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Headlines for March 17, 2026 * [Israel Says It Killed Iran's Security Chief Ali Larijani and Commander of Basij Paramilitaries][1] * [Iran Says Infant, Toddler, Mother and Grandmother Among Latest Victims of U.S.-Israeli Strikes][2] * [Rocket from Lebanon Injures 7 in Northern Israel as Iranian Drone Damages Jerusalem Holy Sites][3] * [Baghdad's Green Zone, UAE Oil Field Among Mideast Sites Hit by Iranian Drones][4] * [Israel's Attacks on Lebanon Have Driven More Than 1 Million from Their Homes][5] * [U.S. Allies Refuse Trump's Call to Send Warships to Strait of Hormuz][6] * [Jared Kushner Seeks $5 Billion for Private Equity Firm While Serving as Mideast Negotiator][7] * [Leqaa Kordia Released from ICE Jail After More Than a Year in Custody][8] * [Federal Judge Blocks RFK Jr.'s Changes to Childhood Vaccinations][9] * [Cuba's National Electricity Grid Collapses as Trump Says It Would Be a "Big Honor" to "Take" Cuba][10] * [Afghanistan Says Pakistan Airstrike on Kabul Killed Over 400][11] * [Trump Admin Approves BP's $5 Billion Drilling Project Off Louisiana Coast][12] * [Voters in Illinois Head to the Polls for Primary Elections][13] [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/israel_sa… [2]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/iran_says… [3]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/rocket_fr… [4]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/baghdads_… [5]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/israels_a… [6]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/us_allies… [7]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/jared_kus… [8]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/leqaa_kor… [9]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/federal_j… [10]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/cubas_nat… [11]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/afghanist… [12]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/trump_adm… [13]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines/voters_in… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/headlines

Israel Says It Has Assassinated Iran's Security Chief, Ali Larijani, Known for Negotiating with the West [[Seg trita larijini]][1] How long will the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran last? Regime change in Iran will not be as “easy and quick” as U.S. warmongers may have initially believed, says Iranian American political analyst Trita Parsi. Israel claims that it has successfully assassinated Iran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani, who Parsi says could have played a role in future ceasefire negotiations. “The Israelis have fought so hard to get the United States to go into a full-scale war with Iran for more than 20 years,” says Parsi. “It is in their interest to prolong this war as long as they can, and kill off any potential off-ramps that Trump may be looking for.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/trita_parsi http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/trita_parsi

Ground Invasion of Iran Could Be "Suicide Mission" for U.S.: Ex-Army Intelligence Analyst [[Seg harrison iran]][1] We get an analysis of the Trump administration’s Iran war strategy from former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Harrison Mann. “From day two of this war, the Trump administration has not known what to do and how to get out of this,” says Mann, who resigned from the U.S. Army’s Defense Intelligence Agency in 2024 over the Biden administration’s policy in Gaza. As Trump is rumored to be eyeing the oil export hub of Kharg Island for seizure, Mann gives his assessment of a potential ground invasion of Iran. “Any attempt to seize this island would be close to a suicide mission,” he says. While U.S. leaders struggle to respond to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on military bases in U.S.-allied Gulf states, Mann notes that “the people who drove [Trump] into this war pretty much expected this. I don’t think this is a surprise to Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio or Benjamin Netanyahu — who is very much getting what he wanted, which is dragging the U.S. into what he hopes will be a decisive war of annihilation against Iran.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/harrison_mann http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/harrison_mann

Report from Havana as Trump Threatens to "Take" Cuba & Pushes for Ouster of Cuban Leader [[Seg cuba power]][1] Cuba’s electrical grid has collapsed. The island-wide blackout comes amid a harsh U.S. oil blockade and recent comments from President Donald Trump that he wants to “take” Cuba. No oil shipments have reached the country, located just south of Florida, in three months, compounding a humanitarian crisis caused by decades of severe U.S. sanctions. “Sanctions are literally killing people right now,” says Cuban journalist Daniel Montero, speaking from Havana. “We understand what this oil embargo means, and [what] sanctions have always meant. This is regime change through starvation.” Historian Sara Kozameh, who recently returned from Cuba, adds, “Cubans have fought for sovereignty many, many times. And they’re not going to just sort of lie there while this is happening.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/cuba_electrical_grid http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/cuba_electrical_grid

