passed a bill banning ‘LGBTQI+ propaganda’, introducing fines and up to 10 days’ imprisonment for repeat offences. Although homosexuality was decriminalised in 1998, the bill,
- Sudan’s Crisis: Mass Killings Continue While the World Looks Away
Satellite images show corpses piled high in El Fasher, North Darfur, awaiting mass burial or cremation as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia tries to cover up the scale of its crimes. Up to 150,000 El Fasher residents remain missing from the city, seized by the RSF in November. The lowest estimate is that 60,000
- Living with nature, the climate lesson from Brazil’s caatinga
“The work of collecting seeds saved me from depression,” caused by her daughter’s suicide at the age of 29, said Maria do Desterro Soares, 64, who lives in the poor rural community of Jatobá in northeastern Brazil. She drew her younger sister, Maria de Jesus Soares, 45, who lost her husband in a car accident
Sludge
- House Dems Gave Millions in ‘Dark Money’ to AIPAC-Linked 314 Action
314 Action is one of the groups that AIPAC diverted its PAC money through in 2024.
Grist
- Louisiana town fights for relief after a billion-dollar oil disaster
Federal and state officials have sued the company behind the blast, but Roseland, Louisiana, residents say the case won’t bring relief to their town.
- Wildfire smoke is a national crisis, and it’s worse than you think
Greenhouse gas and particulate emissions from fires globally may be 70 percent higher than once believed.
- University of Nebraska is eliminating a key climate research department
As Nebraska's weather intensifies, farmers are losing a critical resource to understand it.
Truthout
- Trump Invokes Monroe Doctrine as US Attack on Venezuela Signals Wider Threats Across Latin America
Trump and Rubio framed the assault on Venezuela as a warning to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and other nations.
- The FDA’s Lax Generic Drug Rules Can Put Patients’ Lives at Risk
Generic drugs are supposed to be equivalent to brand-name medications — but the FDA doesn’t always ensure that.
- 2025 Was a Year of Collective Mourning for Disabled Communities
If we can create and build on communal structures of care, we can hold that grief together more easily.
Labor Notes
- 2025 in Review: Stark Battle Lines, Big Potential
Already before Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, there were dire omens. Poultry workers reported that their supervisors were using Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric to divide workers up—allowing white workers bathroom breaks but denying them to Hispanic workers. “The more people are afraid to organize, the more the bosses will take advantage to create worse working conditions,” wrote Magaly Licolli of the worker center Venceremos in January.
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