Headlines May 11, 2023 from Democracy Now!

Here in the U.S., Palestinian American Congressmember Rashida Tlaib on Wednesday introduced a resolution to recognize the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes before and during the formation of the state of Israel in 1948. The resolution reads, “The Nakba is not only a historical event, but also an ongoing process characterized by Israel’s separate-and-unequal laws and policies toward Palestinians, including the destruction of Palestinian homes, the construction and expansion of illegal settlements, and Israel’s confinement of Palestinians to ever-shrinking areas of land.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy attempted to quash a planned event by Tlaib commemorating the Nakba by preventing it from going ahead in the U.S. Capitol. Instead, Tlaib hosted the event in a packed Senate committee room filled with Palestinian rights supporters.

In Pakistan, the Supreme Court has ordered the release of arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan as unrest grows across the country. At least eight people have been killed in protests, though Khan’s party says the death toll is closer to 50. Authorities have detained at least three leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and the government has deployed soldiers to quell demonstrations across the country. This is a protester in Peshawar.

Mobeen Khan: “We had come out to protest, but the police fired tear gas shells at us. Then they fired shots at us. This is very cruel. We have come out because they have been cruel to Imran Khan. Also, they have arrested him. Until he is released, our protests will continue.”

Imran Khan has already faced two corruption charges in court this week and had been detained since his arrest Tuesday. Over 100 cases have been filed against him since he was ousted one year ago in a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Khan had described the move as a form of “U.S.-backed regime change” but later placed the blame on the military leadership, saying he wishes to mend ties with the U.S. This all comes as Pakistanis grapple with the worst economic crisis in decades, marked by record-high inflation.

In Tunisia, two worshipers and three security officers were killed Wednesday when a naval guardsman opened fire outside Africa’s oldest synagogue on the island of Djerba. Four security guards and four visitors were also injured before the assailant was shot dead. The assault targeted an annual pilgrimage of Jewish visitors to the 2,500-year-old Ghriba synagogue.

Japan is planning to open a NATO liaison office in Tokyo — the first in Asia. Japan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita said Tuesday the move comes as NATO and Japan are working on strengthening their partnership as tensions with Russia and China continue to rise. The office would reportedly open next year.

New York Republican Congressmember George Santos surrendered to federal authorities Wednesday at a courthouse on Long Island, where he pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, lying on federal disclosure forms and stealing unemployment benefits. Santos spoke to reporters after his release on $500,000 bond.

Rep. George Santos: “I’m going to fight my battle. I’m going to deliver. I’m going to fight the witch hunt. I’m going to take care of clearing my name. And I look forward to doing that.”

After his successful 2022 campaign for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, Santos was exposed as a serial liar who fabricated his educational background, employment history and religion. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has refused to demand Santos resign, saying he’ll await the outcome of the trial. Republican leaders see Santos’s vote as crucial in the House, where the party holds a slim four-vote majority. We’ll have more on George Santos’s indictment later in the broadcast.

Senator Dianne Feinstein returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for the first time since announcing a diagnosis of shingles in February. The 89-year-old California Democrat said in a statement she would resume her duties with a lighter schedule. Feinstein has missed 91 floor votes in the Senate, and her absence stalled the advance of President Biden’s judicial nominees, after Republicans denied Democrats’ requests to temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Last year, the San Francisco Chronicle published a story raising concerns about Feinstein’s mental faculties, and some of her colleagues, including California Congressmember Ro Khanna and New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have called on Feinstein to retire immediately, saying she’s unable to fulfill her duties.

In Texas, a U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020 has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Daniel Perry was just blocks from the Texas state Capitol when he fatally shot 28-year-old Air Force veteran Garrett Foster, a white man. Following Wednesday’s sentencing, Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, called for an end to hateful comments directed against her family.

Sheila Foster: “That is the worst thing that we’ve ever had to experience, and it has been the thing that has given us the most grief and heartache through this whole thing, as we’re seeing the lack of humanity in this society, where people can reach out to a grieving family and make fun of their deceased loved one.”

Ahead of the murder, Perry posted on social media he planned to shoot “looters,” and shared dozens of shockingly racist images and memes. He also wrote, “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.” Last month, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott pledged to pardon Daniel Perry, citing Texas’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Abbott’s pledge came after since-fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson defended Daniel Perry.

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he intends to pardon many of the January 6 insurrectionists who’ve been convicted on felony charges, including seditious conspiracy. Trump made the remarks during a primetime event in New Hampshire hosted by CNN, where he called January 6, 2021, “a beautiful day.”

Donald Trump: “They were there proud. They were there with love in their heart. That was an unbelievable, and it was a beautiful day.”

During the 70-minute broadcast, Trump also falsely claimed the 2020 election was “rigged”; defended his family separation policy at the U.S. southern border; called on schools to harden their defenses against mass shooters and said he’d push to arm teachers; and endorsed a U.S. default on its debt, saying, “We might as well do it now.” Trump called CNN host Kaitlan Collins a “nasty person” as she questioned him about his mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort. And Trump mocked writer E. Jean Carroll after a jury on Tuesday found he sexually abused her in the 1990s, then defamed her by branding her a liar.

CNN’s decision to host Trump drew condemnation. Former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and tased by the right-wing mob who attacked the Capitol on January 6, wrote in Rolling Stone magazine, “Donald Trump tried to end American democracy. Why is CNN throwing him a rehabilitation party?”

A panel of advisers has voted unanimously to recommend the Food and Drug Administration make a widely used birth control pill available across the United States without a prescription. The oral contraceptive, sold by Perrigo under the brand name Opill, is a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone, which is highly effective at preventing pregnancy. The FDA is expected to make a final decision on the pill this summer.

Meanwhile, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments next week in a case challenging the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone more than two decades ago. All three judges are Republican appointees hostile to abortion rights. Two of the judges were nominated by President Trump.

An unprecedented heat wave fueled by the climate crisis is shattering temperature records across Southeast Asia. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and parts of China have all broken temperature records this month, with some areas topping 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Elsewhere, Spain reported its hottest and driest April on record; wildfires are raging across Siberia and in Russia’s Ural Mountains; and tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes in Alberta, Canada, as wildfires have claimed an unprecedented 1 million acres this year. This comes as a new study finds the Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland is melting far faster than climate models predicted, indicating global sea levels may rise quicker than previously believed.

The Biden administration has agreed to conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s plan to expedite the approval of fossil fuel projects, which activists have dubbed “Manchin’s dirty deal.” The White House said the endorsement of Manchin’s plan was in exchange for speeding up the construction of new transmission lines for renewable energy, which are needed to meet Biden’s climate goals. This comes even as Manchin vowed Wednesday to oppose all of Biden’s nominees for the Environmental Protection Agency unless his administration rescinds a plan to limit power plant emissions.