Top U.S. & World Headlines June 23, 2023

welcome to democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman President Biden welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House Thursday praising a new era in U.S Indian relations on Moody's second day of a lavish visit to the U.S that's been condemned by human rights Advocates the two leaders announced a series of new initiatives including a landmark deal for General Electric to

build military jet engines in India Modi delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress was later fetted at a state dinner with the president and the first lady Jill Biden in a rare occurrence Modi accepted questions from journalists during a news conference with President Biden Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui who is Muslim press Modi on human rights concerns and asked him what steps he's

taking to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in India and press Freedom there it's believed to be the first question Modi took from a journalist at a news conference since 2015. we have always proved the Democracy can deliver and when I say deliver this is regardless of caste Creed religion or gender there's absolutely no space for discrimination in Sudan residents began fleeing the southwestern

city of kadugly Thursday as a new front open between Sudan's Army and the rebel group known as the Sudan people's Liberation movement North Sudan's Army says Fighters with the group broke a long-standing ceasefire agreement this week and attacked Sudanese military units and the capital Khartoum heavy fighting continues between Sudan's Army and the Rival paramilitary rapid support forces elsewhere activists say they've identified 500 bodies across the

city of elginina the capital of Sudan's Western Darfur region Witnesses say thousands more bodies remain uncollected in the city's streets after paramilitaries and Allied Arab militias stepped up attacks on non-arab residents of the region Aid workers say tens of thousands of people fleeing the violence for neighboring Chad have also faced violence and sexual assault Laura Lo Castro the U.N Refugee agency's representative and Chad spoke to

refugees who survived the journey they describe terrifying scenes in which everyone had to flee for their lives there were massacres and as they fled they sometimes unfortunately had to leave behind little children who couldn't run people were injured and the elderly authorities in Greece have rescued 145 migrants who are found stranded on an island in the Everest River on the Greek Turkish border Thursday's rescue came

as shocking details continued to emerge about how Greek Coast Guard officials failed to save hundreds of migrants who drowned last week after their overcrowded fishing vessel sank off the Greek Coast El Pais reports Greek authorities were tracking the ship for more than 12 hours never activated a rescue operation even after the ship's engine broke down in the Atlantic Ocean rescue crews have called off a multinational

multi-million dollar operation to locate Five People aboard the missing Titans submersible after debris from the vehicle was discovered Thursday near the wreckage of the Titanic Engineers say the subs operator Ocean Gate failed to properly account for design failures in the submersible which was never certified to withstand the crushing pressures of the deep ocean believe the subs pilot Ocean Gate CEO Stockton Rush died instantly along with

four passengers who paid two hundred fifty thousand dollars each for the adventure this is Rush speaking in a 20-22 documentary by a Mexican filmmaker I'd like to be remembered as an innovator um I think it was General MacArthur said you remembered for the rules you break and you know I've broken some rules to make this I think I've broken them with with logic and good engineering

in the Chinese Capital Thursday climbing above 41 degrees Celsius or 106 degrees Fahrenheit its hottest June day since records began in Mexico a searing Heat Wave has driven record demand for electricity with reports of blackouts in a dozen states this week the extreme heat extends into the United States where parts of Texas and other Southern States face excessive heat warnings into next week this comes as

smoke from massive wildfires continues to trigger air pollution warnings in Canada and parts of the U.S with unhealthy air quality forecast for Chicago and much of Wisconsin today the union of concerned scientists reports half the U.S population has facing extreme weather alert so far this year meanwhile a new study published in the journal Nature sustainability finds Earth's ecosystems are degrading from Global heating even more rapidly

than previously thought with one in five ecosystems including the Amazon rainforest at risk of passing a crucial Tipping Point by the end of the century in Mexico Human Rights Advocates are demanding Justice for two environmentalists assassinated and separate attacks in the state of Mexico earlier this month Avada avisu and cuate Mac Marquez were forest and water Defenders who fought against extractivism in the region Marquez who

was also a beekeeper was shot dead near his home on June 12th the day later our visu died after being brutally assaulted by a group of unknown assailants with what appeared to be an ax Mexico continues to be one of the deadliest countries for environmentalists in the world the government of France has ordered the shutdown of the direct action Environmental Group Earth Uprising wielding Powers it

previously used to Outlaw far-right movements the order came after the French interior Minister accused Earth uprising of carrying out eco-terrorism at several recent high-profile protests the group responded in a statement quote trying to silence Earth Uprising is a vain attempt to break the thermometer instead of worrying about the temperature unquote the Crackdown Drew criticism from Swedish climate activist gratitudebury who spoke Thursday from Paris all over

the world we're experiencing this not the least for example here in France just the other day and that activists are being systemically targeted target targeted with repression and are paying the price for defending in life and for the right to protest we had to Turnberry was speaking at this week's Summit for a new Global Financial pact in Paris where climate activists are demanding world leaders mobilize

trillions of dollars to finance a transition to clean energy and a loss and damage fund I hope the global South deal with the worst effects of the climate catastrophe they did not cause this is inesic rice a youth climate activist from Rwanda we have recently seen the flooding in Italy the wildfire in Canada but the developing world is hits the hardest because they have the least

resource to cope for countries like mine business business as usual is a death sentence back in the United States the Supreme Court has ruled against the Navajo Nation over claims the federal government has failed in its duty to address the tribe's water rights writing for the majority in Thursday's five to four ruling Justice Brett Kavanaugh ruled the 1868 treaty that established the Navajo reservation said nothing

about an affirmative Duty for the United States to secure water the Court's three liberal justices joined by Neil Gorsuch in dissent writing that the government has a duty to properly manage the water it holds for the tribe thousands of Navajo Nation members lack access to running water in their homes even though the Colorado River runs along the Northwestern border of their reservation and in New York

immigration Advocates have vowed to keep fighting after New York assembly speaker Carl Hasty refused to hold a vote on legislation that would have allowed undocumented people to enroll in New York's essential plan government subsidized health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act the coverage for all Bill had passed the state senate earlier this month both Chambers are controlled by democrats nearly half a million New Yorkers

are currently excluded from Medicaid in the essential plan Health Care coverage due to their immigration status to see our interview with New York assembly member Jessica Gonzalez Rojas who sponsored the bill go to democracynow.org and those are some of the headlines this is democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman