At least nine Pakistanis were killed Sunday in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, the first reported drone strike of 2015. News accounts of the strike are based on unnamed Pakistani government and security officials. The Obama administration has said nothing so far. For years, the United States did not even publicly acknowledge the existence of the drone strikes. The drone program is just one example of the national security state's reliance on secret operations. The recent Senate Intelligence Committee report revealed another example: the shadowy network of overseas CIA black sites where the United States held and tortured prisoners. The report also noted the CIA shrouded itself in a cloak of secrecy keeping policymakers largely in the dark about the brutality of its detainee interrogations. The agency reportedly deceived the White House, the National Security Council, the Justice Department and Congress about the efficacy of its controversial interrogation techniques. We are joined by a guest who has closely followed the debate over national security and secrecy: Scott Horton, a human rights attorney and contributing editor at Harper's Magazine, whose new book is "Lords of Secrecy: The National Security Elite and America's Stealth Foreign Policy." ||| Visit http://democracynow.org to watch the full daily news program, read the transcript, or search our vast online archive. Livestream weekdays 8-9am ET. Follow Democracy Now! on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Stitcher, SoundCloud, iTunes, TuneIn, Google+ and Pinterest.

From Drone Strikes to Black Sites, How U.S. Foreign Policy Runs Under a Cloak of Secrecy

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
We need a media that reflects the full range of voices. Without that, peace, in the Middle East and elsewhere, will remain beyond reach.

Column — Too Many Palestinian (and Certain Israeli) Voices Are Excluded from the U.S. Media

Headlines for October 17, 2025; “Israeli Sadism in a Nutshell”: Amira Hass on Israeli Prisons, Settler Violence & Gaza Ceasefire; “Cold-Blooded Murder”: David Cole on Trump’s Boat Attacks & CIA Covert Action in Venezuela; “No Kings. No Thrones. No Crowns.”: Millions to Protest Saturday in 1000s of Cities, Towns Nationwide

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Friday, October 17, 2025

Headlines for October 20, 2025; “The War Has Not Really Ended”: Gaza Reporter on Israeli Attacks & Reuniting with Imprisoned Brother; The Forgotten Captives: Israel Still Imprisoning 9,000 Palestinians Even After Hostage Deal; No to Authoritarianism: 7 Million Rally Across U.S. in Historic No Kings Day Protests; “This Is Ethnic Cleansing”: Civil Rights Icon Dolores Huerta Decries Trump’s Targeting of Immigrants

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Monday, October 20, 2025

Headlines for October 21, 2025; “We Are Under Attack”: Rep. Delia Ramirez on Immigration Crackdown in Chicago, Gov’t Shutdown & More; Shadow President: Project 2025 Architect Russell Vought Is Using Shutdown to Gut Federal Agencies; “Armed Only with a Camera”: HBO Film on Life & Death of Brent Renaud, Journalist Killed in Ukraine

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Headlines for October 22, 2025; “Nobody’s Girl”: Virginia Giuffre’s Memoir Details Sex Abuse by Epstein, Maxwell, Prince Andrew; Colombia’s U.S. Ambassador Denounces Trump’s Deadly Strikes on Boats in the Caribbean; Tensions in Latin America Rise as U.S. Threatens Venezuela & Colombia

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Headlines for October 23, 2025; International Court of Justice: As Occupying Power, Israel Must Allow U.N. Aid into Gaza; Ex-U.S. Diplomat Robert Malley on Gaza Ceasefire & U.S. Double Standards on Israel; “Fascism or Genocide” Author Ross Barkan on NYC Mayoral Race, Mamdani’s Rise, Socialism & More

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Thursday, October 23, 2025

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
President Trump and his enablers were openly disturbed by the mass protests across the United States on “No Kings Day” that said with incredible creativity and in a consistently peaceful and nonviolent way, essentially what the framers of the Constitution wrote, only a few years before enslaved workers laid that cornerstone of the White House: “No kings, no monarchs.”

Column — Trump's Demolition, from the East Wing to Western Democracy

Headlines for October 24, 2025; As Israel Pushes to Annex West Bank, Norwegian Refugee Council Condemns Growing Settler Violence; Cracks Grow in MAGA Coalition over Epstein Files, Healthcare & Racist Group Texts: Ex-GOP Adviser; “Criminal Justice Is Criminal”: New Film Is “Musical Indictment” of Cash Bail & Deadly Houston Jail

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Friday, October 24, 2025

Headlines for October 27, 2025; “Rubio’s Ideological Project”: What’s Driving Trump’s Campaign Against Venezuela?; Jeremy Scahill on Gaza “Ceasefire,” Talking to Hamas & Israel’s Doctrine of Dehumanizing Palestinians; NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Rallies With Bernie Sanders & AOC, Confronts Islamophobic Attacks

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Monday, October 27, 2025

Headlines for October 28, 2025; Calls Grow for Humanitarian Ceasefire in Sudan as RSF Forces Seize Key City of El Fasher in Darfur; 42 Million to Lose Food Assistance as Trump Refuses to Tap Emergency SNAP Funds; Millions Face Soaring Health Insurance Premiums as GOP Refuses to Extend Obamacare Subsidies; Master Plan: David Sirota on Trump & the Decadeslong “Plot to Legalize Corruption in America”

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Tuesday, October 28, 2025

An independent daily global news hour, anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González, broadcast weekdays on 1,400+ radio and TV stations. Livestream the show weekdays from 8AM to 9AM ET at http://www.democracynow.org.