Headlines July 1, 2026 from Democracy Now!

In Venezuela, the confirmed death toll from last week’s devastating twin earthquakes is nearing 2,000 people, though that number is expected to rise dramatically. On Tuesday, NASA researchers said a review of satellite images along the coast of La Guaira near the epicenter of the June 24 earthquakes showed more than 58,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Tens of thousands of people are still missing, one week after the quakes struck, with hopes fading that rescue teams will find remaining survivors trapped in the rubble. The United Nations warns displaced survivors are likely to face hunger and the spread of disease as the quakes have escalated Venezuela’s already dire humanitarian crisis, caused in part by harsh U.S. sanctions. Even before the earthquakes, aid groups estimate nearly 8 million people in Venezuela were already in need of urgent humanitarian support. The World Food Programme is appealing for $50 million to provide food assistance to some 500,000 people in Venezuela over the next three months.

Indirect technical talks between U.S. and Iranian teams got underway in Qatar today, after Iran’s top negotiator said his nation would not enter further high-level negotiations until the U.S. meets the terms of its memorandum of understanding with Iran. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf spoke on Iranian state television.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf: “Even now that we are negotiating with America, we are not negotiating with a friend. We are negotiating with an untrustworthy enemy who will definitely take action against us whenever they find the opportunity. In truth, a person can negotiate well only if they are also prepared for war.”

Ghalibaf added that Iran’s guarantee of free passage through the Strait of Hormuz is only valid for 60 days, and that Iran would never give up its rights to control the waterway under any circumstances. He called the strait Iran’s “greatest instrument of power.” Following those remarks, Iran’s Navy said a commercial container ship ran aground ⁠in shallow waters as it tried to circumvent the normal shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has threatened to bomb Iran for a third time despite the Trump administration’s apparent efforts at diplomacy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, telling his forces they would continue their occupation as long as Hezbollah poses a threat. It was his first visit to Lebanon since Israel invaded its northern neighbor on March 2. Israeli attacks on Lebanon since then have killed over 4,000 people and have continued despite the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, which requires Israel to stop bombing Lebanon and withdraw its forces.

In Washington, D.C., the House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a war powers resolution seeking to limit President Trump’s authority to involve U.S. forces in Israel’s war on Lebanon. The measure was brought by Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American serving in Congress. It was rejected on a vote of 189 to 235, after 22 Democrats joined most Republicans voting against it.

The United Nations is calling on donors to fill a $100 million gap in funding for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said millions of Palestinians are at risk due to the shortfall, as well as Israel’s massive restrictions on UNRWA’s ability to work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

This comes as Israeli media is reporting the Trump-created so-called Board of Peace will soon begin managing humanitarian shelters in Gaza. The newspaper Israel Hayom reports the first site will open near Rafah within weeks and will be policed by a “multinational force” armed with so-called less lethal weapons. The report also stated that Israel’s military will continue expanding its control beyond the so-called Yellow Line agreed to in the U.S.-brokered October ceasefire. Israel continues to violate the agreement on a daily basis.

Republicans controlling the House Rules Committee have refused to allow a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment seeking to block the integration of the U.S. and Israeli militaries. The proposed U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative would accelerate U.S.-Israeli technology sharing, co-production of weapons systems and partnerships on the military use of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and more. An amendment by California Democrat Ro Khanna and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie would have removed the initiative from the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. Congressmember Khanna spoke out Tuesday after Republican leaders refused to make the amendment eligible for debate.

Rep. Ro Khanna: “This is unconscionable. They’re not even giving us a vote on the amendment. Thomas and I will continue to fight to make sure we don’t compromise American sovereignty.”

The Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling Tuesday rejected President Trump’s attempt to abolish birthright citizenship — a right that’s enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office that declared children born in the United States to undocumented people or immigrant parents without permanent status would no longer be granted U.S. citizenship. Conservative Justices John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberal justices in opposing Trump. Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the decision, “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' … We keep that promise today.”

Immigration rights advocates gathered at the steps of the Supreme Court. This is Illinois Democratic Congressmember Delia Ramirez, who is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants.

Rep. Delia Ramirez: “I am the proud, proud daughter of Maria Elvira Ramirez Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant who crossed the border pregnant with me. I am a citizen by birthright. … I am an American. And every single person in this country, if you’re born here, you’re an American, period, punto, no exceptions. Am I right?”

