Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 28, 2026

Welcome to Democracy Now!, democracynow .org, The War and Peace Report.I'm Amy Goodman.Today we're broadcasting from Canada.Iran's offer the United States a new proposal to end its control over the Strait of Hormuz, in exchange for the U .S.

lifting its blockade of Iranian ports while suspending its threat to resume bombing.Axios reports President Trump's expected to hold a meeting today in the Situation Room with his top national security and foreign policy team to discuss the stalemate in the negotiations and potential next steps.are open to Iran's proposal, which would postpone talks over Iran's nuclear program to a later date.At the United Nations, diplomats from dozens of countries Monday demanded the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, while a resolution calling for reopening the waterway was blocked by China and Russia.U .N.

Secretary -General António Guterres warned of a global food emergency after the U .S.

-Israeli war on Iran triggered a crisis that sent the cost of fuel, fertilizer and other commodities soaring.acute volatility in energy and commodity markets, surging transport and insurance costs, and the worst supply chain disruption since Covid -19 and the war in Ukraine.These pressures are cascading into empty fuel tanks, empty shelves and empty plates.

On Saturday, the Iranian Red Crescent Society says it submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court documenting U .S.-Israeli war crimes.The RSCS estimates more than 132 ,000 civilian structures were bombed across Iran, includingto by NBC News, which reports Iran struck runways, high -end radar systems, dozens of aircraft, warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars and satellite communications infrastructure at a cost of up to $5 billion to repair.On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had become disillusioned with the U .

S.and Israel over the war in Iran, and said the Trump administration is being outwitted and humiliated.

The Americans clearly have no strategy.And the problem with conflicts like this is always that you don't just have to go in.You also have to get out again.We saw that all too painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years.We saw it in Iraq.An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian state leadership.

Israel's militaries launched attacks across southern Lebanon after it issued new warnings to residents to evacuate more than a dozen villages and towns and travel northwards immediately or face death.It's the latest violation of Israel's ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, which was officially extended last Thursday.On Monday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem issued a statement condemning the Lebanese government's direct talks with Israel, citing Israel's occupation of Lebanon's southern territories and its persistent attacks.In response, Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, threatened to burn Hezbollah and all of Lebanon." Palestinian municipal elections were held in Gaza's Deir el -Bala Saturday, marking the first elections of any kind in the besieged strip since 2006.Meanwhile in the West Bank, loyalists of the Palestinian Authority's President Mahmoud Abbas won most races, running unchallenged in many seats.

Candidates in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority secured six of 15 contested seats.Hamas boycotted the West Bank race and did not formally nominate candidates in Gaza.Voter turnout in Gaza reached just 23 percent, while turnout in the West Bank was 56 percent.Senad, a first -time voter in Gaza.

I was happy today because I was able to vote and cast my ballot in the elections.I was surprised, though, that the ballot box was made of wood and the pen was a felt -tip pen, not official ink.Despite that, we are still able to vote and elect and face all challenges.We want to vote.We want to rebuild Gaza from scratch.And we want to rebuild it.

A former top State Department official under President Biden has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing genocide in Gaza with U .S.participation.Wendy Sherman served as deputy secretary of state until her retirement in July 2023.She spoke with Misha Hussein of Bloomberg Podcasts.

I think that it is critical that Israel remain an ally of the United States and that we protect the right of a Jewish state.But I also believe that the Prime Minister has led us down a roadand we have been part of it, that has, in essence, created a genocide in Gaza.

More than a dozen Biden administration officials resigned their posts to protest U .S.policy toward Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.To see our interviews with many of them, go to democracynow .org.In Sudan, human rights workers say six people were killed Monday when a Sudanese army drone struck a camp for displaced people in the western Darfur region.

Dozens more were wounded in the attack, which destroyed several homes and set off panic among displaced families.And 34 million people, about 65 percent of the population are in urgent need of humanitarian support, and famine has been confirmed in Darfur and the Kordofans.This is Saha Moussa, a displaced Sudanese woman.

Since we arrived in Tawila a month ago, we've been suffering from a severe lack of services, except for water, which we draw from wells.We have no other services here and we desperately need assistance.Our children aren't receivingeducation, and I'm a nurse, but I can't find work.

