“For the sixth time, the US has vetoed a ceasefire in the Gaza genocide, underscoring once again the grave threat to the world posed by the US-Israel axis. The violent, racist, and lawless rampage of the axis is leaving a trail of murder and destruction across Western Asia and the wider world, corrupting governments and trampling human rights across the West, and shredding international law and institutions in its wake. The world must get off its knees, unite, and stop this horror — while they still can.”

“Equating Israel with all Jews and Israel’s future with theirs is an effort to sanctify Israel and shield it from criticism by brandishing the charge of antisemitism,” Norman Solomon wrote in The Guardian this week. He added: “By insisting that it is the embodiment of Jews all over the world, the state of Israel seeks to associate Jews everywhere with its systematic war crimes and genocide in Gaza along with deadly ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Thursday marks the one year deadline given by the UN General Assembly for Israel to end its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Major multinational grassroots organizations will hold a rally and march “demanding the UNGA take immediate action to stop the genocide now.” It will be livestreamed beginning at noon at LifelineForPalestine.com. 

Last month, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) joined Protect Our Care in relaunching the organization’s Hospital Crisis Watch. Protect Our Care hosts an interactive map and a report that outlines how the new federal budget will shutter rural hospitals, slash healthcare services, and leave communities in crisis. By limiting the ways that states fund Medicaid and reimburse hospitals for care, Protect Our Care states, the “GOP tax scam… will shutter struggling hospitals and make it nearly impossible for states to manage the burden of the largest cuts to Medicaid in history without kicking millions off their coverage and taking away benefits.…

An Israeli sniper detailed in comments to Haaretz the killing of unarmed Palestinians, including children, who were attempting to get aid in Gaza. AntiWar.com reports: “Israel Kills Over 100 Palestinians in Gaza as It Launches Ground Offensive to Conquer Gaza City.” The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry finds in their in-depth report released Tuesday that Israel is committing genocide, that top officials, including President Isaac Herzog have engaged in incitement to commit genocide and Israel has had “clear knowledge of the presence of Palestinian civilians along the evacuation routes and within the safe areas but nevertheless they shot at and killed civilians, some of whom (including…

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are among the most effective forms of contraception, but they can create pain upon insertion. Reporting in Slate reveals that healthcare providers with a subspecialty in complex family planning are more likely to offer pain management––including paracervical blocks like lidocaine, or sedation––for IUD insertion. One insidious consequence of the closures of abortion clinics across the U.S. is that fewer clinics may end up offering pain management for IUDs.  Health journalist Sarah Boden notes that as abortion clinics shutter, more patients who want an IUD “to manage periods, prevent pregnancy, or reduce pain caused by conditions like endometriosis…

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain and Türkiye just issued a joint statement expressing “their concern about the security of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civil society initiative in which citizens of their countries are participating.”

“Baerbock is not just any diplomat. As Germany’s foreign minister from 2021 to 2025, she tried to justify over and over again Israel’s war crimes as ‘self-defence,’ rejected ceasefires, and her country continued to provide Israel with hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons, making it its second biggest arms supplier. She de facto became one of Israel’s strongest defenders alongside United States officials, while bombs were falling on hospitals, refugee camps, and schools.”

“The UNGA voted overwhelmingly today to ‘endorse’ the New York Declaration put forward by France and Saudi Arabia.     Among its many problematic provisions, the Declaration supports a ‘stabilization force’ (with many bad elements as well), instead of a protection force as such.”

Though Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to tackle Long COVID during his HHS confirmation hearings, he has abandoned the plight of Long COVID patients by dismantling federal COVID prevention programs and the research infrastructure invested in researching and treating the condition. So far, RFK Jr. has fired key officials at CDC, created barriers to accessing COVID vaccines, and cut research funding for mRNA and intranasal vaccines, which showed great promise in preventing symptomatic disease.