In another major Supreme Court decision, justices ruled that states can prohibit transgender student athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports teams — upholding bans in Idaho and West Virginia. Justices ruled unanimously that the state bans do not violate Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in education. They split 6 to 3 over whether the trans athlete bans are unconstitutional, with the conservative majority finding they do not run afoul of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The ruling was lauded by President Trump, who said on social media, ”BIG WIN.”

Senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project Joshua Block said in a statement, “This is a heartbreaking ruling … The reality is that the equality of transgender women and girls takes nothing away from, and in fact promotes, the equality of all women and girls.” We will have more on this later in the broadcast with ACLU attorney Chase Strangio.

In a major ruling on campaign finance, the Supreme Court has struck down a federal law that limited the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with a candidate for office. In their 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservatives wrote that coordinated expenditure limits violate the First Amendment. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “The Court ushers back in the same opportunities for quid pro quo corruption that the contribution limits were meant to check.”

This comes as a new report by Public Citizen finds cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, Big Tech and online betting corporations have collectively spent $294 million to influence federal elections in this election cycle. That’s more than half of the record $517 million that corporations have reported spending so far.

In Colorado, 29-year-old democratic socialist and first-time congressional candidate Melat Kiros has defeated 15-term incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette in the 1st Congressional District primary. Kiros appears to have carried more than half of all votes in the three-way race to represent the Denver-based district. She won despite a flood of dark money spent to quash her campaign while supporting DeGette’s reelection. That included funds indirectly funneled by the super PAC operated by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee into outside spending groups, including Pro-Choice Majority Action. Melat Kiros spoke to supporters at a raucous victory party Tuesday evening.

Melat Kiros: “We will not wait to take the fight to Donald Trump and the oligarchy. We will not wait. We will not wait to abolish ICE and pass Medicare for All. We will not wait to put an end to the politics of the past, to get big money out of our politics and to reject corporate PACs and AIPAC. And, no, we will not wait to end the genocide in Palestine.”

Also on Tuesday, Colorado Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper survived a strong primary challenge from progressive state Senator Julie Gonzales, who was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. And Democratic U.S. Senator Michael Bennet lost his bid to become Colorado’s next governor, losing a primary to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

In immigration news, hundreds of thousands of immigrant children facing deportation orders are having to represent themselves in court. That’s according to the Vera Institute of Justice and Drop Site News, which looked at federal immigration data that showed more than 400,000 immigrant children have been forced to appear in court without legal representation.

In related news, a federal court in Denver, Colorado, is the latest to oppose the Trump administration’s efforts to indefinitely imprison immigrants, most of whom have no criminal records, without access to a bond hearing. This is at least the fourth time a federal court has rejected Trump’s mass detention policy.

Advocacy groups have filed a complaint on behalf of dozens of immigrants who were deported from the United States to Ghana and then returned to their countries of origin, despite their fears they could face torture or persecution. The complaint was filed with West Africa’s top human rights court, accusing Ghana’s government of complicity with the Trump administration in deporting the immigrants, some to the countries they had fled to and others left stranded in third countries to which they had no ties. The complaint involves 27 of at least 60 immigrants who’ve been deported to Ghana since September under Trump’s so-called third-country agreements.

Thousands of people rallied in different regions of South Africa for another round of anti-immigrant demonstrations on Tuesday. Vigilante violence against African immigrants has soared across South Africa in recent months, driving many people to flee in fear. Thousands of immigrants, most from Zimbabwe and Malawi, have requested consular support to evacuate South Africa, as they’re living in constant fear of violent harassment on the streets and attacks on their businesses by xenophobic groups. Among their targets was Princess Adjei, who grew up in South Africa since moving from Ghana as a toddler. She’s been sleeping on the streets outside a government office in Durban since May, when an anti-immigrant mob broke into her hair and beauty salon and looted it.

Princess Adjei: “Most of the time, I’m always awake because we don’t know what — when they’re going to attack us again. They’ve been here twice, so we don’t know when they’re going to attack us again. So we can’t all sleep. Some people sleep for a few hours and wake up. We also have to sit and watch. … I can’t pay my rent in the shop. I can’t pay my rent at home. I can’t feed my child. I can’t feed my family. Everything just went zero. My whole life just went zero.”