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Brazil’s Popular Ex-President Lula Ordered to Prison After Politically Motivated Trial & Conviction
A judge on Thursday ordered former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to turn himself in to police within 24 hours and begin serving a 12-year sentence for a controversial corruption conviction, effectively removing him from Brazil’s presidential election later this year, where he was the front-runner. Lula is a former union leader who served as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. During that time, he helped lift tens of millions of Brazilians out of poverty. His supporters say the ruling against him is a continuation of the coup that ousted Lula’s ally Dilma Rousseff from power last year.

Trump Inks Arms Deal with Saudis as Humanitarian Crisis Rages in Yemen & Saudi Prince Tours U.S.
On Thursday, the Trump administration told Congress it has approved a $1.3 billion artillery sale to Saudi Arabia. This is the second weapons deal between the U.S. and Riyadh in as many months and has sparked concern from human rights groups, who warn the deals may make the United States complicit in war crimes committed in the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen. Lawmakers have 30 days to act before the sale is final. The announcement comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wraps up his whirlwind tour of the United States. One topic that has received relatively little media attention during his trip is his role in escalating Saudi Arabia’s military involvement in Yemen. Last month marked three years since the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition began its military offensive in Yemen, leading to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led airstrikes and naval blockade have destroyed Yemen’s health, water and sanitation systems, sparking a massive cholera outbreak and pushing millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation. More than 15,000 people have died since the Saudi invasion in 2015.

How Iona Craig Exposed the White House Lie About 2017 SEAL Raid That Killed Yemeni Women & Children
Reporter Iona Craig exposed the Trump administration’s lie about its first military engagement and is in New York to receive the George Polk Award for documenting the destruction and civilian casualties from a covert U.S. Navy SEAL raid on a remote village in Yemen that left 25 civilians and one U.S. soldier dead.

Judge Suspends Release of Herman Bell, Elderly Black Panther Jailed 45 Years, Amid Police Pressure
A judge in New York has suspended the release of Herman Bell, a 70-year-old prisoner who has been granted parole after 45 years in prison. Bell was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the killing of two New York City police officers in 1971. At the time, he was a member of the Black Liberation Army and a former Black Panther. Since then, he has mentored thousands of young men while behind bars and kept a clean disciplinary record. State-mandated tests show he would pose the lowest possible risk if he is allowed to re-enter society. In March, the New York Parole Board granted parole for Bell, noting he had expressed remorse and was likely to lead a “law-abiding life.” State law requires commissioners to consider such factors, but they’ve only recently started to comply. On Wednesday, a state judge agreed to hear a challenge from the widow of one of the officers, who says the board violated procedure. A hearing on the petition is set for April 13, just days before Bell’s earliest originally scheduled release date.

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Trump Escalates Already-Deadly U.S. Border Policies, Ordering National Guard Troops to Mexico
A new wave of troops could soon be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, even as border crossings by undocumented immigrants are at their lowest levels since 1971. The move comes as a caravan of Central American migrants and asylum seekers in Mexico has prompted a series of threats from President Trump. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump administration is requesting that the U.S. military build walls for at least one military base along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Caravan of Central American Migrants Holds a Mirror to Cruel U.S. Immigration Policy & Imperialism
Despite efforts by Mexican immigration authorities to disband a caravan of Central American migrants, hundreds are still bound for the U.S.-Mexico border. This comes after an early-morning tweet from President Trump that said the caravan “is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene.” The group People Without Borders, or Pueblo Sin Fronteras, has organized the caravan since 2010 to draw attention to the right to seek asylum and refuge. This year its members are disproportionately from Honduras, which remains in political upheaval after U.S.-backed right-wing President Juan Orlando Hernández was inaugurated for a second term despite allegations of widespread voting fraud in November.

How the Wireless Industry Convinced the Public Cellphones Are Safe & Cherry-Picked Research on Risks
Ninety-five out of every 100 American adults owns a cellphone today. And worldwide, three out of four adults now have cellphone access. The wireless industry is one of the fastest-growing on Earth, raking in annual sales of $440 billion in 2016. But are cellphones safe? A new investigation by The Nation suggests that’s a question that cellphone giants prefer you don’t ask. Mark Hertsgaard is The Nation’s environment correspondent and investigative editor. His report, co-authored with Mark Dowie, is headlined “How Big Wireless Made Us Think That Cell Phones Are Safe.”

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Teachers in Revolt: Meet the Educators in Kentucky & Oklahoma Walking Out over School Funding
Schools across Oklahoma are closed today for a third day as teachers continue their strike demanding more funding for education and increased pay. Oklahoma’s public education budget has been slashed more than any other state since the start of the recession in 2008, and its teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation. Scores of teachers are planning to begin a 123-mile protest march today from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Meanwhile, thousands of teachers continue to protest in Kentucky, demanding a reversal to a provision in a recently passed bill about sewage treatment that gutted their pension benefits. On Monday, every school in the state was closed either due to spring break or in anticipation of a massive rally in the capital of Frankfort, where teachers filled the rotunda of the Kentucky state Capitol, chanting “Fund our schools!” This year’s wave of teacher rebellions began in West Virginia, where teachers won a 5 percent pay raise after a historic strike.