Prairieland Trial: Anti-ICE Protesters Convicted on Terrorism Charges as DOJ Targets "Antifa Cell" [[Seg prairieland]][1] A jury in Texas has convicted eight people in the first federal anti-terror case since the Trump administration declared “antifa” a terror group. Nine defendants alleged to be members of an “antifa terror cell” stood trial on federal and state charges including rioting, using explosives and attempted murder. The charges stemmed from their attendance at an anti-ICE protest outside the Prairieland ICE jail on July 4, during which fireworks were set off and a police officer was shot and wounded. Eight protesters now face at least 15 years in jail. Their legal teams plan to appeal. “The antifa of it all, from my perspective, was purely political,” says one of the defendants’ attorneys, Xavier de Janon, who joins Democracy Now! to break down the case. [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/antifa http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/17/antifa

Headlines for March 16, 2026 * [U.S.-Israeli War on Iran Enters Third Week as Iranian Foreign Minister Denies Asking for Ceasefire][1] * [Iran Continues Retaliatory Strikes in the Middle East as Six U.S. Service Members Killed in Iraq][2] * [Trump Urges Other Countries to Send Warships to Secure the Strait of Hormuz][3] * [Israeli Troops Begin Ground Operations in Southern Lebanon][4] * [FCC Chair Brendan Carr Threatens to Revoke Broadcasters' Licenses over Iran War Coverage][5] * [Israeli Forces Kill 16 Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank][6] * [Explosion Damages Jewish School in Amsterdam][7] * [Trump Administration Reopens U.S. Embassy in Venezuela for the First Time Since 2019][8] * [Protesters Reportedly Attack Communist Party Office in Cuba as Energy Crisis Deepens][9] * [Haitian Asylum Seeker Found Dead After ICE Released Her at Bus Shelter in Pittsburgh][10] * [Afghan Asylum Seeker Who Worked With U.S. Special Forces Dies in ICE Custody][11] * [Anti-ICE Protesters Convicted on Terrorism Charges in Texas][12] * [Immigration Judge Orders the Release of Palestinian Activist Leqaa Kordia][13] * ["Sinners" Makes Oscars History as Autumn Durald Arkapaw Becomes the First Woman to Win for Best Cinematography][14] [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/us_israel… [2]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/iran_cont… [3]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/trump_urg… [4]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/israeli_t… [5]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/fcc_chair… [6]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/israeli_f… [7]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/explosion… [8]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/trump_adm… [9]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/protester… [10]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/haitian_a… [11]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/afghan_as… [12]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/anti_ice_… [13]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/immigrati… [14]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines/sinners_m… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/headlines

"A Sense of Despair": Many Iranians Fear a Prolonged War — and What Comes After [[Seg1 guests iran destruction split]][1] As the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran extends into a third week, President Trump is demanding other countries send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut, as oil prices keep rising. This comes as the U.S. and Israel continue to launch major strikes on Iran, while Iran has retaliated by repeatedly striking Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Despite the violence in Iran, “pro-war voices are definitely in the diaspora and very strong, but they also exist inside Iran,” says Naghmeh Sohrabi, professor of Middle East history at Brandeis University. “I think most Iranians want this war to end as soon as possible, and at the same time, they fear nothing more than the day after the war, if this regime remains intact,” says Iranian American novelist Amir Ahmadi Arian. [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/naghmeh_sohrabi_ami… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/naghmeh_sohrabi_ami…

