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Hundreds of community members gathered in Houston on Thursday evening for a public viewing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the 52-year-old Mexican man shot and killed by an ICE agent on July 7. His sons stood by their father's casket for hours greeting mourners who wore blue, Salgado Araujo's favorite color. A mariachi band played, and several altars adorned the chapel: One table held Salgado Araujo's construction tools and hard hats, while another displayed two of his Mexico soccer jerseys. Photos and videos of some of the family's most joyful moments were projected in the background.
Democracy Now!'s María Inés Taracena spoke to some of the attendees outside of the funeral home. "Looking back at history, it brought back memories of Emmett Till, when his mom also let the community grieve with them," said Cesar Espinosa, a local immigrant rights activist. "She wanted to show the world what they had done to her son, and I think today, this family also wanted to show the world what they had done to them."
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Voting-rights activists said the changes are a blatant attempt by G.O.P. leaders to make it harder for Black voters and students, who tend to vote for Democrats, to cast ballots this fall.
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The BBC's chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman explains what Andy Burnham intends to do as the new leader of the Labour party.
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In a primetime address on Thursday, President Trump accused China of meddling in U.S. elections in his latest effort to spread doubt about the U.S. voting system ahead of the midterm elections in November. Trump announced he was declassifying documents that show what he called "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure," but offered no evidence that China or any other country directly interfered with recent elections.
"If Trump was trying to build … a smoking gun case that the 2020 election was stolen, he failed miserably," says Ari Berman, the national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones. "I am still very concerned that this speech is intended to lay the groundwork for the administration to interfere in the midterms."
Berman argues that U.S. elections are "secure" and that results are "audited extensively at the state level" and reviewed at the federal level. He says the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden, was "found to be the most secure in American history."
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To prevail in Michigan's crucial Senate primary, Representative Haley Stevens will need to overcome Democratic voters' skepticism of Israel. Pro-Israel groups are spending heavily to help her.
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As we continue our conversation with Congressmember Pramila Jayapal, we turn to recent developments involving the United States military. On Wednesday, Jayapal was one of over half of all House Democrats to vote in favor eliminating over $3 billion in military aid to Israel. Although the proposed amendment was ultimately shot down, the final tally with over 100 members voting yes is still a "sea change" in U.S. political support for Israel, says Jayapal. Following Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, "it is the horror of what has unfolded that has finally allowed us to confront the fact that we should not be using taxpayer dollars to send to Israel to perpetrate this kind of violence."
Jayapal also responds to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's new order mandating testosterone testing and offering testosterone replacement therapy for servicemembers aged 30 and over. "Providing testosterone is actually gender affirming care," Jayapal remarks. Last year, Hegseth ordered a halt to all gender-affirming medical procedures for military servicemembers and banned openly trans people from service. These actions are "intrusive behavior," says Jayapal, "where the government is getting involved in prescribing what medication you do or don't take, without your consent."
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