Virginia's Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday on the legality of redistricting referendum that voters approved last week, the redrawn Democratic map could result in the party holding 10 of Virginia's 11 congressional seats, up from six.Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis released a new congressional map Monday that seeks to create four additional Republican -leaning seats in Florida.It comes as the Supreme Court formally reinstated Monday a redrawn Texas electoral map, allowing Republicans to flip as many as five House seats currently held by Democrats.Justices at the U .S.Supreme Court appeared split on Monday over whether a federal law that regulates the sale and marketing of pesticides preempts state -level lawsuits against manufacturers.

The case centers on whether the federal government or state should decide what warning labels should be put on herbicides.Its main plaintiff is a Missouri man who sued Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, in 2019 over its popular weed killer glyphosate, marketed as Roundup.He alleged two decades of exposure to the chemical caused him to develop blood cancer.A jury found Bayer had failed to warn him of the risks associated with Roundup and awarded him $1 .25 million in damages.The Trump administration, which has called Roundup safe, is siding with Bayer in its challenge at the Supreme Court.If successful, thousands of lawsuits alleging cancers caused by Roundup could be thrown out.

More than 600 workers at Google have signed a letter to CEO Sundar Panchai demanding he refuse to allow Google's AI tools.to be used by the Pentagon for classified work.The employee cited concerns about lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, writing that, quote, the only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harms is to reject any classified workloads, unquote.Google is reportedly pursuing a Pentagon deal similar to the one OpenAI struck after the Pentagon's public clash with Anthropic.Meanwhile, protesters gathered outside an Oakland courthouse Monday as jury selection wrapped up in the trial, pitting Elon Musk against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.A California ballot initiative to impose a one -time 5 percent tax on billionaires' assets has gathered more than 1 .5 million signatures, well above the 870 ,000 needed to qualify for the November ballot.

The measure, backed by the SEIU, Service Employees International Union, would use the revenue to backfill federal Medicaid cuts signed by President Trump.Silicon Valley executives have poured $93 million into defeating the ballot initiative.His co -founder, Sergey Brin, has emerged as the measure's leading opponent, spending $57 million against it and relocating to Nevada before a December 31 deadline to escape the billionaire tax.The New York Times reports that at a holiday party last December, Brin cornered Governor Gavin Newsom and demanded he oppose the measure.The following month, Governor Newsom publicly pledged to defeat it.President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla to Washington, D .

C., on Monday.It's Charles' first visit to the U .S.since he ascended to the throne in 2022.a joint session of Congress this afternoon. His

His speech comes after Trump threatened to cancel a U .S.-UK trade deal, mocked the Royal Navy and insulted U .K.Prime Minister Keir Starmer as weak and cowardly and a loser with no future," unquote.During his U .

S.visit, King Charles will not meet with survivors of sexual abuse and human trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein, despite a request by California Congressmember Ro Khanna for a private meeting.Charles' brother Andrew Mountbatten -Windsor was stripped of his royal title prince and arrested in February over accusations of misconduct in public office over his close ties to Epstein.Thirty -one -year -old Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, was charged Monday with the attempted assassination of President Trump following Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.Allen allegedly charged a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton armed with a shotgun and pistol.A Secret Service officer was shot, but survived due to a bullet -resistant vest.

An FBI affidavit revealed Allen had reserved a room at the hotel weeks before the dinner and traveled across country by train.from California to Chicago to Washington.In an email sent to family just before the attack, he referred to himself as a friendly federal assassin.He faces up to life in prison.At the White House, Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt blamed leftists for the attack.

Those who constantly falsely label and slander the president as a fascist, as a threat to democracy, and compare him to Hitler to score political points are fueling this kind of violence.The left -wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it almost did so again this weekend.

And First Lady Melania Trump's joined her husband in calling on ABC to fire late -night comedian Jimmy Kimmel following the gunfire that erupted outside the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday.The first lady objected to Kimmel's joke last week, before the shooting took place, that she had a glow like an expectant widow, unquote.On Monday evening, Kimmel pushed back.

I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject.I do, and I think a great place to start, to dial that back, would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.

This comes after CBS last year canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert under pressure from President Trump.His show will end in a few weeks.And after ABC temporarily suspended Kimmel's show last September over his comments about the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.And those are some of the headlines.This is Democracy Now!, democracynow .org, The War and Peace Report.

I'm Amy Goodman in Toronto, Canada, with Juan González in Chicago.Hi, Juan.

Hi, Amy, and welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world.

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