Report from Jerusalem: As Israel Keeps Bombing Iran, Palestinians Face Growing Violence in West Bank [[Seg2 orly]][1] *Democracy Now!* speaks with Iranian Israeli political activist Orly Noy about her recent piece, “Longing for My Tehran.” “It’s been a very emotional time since the beginning of the war, not just because we are constantly running in and out of shelters,” says Noy, “but because this time, the footage of the bombing that I grew accustomed to seeing for over two years from the genocide in Gaza was now coming from my homeland.” Noy also comments on Israeli political support for the war on Iran, saying “the very few attempts to protest against the war were brutally crushed by the Israeli police.” Israeli violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is also increasing. “Up until now, our worry was about the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. Now it is just about executing Palestinians, both by the army and by the settlers,” says Noy. [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/iran_war_trump_horm… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/iran_war_trump_horm…

"Mr Nobody Against Putin" Wins Oscar; Meet the Russian Teacher in Film Who Confronts State Propaganda [[Seg3 david pavel poster]][1] *Mr Nobody Against Putin* won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature on Sunday. *Democracy Now!* recently spoke with co-director David Borenstein and the subject of the film, the Russian teacher Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, who personally documented Russia’s use of wartime propaganda. “I need for as many people as possible to see what is happening inside of Russian schools,” says Talankin. “Putin is forcing propaganda into their schools, and [the children are] absorbing all of this.” Borenstein says the film is also a reflection on “the value of one person’s resistance, about how much one person can do, about how much we can overcome complicity while the systems around us are succumbing to authoritarianism.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/mr_nobody_against_p… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/16/mr_nobody_against_p…

Headlines for March 13, 2026 * [U.S.-Israeli Attacks Have Forced 3.2 Million Iranians to Flee Their Homes][1] * [In First Public Statement, Iran's New Supreme Leader Vows to Keep Blocking Strait of Hormuz][2] * [250+ Groups Call on Congress to Reject Request for $50 Billion in Funding for Iran War][3] * [Iranian Strike on Oman Kills Immigrant Workers as NATO Shoots Down Missile Fired at Turkey][4] * [Lebanon Death Toll Rises as Israel Bombs Central Beirut and Targets Civilian Infrastructure][5] * [Israel Drops All Charges Against Soldiers Accused of Sexually Abusing Palestinian Prisoner][6] * [Thousands March in Athens to Protest Greek Role in U.S.-Israeli Assault on Iran][7] * ["A Crime Against Humanity": U.N. Inquiry Condemns Russia's Abduction of Ukrainian Children][8] * [Suspect in Michigan Synagogue Attack Lost Family Members to Israeli Airstrike on Lebanon][9] * [Former National Guardsman Attacks ROTC Class at Old Dominion University, Killing 1 and Injuring 2][10] * [Rights Groups Demand Release of Palestinian Activist Leqaa Kordia, Jailed by ICE for 1 Year][11] * [4,000 Meatpackers in Colorado Authorize Strike at JBS, World's Largest Meat Producer][12] [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/us_israel… [2]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/in_first_… [3]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/250_group… [4]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/iranian_s… [5]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/lebanon_d… [6]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/israel_dr… [7]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/thousands… [8]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/a_crime_a… [9]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/suspect_i… [10]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/former_na… [11]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/rights_gr… [12]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines/4_000_mea… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/headlines

Report from Beirut: Israel Expands Bombing Campaign & Mass Displacement in Lebanon [[Seg1 lebanon destruction 2]][1] We speak with journalist Lylla Younes in Lebanon, where she says Israel’s “massacres are multiplying” amid the broader U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli strikes have killed nearly 700 people in Lebanon over the past two weeks, while attacks have expanded to include areas of central Beirut, which Israel claims are aimed at the powerful Hezbollah militia. This comes as Israel has vowed to expand its incursion into southern Lebanon. “The vast majority of southern Lebanon is now under displacement orders,” says Younes. “That is approximately 15% of the country.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/lebanon_lylla_younes http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/lebanon_lylla_younes

Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy: Israel Will Not Stop Wars & Occupation Until U.S. Pulls Support [[Seg2]][1] Inside Israel, “there is no room for any question marks or doubts about this war,” says journalist Gideon Levy, a columnist for *Haaretz* and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. He says war fever has taken over the country, with polls showing 93% support for the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Lebanon and beyond — at least among the Jewish public. “Israel is doing as much as it can,” he says. “As long as the American support is so massive, so blind and so automatic, this will go on.” Levy also criticizes Israel’s military censorship system that strictly limits publishing information about war damage and other material deemed to be counter to national security. He says much of it is driven by self-censorship by a press that sees itself as “an agency of the government and of the military establishment, and this is very worrying.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/gideon_levy_israel http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/gideon_levy_israel

