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DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza Genocide 2.0”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou explore topics shaking the world stage. 

  • Trump-Putin Talks on Hold: The White House now says there are no immediate plans for President Trump to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin, despite Trump’s earlier suggestion of a Budapest summit to end the Ukraine war. After a “productive call” between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, Trump’s pattern of pivoting from sanctions or aid to diplomacy raises eyebrows. Experts warn of a familiar cycle with little progress. 
  • Shutdown Gets Real: Democrats are about to get the fight they want on November 1, when ACA subscribers see their premiums skyrocket. Premiums nationwide are set to rise by 18 percent on average. Nationally, the average marketplace consumer will pay $1,904 in annual premiums next year, up from $888 in 2025. The situation is particularly acute in Georgia, which recorded the second-highest enrollment of any state-run marketplace this year and and where 96 percent of marketplace enrollees in Georgia received subsidies this year. Georgians browsing the state website are seeing estimated monthly costs double or even triple, depending on their incomes, as lower subsidy thresholds resume. Will Republicans blink?
  • America’s Covert War Against Venezuela: The U.S. military’s secretive Southern Caribbean campaign escalates, with seven airstrikes killing 32 off Venezuela’s coast, targeting alleged “narco-terrorists.” Trump confirms CIA covert operations, while the abrupt exit of SouthCom Commander Adm. Alvin Holsey sparks questions about the strikes’ legality. Critics, including Sen. Rand Paul, demand transparency over who’s targeted and why—but they keep being annoyed.
  • Israel Blocking Gaza Aid Again: Israel’s ban on UNRWA and new rules de-registering major aid groups threaten Gaza’s briefly renewed humanitarian lifeline. Despite Trump’s brokered ceasefire, only two of seven border crossings remain open, leaving aid trucks stranded. Organizations like the Norwegian Refugee Council face re-registration hurdles, accused of vague ideological violations. Why is the world allowing Israel to continue the genocide?

DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Venezuela: Trump’s Iraq?”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:

Political cartoonist Ted Rall, and producer Robby West filling in for CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, confront the fallout from federal overreach in Chicago’s ICE raids and the violent U.S. military brinkmanship off Venezuela’s shores, revealing how unchecked authority clashes with human rights and global stability.

  • Pressure on Bibi: Advocates of Israel believe Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu isn’t serious about the ceasefire and peace deal he signed and is secretly planning to scuttle Trump’s achievement as soon as he sees a chance. Trump agrees, so he’s sending Vice President JD Vance, Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who were instrumental in brokering the deal to illustrate the administration’s commitment to keeping the deal intact and to try to keep Mr. Netanyahu from resuming an all-out assault against Hamas. What can/will they do?
  • Post-9/11 Jitters: American Airlines Flight 6569 from Omaha to Los Angeles returned to its origination airport after 36 minutes after the pilot heard banging on the locked cockpit door—a security precaution instituted after 9/11—and worried that terrorists were trying to break in. As it turns out, the radio link between the flight deck and the main cabin was down and the crew had no way to communicate with the pilot. What if there had been an emergency in the cabin? Just a reminder that every safety measure can cause a new set of problems.
  • Chicago Immigration Crackdown Hearing: Federal officials confront Judge Sara L. Ellis in a courtroom showdown, defending tear gas deployments that defy her recent order amid Operation Midway Blitz. Agents clashed with protesters, journalists, and clergy in Albany Park, dispersing crowds after a routine stop escalated into chaos with minimal warnings, as captured on video. Two days later, on the South Side, federal vehicles crashed into civilians, prompting agents to unleash tear gas on gathered residents, fueling plaintiffs’ claims of constitutional violations and Judge Ellis’s deepening frustration—she demands body cameras be constantly activated despite government pushback, signaling a judicial hammer poised to strike harder. How bad will ICE’s war against Chicago get?
  • U.S. Troops Face Venezuela: 10,000 U.S. troops now patrol Caribbean waters, interdicting drug boats under the shadow of Maduro’s emergency declaration, activating an 8-million-strong militia armed with RPGs, anti-tank systems, and urban warfare tactics drilled in Caracas shantytowns. Russian-supplied Sukhoi Su-30 jets buzz the USS Jason Dunham with Kh-31 anti-ship missiles, while S-125, Buk-M2E, and Igla-S systems guard oil sites and coasts, jamming U.S. communications in a contested electromagnetic spectrum that renders helicopters vulnerable. Despite B-52 flyovers and F-35 readiness, the deployment—bolstered by USS Iwo Jima and Tomahawk subs—lacks ground logistics for a full invasion, exposing interdiction ops to provocative close passes and potential retaliation from a force in “shambles” yet lethally asymmetric. Would this be the Western Hemisphere’s version of Bush’s disastrous Iraq War?

DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “2-For-1 Regime Change?”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deliver the no-holds-barred analysis you need to understand the domestic and international stories making the news.

  • Louvre Heist: Thieves execute a brazen daylight robbery at the famous museum in Paris, smashing into the Galerie d’Apollon using a furniture lift truck Sunday morning. Snatching eight priceless gems—including “The Regent” diamond, a royal sapphire necklace, emerald earrings, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-diadem—within seven minutes before fleeing on motor scooters, the professional thieves drops a 1,354-diamond crown as they flee.Staff trigger alarms—prioritizing visitor safety—as panicked tourists evacuate. Could this have been avoided? What will happen to these precious jewels? Can they be recovered?
  • Israel Breaks Gaza Truce: Israel unleashes a barrage of heavy attacks since last week’s cease-fire agreement, also cutting off aid again after someone—Hamas says it wasn’t them—killed two soldiers with anti-tank fire in Rafah. Striking dozens of “Hamas targets,” Israel killed 44 Palestinians while Netanyahu rants. Both sides accuse the other truce violations yet reaffirm commitment to the ceasefire, with bombing halting aid temporarily before expected resumption. Can Trump keep Bibi under control?
  • US Sinks Colombian Ship: After blowing up five Venezuelan boats carrying at least one alleged fisherman, US forces destroy a vessel tied to Colombia’s National Liberation Army, killing three, as Defense Secretary Hegseth claims narcotics smuggling without evidence—and The Washington Post reveals that the attacks against Venezuela is all about “regime change,” not drugs. Now Trump calls President Petro an “illegal drug leader,” halting subsidies and payments amid frayed ties. Colombia condemns the “murder on high seas” and sovereignty threats, with Petro firing back at Trump’s “rude and ignorant” insults. Is Trump trying to get two Latin American countries for the price of one?
  • Santos Vows Prison Reform: Commuted by Trump after 84 days, ex-Congressman George Santos emerges from FCI Fairton solitary, decrying “dehumanizing” disarray and dirty undergarments. Pleading guilty to fraud and theft, the expelled liar—faking degrees, jobs, and Jewish heritage—now says he will dedicate his life to priso reform, insisting inmates deserve humanity alongside accountability. Trump’s post hails him as “horribly mistreated,” freeing him from penalties immediately. Will this statement actually be true? Will America finally get the prison reform it needs?

TMI Show Ep 246: “John Bolton Indicted”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 10 AM Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:

Tune in to “The TMI Show” for an investigation into former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s federal indictment on charges of mishandling classified information.

A federal grand jury in Maryland indicts Bolton on Thursday, charging eight counts of transmitting and ten counts of unlawfully retaining national defense information. The FBI’s investigation reveals Bolton allegedly transmitting top secret information using personal online accounts and retaining documents in his house, directly violating federal law. FBI Director Kash Patel declares that anyone threatening national security faces accountability. The documents expose intelligence on future attacks, foreign adversaries, foreign-policy relations, informants, and adversary leaders. Federal agents searched Bolton’s Bethesda home and Washington office earlier this summer, uncovering classified records retained even after decommissioning his residence’s Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility post-2019 Trump cabinet exit. Bolton, UN ambassador under Bush and adviser under Trump, now battles defense attorney Abbe Lowell’s denial that unclassified personal diaries shared only with family break any law—known to FBI since 2021. Controversy erupts amid Bolton’s sharp Trump criticisms labeling him unfit, countered by Trump’s “whack job” jibes.