MLK’s Fight Against Racism, Militarism & Capitalism: Historian Taylor Branch on King’s Final Years
It was 50 years ago today when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. He was just 39 years old. Democracy Now! recently spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch and writer Trey Ellis, who both worked on the new HBO documentary “King in the Wilderness,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film recalls the last three years of King’s life, beginning after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite passage of the monumental legislation, King set his eyes on new battles by launching a Poor People’s Campaign and campaigning to stop the Vietnam War. King’s decision to publicly oppose the war isolated him from many of his closest supporters.

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Media Giant Sinclair, Under Fire for Forcing Anchors to Read Trumpian Screed, Is Rapidly Expanding
While Sinclair Broadcast Group is not a household name, it is one of the most powerful TV companies in the nation. It owns 173 local TV stations across the country, including affiliates of all the major networks. And it’s attempting to grow even larger by purchasing Tribune Media—a $3.9 billion deal currently under regulatory review. Sinclair has been widely criticized for its close ties to the White House. But Sinclair is facing new scrutiny after it ordered news anchors at scores of its affiliate stations to recite nearly identical “must-read” commentaries warning of the dangers of “fake news” in language that echoes President Trump’s rhetoric. The commentaries reached millions of viewers last month and drew widespread attention after the website Deadspin published a video over the weekend showing side-by-side comparisons of the broadcasts from 45 Sinclair-owned stations.

MLK’s Final Days: The Rev. James Lawson Remembers King’s Assassination & Support for Memphis Strike
Fifty years ago today in Memphis, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final sermon, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” Less than 24 hours later, King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. We speak to Rev. James Lawson, who invited King to come to Memphis to support the strike. At the time, Lawson was the pastor of Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis. King called Rev. Lawson “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”

He Gave His Life in the Labor Struggle: MLK’s Forgotten Radical Message for Economic Justice
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago this week while in Memphis, where he was supporting striking sanitation workers and building support for his Poor People’s Campaign. King’s long history of fighting for economic justice is discussed by the Rev. James Lawson and historian Michael Honey, author of the new book “To the Promised Land: Martin Luther King and the Fight for Economic Justice.”

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Massacre in Gaza: Israeli Forces Open Fire on Palestinians, Killing 18, Wounding As Many As 1,700
At least 18 Palestinians have died in Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire Friday on a protest near the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel. As many as 1,700 Palestinians were wounded. The deaths and injuries came as 30,000 Gaza residents gathered near the wall, as part of a planned 6-week-long nonviolent protest against the blockade of Gaza and to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The protests began on Friday, March 30, known as “Land Day,” marking the anniversary of the 1976 killing of six Palestinians protesting the Israeli confiscation of Arab land. Video posted online shows unarmed Palestinians being shot in the back while taking part in Friday’s protest. Another 49 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces on Saturday. Israel’s actions have been condemned around the world, but Israel is rejecting calls to investigate the killings. At the United Nations, the U.S. blocked a move by the U.N. Security Council to open an investigation.

Starvation Wages Are a “Crime”: Lessons from MLK & 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, 50 Years Later
This week, commemorations are being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader and peace activist was gunned down April 4, 1968, on the balcony of his hotel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, who he saw as being on the front lines of fighting poverty and integral to his new initiative, the Poor People’s Campaign. “It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages,” King told people in Memphis shortly before his death. In the late 1960s, King recognized that the next phase in the quest for civil rights and equality would focus on the economic divide.

From 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike to Teachers’ Strikes in OK & KY Today, Workers Demand a Voice
This is Part 2 of the conversation about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, 50 years after his assassination, with William “Bill” Lucy, former secretary-treasurer with AFSCME, and H.B. Crockett, one of the striking sanitation workers in 1968. Crockett worked for the Memphis Sanitation Department for 53 years before retiring. Bill Lucy played a key role in the 1968 Memphis strike and is president emeritus of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

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David Shulkin’s Firing at the VA Is Latest Step in Trump-Koch Push to Privatize Veterans’ Healthcare
On Wednesday, President Trump fired Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and said he’d replace him with White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy. Dr. Jackson has no experience running a large agency. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the federal government’s second-largest department, with 360,000 employees. Shulkin had been facing criticism for various ethics violations, including using taxpayer money to pay for his wife’s airfare during a trip to Europe last summer. But Shulkin says he’s actually being ousted because of his opposition to privatizing the VA, which runs 1,700 hospitals and clinics. The push to privatize the VA has been led by a group called Concerned Veterans for America, which is funded by the billionaire conservative Koch brothers.

Meet the Doctor Suing Trump: Dr. Eugene Gu on Gun Violence, Privatization of VA & White Supremacy
Doctors across the country are slamming former Republican Senator Rick Santorum for arguing that young people protesting for gun control would be better served by learning CPR. Dr. Eugene Gu of Vanderbilt University Medical Center tweeted, “As a surgeon, I’ve operated on gunshot victims who’ve had bullets tear through their intestines, cut through their spinal cord, and pulverize their kidneys and liver. Rick Santorum telling kids to shut up and take CPR classes is simply unconscionable.”