Economist Jeffrey Sachs: U.S.-Israeli "War of Choice," Assault on U.N. Charter Could Lead to WWIII [[Seg3 sachs tehran bombs]][1] The global economy has been rocked by the war in the Middle East, with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatening energy flows and sending the price of oil soaring to its highest level in years. The United Nations Security Council responded to the unprovoked U.S.-Israeli war by passing a resolution this week condemning Iran — specifically for its attacks on U.S. allies in the region — while ignoring the role of the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government in instigating the bloodshed. Economist Jeffrey Sachs joins *Democracy Now!* to discuss the fallout of the “war of choice” and why it also constitutes an assault on the United Nations. “This is so out of control, without any logic, any rationality, not any humane, moral, legal justification whatsoever,” says Sachs. “It will lead to world war the way we’re going, because we have two malignant narcissists, Netanyahu and Trump, that are leading us to disaster.” [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/jeffrey_sachs http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/13/jeffrey_sachs

Headlines for March 12, 2026 * [Iran Says U.S. and Israeli Strikes Have Killed 1,348 Civilians][1] * [Senators Demand Accountability as Pentagon Admits U.S. Struck Iranian Girls' School][2] * [Iranian Missiles and Drones Continue to Strike at Israel, Gulf States and Oil Infrastructure][3] * [IEA Announces Record Release of Oil Reserves as Iran Warns Prices Could Top $200 Per Barrel][4] * [Lebanon Death Toll Tops 630 as Israel Continues Relentless Bombing Campaign][5] * [Israel Strikes Gaza Marketplace and Tent Camp, Killing and Wounding Palestinians][6] * [RSF Drone Strike in Sudan Kills 17 People, Most of Them Girls][7] * [GOP Sen. John Cornyn Reverses Position on Filibuster to Help Pass the SAVE America Act][8] * [New Hampshire Democrat's Special Election Victory Is Latest Red Flag for GOP in Midterms][9] * [Longtime Epstein Accountant Richard Kahn Testifies to Congress in Closed-Door Deposition][10] * [Family of Six Detained at ICE Jail in Texas Describes Harrowing Conditions][11] [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/iran_says… [2]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/senators_… [3]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/iranian_m… [4]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/iea_annou… [5]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/lebanon_d… [6]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/israel_st… [7]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/rsf_drone… [8]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/gop_sen_j… [9]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/new_hamps… [10]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/longtime_… [11]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines/family_of… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/headlines

"War on the Iranian People": Nationalism Grows in Iran in Defiance of Deadly U.S. and Israeli Strikes [[Seg1 iran5]][1] “This is all being read inside of Iran as a war on the Iranian people.” As oil prices threaten to spike to $200 a barrel amid Iran’s pressure campaign against the U.S. and its allies, professor Narges Bajoghli returns to *Democracy Now!* with an update on the war on Iran and its place in the modern history of U.S.-Iran relations. Bajoghli explains how the combination of harsh sanctions and an insidious propaganda campaign has created a deep political divide within Iran and its diaspora, as Iranians are stuck between theocratic governance and the prospective return of the U.S.-backed monarchy. [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/narges_bajoghli_us_… http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/narges_bajoghli_us_…

Amnesty Head Agnès Callamard on Iran War, Global Fight for Gender Justice & Killing of Yanar Mohammed [[Seg2 agnes2]][1] *Democracy Now!* recently sat down with Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International and a former United Nations special rapporteur, while she was in New York City to mark International Women’s Day and attend the U.N.'s annual conference on women's rights. Callamard responded to the assassination of Iraqi feminist Yanar Mohammed, U.S. sanctions against U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the rise of Christian nationalism under the Trump administration. [1]: http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/agnes_callamard http://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/12/agnes_callamard