Plus:

  • Trump’s New Tariffs Hit Housing
    President Trump’s tariffs on imported lumber, furniture, and cabinets take effect, imposing 10% on softwood lumber, 25% on cabinets, and up to 30% on upholstered furniture—doubling to 50% for cabinets in 2026. Aimed at strengthening U.S. manufacturing and reducing foreign dependence, critics warn of throttled Canadian lumber supply (85% of U.S. needs), idle domestic sawmills at 64% capacity, rising construction costs, and stalled affordable housing amid inflation fears.
  • Ace Frehley Dies at 74
    Original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, the pyrotechnic “Spaceman,” dies Thursday in Morristown, N.J., from a recent fall. Designing the band’s lightning-bolt logo, Frehley fuels 11 gold/platinum albums, Top 40 hits like “Love Gun,” and solo smash “New York Groove”—earning Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and a Kennedy Center Honors nod.
  • Supreme Court Targets Voting Rights
    The conservative-majority Supreme Court weighs weakening the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s Section 2, challenging Louisiana’s 2024 map boosting majority-Black districts from one to two. Non-African American voters argue race overly influences redistricting, prompting rearguments on 14th/15th Amendment violations despite Black Louisianans comprising one-third of the population.

DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Race Against Terror—Interview with Jake Tapper”

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Ted Rall

Live 9 AM Eastern, Then Streaming On Demand


In this pulse-pounding episode of Deprogrammed, hosted by political cartoonist Ted Rall and whistleblower John Kiriakou, CNN anchor Jake Tapper joins for a riveting interview unpacking his new book, Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War, released on October 7, 2025.

The conversation thrusts listeners into the heart of a real-life thriller: the unprecedented international pursuit and federal trial of Spin Ghul (real name: Ibrahim Harun), a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative who boasted of killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan before bizarrely surrendering to Italian authorities amid the 2011 Arab Spring chaos. Tapper, drawing from exhaustive reporting—including interviews with prosecutors, intelligence operatives, and even Ghul’s defense team—details the book’s explosive core: a high-stakes “police procedural” spanning refugee boats in the Mediterranean, Afghan battlefields, Brooklyn courtrooms, and Oval Office briefings.

Ghul, a dark-skinned Pashtun fighter derisively nicknamed “White Rose” by his Arab Al Qaeda comrades amid the group’s internal racism, emerges as a bumbling yet deadly jihadist. Radicalized in the post-9/11 “Forever War” era, he ambushed U.S. convoys, racking up American casualties, only to flee Libya’s uprising and demand extradition while flashing bullet-scarred proof of his exploits.

The narrative races through the frantic efforts of two relentless Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Brooklyn—racing against deportation deadlines and legal precedents—to secure the first-ever conviction of a foreign terrorist for battlefield murders in a civilian court, blurring lines between warfare, criminal justice, and counterterrorism. Kiriakou, with his CIA whistleblower lens, intensely questions Tapper on the blurred ethics of renditions, interrogations, and intel-sharing that snared Ghul, drawing eerie parallels to his own post-9/11 exposure of waterboarding horrors and warning of how such hunts eroded civil liberties. A masterclass in true-crime geopolitics laced with unfiltered edge, this Deprogram episode is unmissable for fans of high-stakes history. Stream on major platforms, and dive into Race Against Terror for the full, meticulously sourced saga of pursuit, prejudice, and precarious justice.

DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Regime Change Against Venezuela?”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou analyze the Supreme Court’s probable gutting of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Trump eyeing covert strikes and land airstrikes against Venezuela, the decline of the power of the U.S. passport, and archivists race a looming “digital dark age.”

  • House Gerrymandering by the Supreme Court: Republicans redraw districts, targeting Southern Democrats, but Democrats hold a House path—unless Louisiana v. Callais strikes Section 2. This would gut majority-minority mandates, enabling elimination of 7-8 Black-majority districts in Alabama through Florida by 2028. Democrats would face +5-point popular vote hurdles for competitiveness, turning all midterms into GOP locks.
  • Trump’s Venezuela Escalation: Trump has drawn a bead against the government of President Nicolás Maduro after five boat strikes killing 26. Now he’s considering U.S. military land strikes to halt Venezuelan drug flows and authorized the CIA with a “finding” that allows the agency to conduct covert operations there. Is this regime change?
  • U.S. Passport Downgrade: Henley Index of “powerful passports” drops U.S. passport to 12th—first time outside top 10 in 20 years, tied with Malaysia, down from 7th last year. Trump’s immigration crackdowns trigger reciprocity losses from Brazil, China, Vietnam, stagnating access to 180 destinations. Experts warn of fading soft power in an openness-driven world.
  • Rescuing Floppy Disks: Cambridge archivists tackle 113 boxes of Stephen Hawking’s papers, extracting data from degrading 1970s-90s floppy disks via the Future Nostalgia project. They battle magnetism loss, mould, and obsolete formats to save physics insights and personal notes. This combats a “digital dark age,” preserving 50 years of computered history.

Hamas’ Stunning Victory

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Ted Rall

TED RALL

HAMAS’S STUNNING VICTORY

RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2025

Hamas’s victory over Israel will go down in history as one of the most stunning upsets in the history of modern warfare. It will be studied by future Resistance groups for instructions on how a guerrilla army can achieve its aims despite facing an adversary with seemingly insurmountable advantages in weaponry, technology, funding and international legitimacy.

This Islamic group’s achievement was breathtaking. Indicating an astonishing ability to adapt, it pivoted from a ragtag outfit of irregular militants to a full-fledged governing authority with the organizational structure of a nation-state in 2007—ironically, with the support of Israel, which pursued a divide-and-conquer strategy to undermine Fatah’s Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Then, with the Abraham Accords and Arab states moving toward normalization of relations with Israel, Hamas leadership concluded that it needed a radical gamechanger, an incident that would expose the Jewish state as genocidal, scuttle its hopes of regional acceptance and put the Palestinian question back on the front burner.

Correctly predicting the massive scale of the onslaught Israel would unleash following the October 7th attack, Hamas created stockpiles of missiles fabricated from dud Israeli ordnance and constructed a sophisticated tunnel system to allow it to move fighters and equipment throughout the war without having to worry much about the IDF. Hamas hoped its regional Iranian-backed allies in the Middle East, the Axis of Resistance, including Hezbollah and the regime of then-Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, would open a multifront war against Israel, but they never viewed hope as a plan. After Hezbollah demurred and was itself nevertheless decimated by Israeli airstrikes and a vicious pager attack, Hamas carried on solo, with the exception of distant support from Yemen’s Houthis.

Days after the beginning of the current ceasefire, Hamas is consolidating power, purging Gaza of its rivals, parading publicly in shows of strength, restoring basic services, and is even conducting foreign policy by conveying its desire to maintain law and order to a grateful United States—reverting to its pre-2023 governance posture.

This time, however, global and U.S. opinion now favors creating a sovereign Palestinian state. Hamas, already rebranding itself, is establishing itself the de facto sole ruling authority of the Gaza half of that future nation.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which experts say undercounts war dead, Israel has killed about 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began. According to Donald Trump, the number is between 400,000 and 500,000 out of a prewar population of 2.2 million. Israel has destroyed 90% of the homes. Gaza’s basic infrastructure—roads, schools, shops, hospitals, sewage system—has been pulverized. 468 IDF troops were killed. How can anyone call this a Palestinian victory?

If lopsided death tolls determined victory and defeat in warfare, the United States would have beaten Vietnam (2,000,000 to 58,000), Iraq (940,000 to 4,400) and Afghanistan (572,000 to 2,400). In each of these conflicts, the warring parties had the same goal, to maintain military and political control over a territory. The U.S. withdrew. Thus, it lost.

Hamas had several objectives in its 2023-2025 war against Israel.

Job one was making a big splash. It was necessary to “change the entire equation and not just have a clash,” Khalil al-Hayya, top Hamas official, told The New York Times a month after the start of the war “We succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and now no one in the region is experiencing calm.” Hamas wasn’t merely willing to sacrifice the lives of its fellow Palestinians in order to achieve them. Provoking the Israelis to kill Gazans—the more the better—was an essential part of their plan.

Two years later, Palestine has knocked the Russo-Ukrainian War off the headlines. It enjoys formal diplomatic recognition from 157 out of 193 nations, including the likes of France, Canada and Great Britain. Israel, fending off judicial inquiries, sanctions and business boycotts, is forced to send Netanyahu to the U.N. via a circuitous route lest his plane be forced down and the prime minister thrown in jail. It’s becoming a pariah state.

Israel could have avoided all this by not overreacting. By not viewing the Hamas’s attack as an opportunity for a land grab. It chose to feed its rage.

Before October 7th, Saudi Arabia, nominally a fervent supporter of independent Palestine, had been moving toward formal recognition of Israel. Worried that such a move would mark the beginning of the end of the Palestinian cause, Hamas hoped its war would force the Saudis and other Arab states to back off from Israel. Clearly, that has succeeded.