Remembering Stephen Hawking, Groundbreaking Physicist and Advocate for Climate, Palestine & Peace
On Saturday, members of the scientific community, family, friends and fans alike will gather to remember the life and legacy of groundbreaking physicist Stephen Hawking. Hawking died on March 14 at his home in Cambridge, England, at the age of 76. For decades, Hawking enchanted both scientists and science lovers by making groundbreaking discoveries about the origins of the universe, then translating these ideas for millions of nonscientists worldwide. His career and life itself have been celebrated as a medical miracle. Born in Oxford, Britain, in 1942, he was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder known as Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 21. Doctors said he had only a few years to live. Instead, he went on to live for more than 50 years, traveling the world in his motorized wheelchair and communicating through a custom-made computerized voice synthesizer. His only complaint was that the synthesizer gave him an American accent. He also protested against U.S. wars, including the U.S. war in Vietnam and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

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As North Korea Talks with China, South Korea & Japan, Could Bolton Derail Denuclearization Progress?
The leaders of North and South Korea announced today that they will hold a historic meeting on April 27, coming together for talks for the first time in more than a decade. The news comes after Kim Jong-un’s surprise trip to China this week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where he reportedly said he was willing to give up North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Kim is due to meet sometime soon with President Trump, although a date has not been set for that summit. It would be the first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

NYC Minister: I’m Willing to Be Arrested If ICE Comes for Immigrant Mother in Sanctuary in My Church
A few weeks ago, the Fourth Universalist Society of New York City opened its doors to Guatemalan mother Aura Hernández, who took sanctuary to avoid her deportation to Guatemala. Last year, the congregation voted to become a sanctuary church; shortly thereafter, the church was vandalized with swastikas carved into the church’s front doors. On Tuesday night, Democracy Now! sat down with the senior minister of the Unitarian church, Rev. Schuyler Vogel.

“I Am Raising My Voice”: Guatemalan Mother in Sanctuary in NYC Accuses Border Patrol of Sexual Abuse
Democracy Now! broadcast an exclusive interview with a Guatemalan woman named Aura Hernández, who has taken sanctuary in the Fourth Universalist Society of New York, the Unitarian church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, to avoid her deportation to Guatemala. She has been living in the United States for 13 years. She’s the mother of two U.S.-born children: 10-year-old Victor Daniel and 14-month-old Camila Guadalupe. She entered sanctuary a few weeks ago to keep her family united as she continues to fight her immigration case. She says that in 2005, when she first entered the United States, she was sexually abused while detained by the Border Patrol in Texas. She says the officer who abused her then threatened to come find her if she ever went public about the abuse. She has fought for years, quietly, to obtain a U visa as a result of the alleged sexual abuse. U visas are for the victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement. She says that despite her cooperation with authorities, the Department of Homeland Security has refused to certify her U visa, meaning she has not yet been able to obtain protections to stay in the country. The Customs and Border Protection agency declined to comment. After being forced to take sanctuary to avoid her deportation, she is now breaking her silence. On Tuesday night, Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman and Laura Gottesdiener sat down with Aura Hernández for her first-ever television interview.

Family to Bury Slain Sacramento Man Stephon Clark, as Protests Continue Demanding Justice
The family of Stephon Clark is holding his funeral today in Sacramento, California, as massive protests continue against the police shooting that killed the unarmed African-American man in his grandmother’s backyard on March 18. Police first claimed he was holding a gun, but later admitted they found only his cellphone near his body.

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Journalist Ari Berman: If Trump Is Allowed to Rig the Census, Then All of U.S. Democracy Is Rigged
A new battle is brewing over the 2020 U.S. census. At least 12 states are moving to sue the Trump administration over plans to add a question about citizenship to the upcoming census. Voting rights activists fear the question will deter immigrants from participating in the census, leading to a vast undercount in states with large immigrant communities. This could impact everything from the redrawing of congressional maps to the allocation of federal funding. On Tuesday, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision to add a citizenship question was “necessary for the Department of Justice to protect voters.” At least five former directors of the Census Bureau, who served under Republican and Democratic presidents, have written a letter opposing the citizenship question.

Chelsea Manning’s Platform for U.S. Senate: Abolish ICE, Dismantle Prisons, Healthcare for All
On Tuesday, Democracy Now! interviewed Chelsea Manning in her first live TV interview. She was released from prison last May after serving seven years for leaking a trove of documents about Iraq and the Afghan wars and the State Department to WikiLeaks in 2010. Manning is now running for U.S. Senate in Maryland. In part two Manning talks more about her run for the U.S. Senate, trans rights and whistleblowing.

Killed in Cold Blood: Alton Sterling’s Family Decries Decision Not to Charge Officers for Murder
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has announced the state will not bring charges against two white police officers from Baton Rouge for the 2016 killing of Alton Sterling, an African-American father of five. Bystander video shows Sterling was pinned to the ground by the two police officers when they shot him. Alton Sterling’s killing sparked nationwide protests. It’s the latest case in which authorities have refused to bring charges against officers for killing civilians, despite video evidence of the killings and mass protests demanding accountability for the death.

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