Hamas achieved both of its main goals. It also wanted a Palestinian state. We’re not there yet. But the odds have never looked better.

Israel had two war aims.

First, they wanted to destroy Hamas and end their rule over Gaza. “Once we defeat Hamas, we have to make sure that there’s no new Hamas, no resurgence of terrorism, and right now the only force that is able to secure that is Israel,” Netanyahu said in November 2023, calling for long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza. Trump’s 20-point “peace plan” began with the requirement that Israeli forces withdraw—even before the first hostage was released. Trump told Hamas he would not allow Israel to break the ceasefire, as they have done many times in the past. And he said that he has decided to leave Hamas in charge for the time being.

Clearly, Israel failed.

Second, Israel wanted to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its indigenous population, annex the territory and exploit it for real estate developments for Israelis. But Trump is telling Israel to back off and allow Gazans to stay in what’s left of their homes. He also warned Israel to stop building new settlements. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” he told reporters in the Oval Office in September 2025. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”

Hamas got everything it wanted and more. Israel got nothing, and wound up in a much worse position. That victory lap in the Knesset? Pure spin.

Many Israelis recognize what really happened: a country that relies upon international support lost it. “Wars are not won by tanks or drones but by headlines and hashtags. The side that controls the story controls the future,” Jose Lev Alvarez Gomez, a right-wing supporter of the genocide, complained in The Times of Israel. “Israel won the war. The world rewarded Hamas—with sympathy, airtime, and impunity.”

Not that Israel wasn’t warned. “If Israel had adopted a more measured, precise, and diplomatically savvy approach in its efforts to neutralize Hamas, [Hamas’s] assertions of victory, whether actual or perceived, would likely appear less credible,” David Ucko wrote in a nifty December 2023 piece titled “Theories of Victory: Israel, Hamas, and the Meaning of Success in Irregular Warfare.”

Game, Hamas.

(Ted Rall, the political cartoonist, columnist and graphic novelist, is the author of “Never Mind the Democrats. Here’s What’s Left.” Subscribe: tedrall.Substack.com. He is co-host of the podcast “DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou.”)

DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “A War Over Dead Bodies”

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Ted Rall

Live 9 AM Eastern, Then Streaming On Demand

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou unpack the fragile Gaza ceasefire teetering on the brink.

  • Gaza Hostage Remains Crisis: Hamas returns the remains of four additional deceased hostages on Tuesday, including Guy Illouz and Bipin Joshi, through the Red Cross after Israel’s threats to block Rafah and halve Gaza aid trucks for non-compliance with the U.S.-brokered deal. This dispute over the 28 promised bodies marks the peace process’s inaugural crisis, with 24 still unrecovered—including Americans Itay Chen and Omer Neutra—trapped under rubble, as mediators press Hamas for maximum recovery efforts amid Netanyahu’s unyielding demands. Trump’s Truth Social post blasts the delay, insisting Phase Two—Hamas disarming—starts immediately, while officials note Hamas now grasps Israel’s superior intelligence on body locations.
  • U.S. Military Boat Strike off Venezuela: The U.S. military kills six men aboard a boat in international waters just off Venezuela’s coast on Tuesday, marking the fifth such strike since September and totaling 27 deaths treated as wartime kills rather than arrests of criminal suspects. Trump posts a 33-second aerial video of the missile explosion on social media, asserting unproven intelligence links the vessel to narcoterrorist smuggling routes, as the administration builds naval presence with warships and submarines in the Caribbean. Legal experts slam the premeditated extrajudicial actions as illegal under laws barring civilian targeting without imminent threats, with nominees citing undisclosed Justice memos but no public analysis justifying war-like tactics over Coast Guard interdictions.
  • Madagascar Military Power Seizure: The army in Madagascar seizes control on Tuesday, Colonel Michael Randrianirina from the elite CAPSAT unit announcing a joint military-police committee to swiftly install a civilian government after parliament impeaches President Andry Rajoelina, who flees into hiding fearing for his life amid weeks of Gen Z protests. Demonstrators in Antananarivo rage over six years without tap water despite payments, crippling electricity outages, and corruption in the nation of 31 million, with over 20 killed by authorities’ deadly force as CAPSAT refuses to quash “brothers and sisters.” Rajoelina, who rose via a 2009 CAPSAT-backed coup, dissolves parliament in a failed block, denouncing the takeover as a “coup d’etat” while protesters hail it as a supported popular revolution, waving anime pirate flags in global youth solidarity.
  • Young Republicans Telegram Scandal: Leaked seven-month Telegram chats among Young Republican leaders from New York, Kansas, Arizona, and Vermont overflow with racial slurs like “n–ga” used over a dozen times by Kansas vice chair William Hendrix, references to Black people as “monkeys” and “watermelon people,” and fantasies of gassing opponents in chambers unfit for the “Hitler aesthetic.” New York vice chair Bobby Walker calls rape “epic,” while chair Peter Giunta threatens “physiological torture” for non-believers during a federation vote, with members like Joe Maligno and Annie Kaykaty joking about showers masking gas and watching people burn. The exposure prompts job firings, rescinded offers, and condemnations from Rep. Elise Stefanik and GOP chair Ed Cox, igniting intraparty recriminations of character assassination and extortion as the group frets over leaks dooming their “true believers.”

DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “L.A. for Sale”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou catch you up after the long weekend, beginning with a L.A. story with a personal connection to “Deprogram.”

  • Is Los Angeles for Sale?: Austin Beutner, scandal-plagued billionaire and widely reviled ex-LA schools superintendent, plans to run against Mayor Karen Bass, criticizing her over homelessness and living costs. As ex-publisher of the LA Times, Beutner secretly conspired with corrupt ex-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to fire and smear Ted because his cartoons criticized the police, and got fired due to the subscriber backlash and his boardroom plots. As Ted later learned, Beutner was a dollar-for-dollar match donor to the LAPD pension fund. Will Angelenos get conned by a grifter who makes Eric Adams look honest?
  • Iran’s Trans Medical Tourism: Iran promotes gender transition surgeries to attract LGBTQ foreigners, offering low-cost procedures alongside luxury travel packages. Despite Iran’s reputation for affordable care, the policy stems from a history of coerced gender-affirming surgical operations.
  • Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Clash: The Taliban confirms attacks on Pakistani troops, saying they are retaliation for airspace violations, with 58 reported deaths. Pakistan disputes the toll, and closes border crossings. Tensions soar as both sides trade accusations of harboring terrorists. Are Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a long complicated relationship, at the brink of war?
  • Madagascar Crisis: About to be impeached, President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar has dissolved his country’s National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, hours after saying that he had gone into hiding at an undisclosed location out of fear for his safety over weeks of Gen-Z anti-government protests over lack of water and power that have killed 22 people.
  • Federal Workers’ Mass Retirements: A massive wave of federal retirements and buyouts is straining agencies amid the shutdown. Over 154,000 employees leave, overwhelming HR offices. But isn’t a workforce reduction what DOGE and Trump wanted?

DMZ America Podcast Ep 217: “What Next for Gaza and Israel?”

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Ted Rall

LIVE 12:00 noon Eastern, and then streaming whenever you wanna hear/watch it:

LIVE 12:00 noon Eastern, and then streaming whenever you wanna hear/watch it:

Tune in to the “DMZ America Podcast” as nationally-syndicated editorial cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis handicap the first phase of President Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan, kicking off a possible end to the brutal two-year Israel-Hamas war. Israeli forces pull back from ravaged zones, and now Hamas is expected to release all 20 living hostages—plus remains of the deceased—within 24 hours in exchange for 250 Palestinian life inmates and 1,700 Palestinian hostages.

Ted and Scott will also show and discuss their latest cartoons about the conflict, as well as those by some of their colleagues.

Daily aid trucks are rolling in, easing famine’s grip after 45,000+ Palestinian deaths and proving that Israel had been keeping out food and water. Both Israelis and Palestinians are celebrating.

But shadows loom: Will next phases—demilitarizing Hamas, deploying international stabilizers, and rebuilding the Strip—actually occur?

Who will rule Gaza after Hamas abolished all domestic opposition? Ted predicts a Hamas rebrand, as in Ireland after the Troubles. Will Netanyahu’s government survive? Genocide accusations from rights groups will be amplified as mass graves and other evidence of Israeli war crimes surface; can Israel’s reputation in the US rebound? Polls show young Americans souring fast, splitting the Jewish vote and pressuring Biden-era holdovers.

Ted and Scott have vehemently disagreed about the war for two years, while managing to remain respectful throughout. Now it’s time to consider what comes next.

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