After an already tense G7 meeting, U.S. President Trump took to Twitter to attack host Justin Trudeau. Trump left the summit early for a meeting with long-time foe Kim Jong-un, but he’s managed to leave a trail of broken friendships in his wake. CBC’s Wendy Mesley speaks with Foreign Affairs minister Chrystia Freeland about the nature of the Canada-U.S. relationship.
Female activists continue to be arrested in Saudi Arabia - two in the last three days. Rights groups say Mayaa al-Zahrani was detained for her posts on social media - expressing support for Nouf Abdul-Aziz al-Jerawi, who is also locked up.
Saudi security forces have arrested 17 activists in the past months - most of them women who have long campaigned for the right to drive. That is about to happen in two weeks time.
The first driving licences have been issued before the Kingdom lifts its controversial "men-only" ban. State media has accused the arrested activists of being foreign agents. As economic, political and cultural reforms are implemented, are Saudi leaders sending mixed messages?
Presenter: Peter Dobbie | Guests: Sami Hamdi - Editor-in-Chief, International Interest; Suad Abu-Dayyeh - Equality Now; Mamdouh Salameh - Oil economist
At the OAS nineteen member states voted in favor, four against and eleven abstained when the US tried to have Venezuela sanctioned. US will not hesitate to bear tremendous pressure on member countries to get its way in Latin America. We speak to CEPR's Mark Weisbrot about the vote and how it came about
President Donald Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow says Trump pulled out of backing the G7 communiqué in reaction to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement criticizing the United States.
Despite being a constitutional monarchy, most of the political decisions in this Principality are done through referendums. This includes economic policy, social spending and even… Citizenship!
Even the right to self-determination can be guaranteed by referendum. This means that any of the 11 municipalities inside of Liechtenstein can hold a popular vote to decide whether they want to stay in the country or become an independent nation. Sounds pretty crazy, right?
How is all of this possible? How can you manage to guarantee such a stable political system when people can vote in any crazy law they want with a referendum? Well… This is what we were wondering here at VisualPolitik.
And we figured the best way to answer these questions is by going to the country and asking. So, we did just that!
Holocaust survivor Paula Gris is interviewed on Shalom TV's original series commemorating the Six Million. An educator at the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Ms. Gris has been engaged in teaching children and adults since 1981.
Speaking to ordinary citizens inside North Korea is almost impossible, with visitors heavily policed and communication with the outside world blocked. But two residents were willing to speak to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, despite the threat of death or imprisonment.
In North Korea, where leader Kim Jong-un has almost godlike status, to question him out loud is for many unthinkable. Citizens are taught he is all-knowing, and told to inform on dissenters - including their own family members. By speaking out, market trader Sun Hui - not her real name - knows she is putting her life at risk.
The Austrian government is shutting down seven mosques and expelling imams. It's part of measures by the chancellor Sebastian Kurz to target what he calls "political Islam" in the country. Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane reports from neighbouring Germany.
With the war in Libya at the focal point of international relations, RT's gained access to Colonel Gaddafi's son in NATO-targeted Tripoli. Saif al-Islam thinks his country's wanted for its riches, but says the people won't let Libya fall under foreign control.
Auschwitz survivor Gena Turgel, who went from concentration camp victim to a woman honored by the Queen of England, tells her amazing story on the Shalom TV original series, "Witness."
The proprietor of the Daily Mail told its editor that David Cameron pressed for him to be sacked during the EU referendum, BBC Newsnight has learned. Lord Rothermere told Paul Dacre the prime minister urged him to rein in his pro-Brexit editor, then suggested he sack him, a source told the BBC. A spokesman for Mr Cameron said he "did not believe he could determine who edits the Daily Mail". Emily Maitlis reports.
Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre is to stand down in November. What has been his influence on British political debate? Lord Adonis and Daily Mail political columnist, Peter Oborne, have very different views.
President Trump has commuted the life sentence of a woman who was imprisoned for a first-time nonviolent drug offense, after her cause was taken up by reality television star Kim Kardashian West. Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old grandmother from Memphis, was released Wednesday from federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama, where she had been serving her sentence for nearly 22 years. While Alice Marie Johnson has been released, thousands of other prisoners are still serving life without parole for nonviolent drug offenses. We speak with Jennifer Turner, who was part of the legal team representing Johnson in her application for clemency. She is a human rights researcher with the American Civil Liberties Union and author of the ACLU report titled “A Living Death: Life Without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses.”
How does Brexit rank among Germany’s concerns? Mark Urban speaks to President of the Bundestag and Germany's former finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, on the issues facing Europe.
The UN has urged the Trump administration to immediately stop separating migrant children from their families at its border with Mexico. It said on Tuesday the practice was a serious violation of international law. But the US is the only country in the world that has not ratified the UN convention on the rights of the child. And has recently adopted a zero tolerance policy with undocumented migrants.
Hundreds of children who cross its southern border have been held in custody since October. It followed an executive order issued by the president. The US defends its policy by saying it's a way to stop illegal immigration. So, can the UN convince the US to stop its policy of separating families?
Presenter: Elizabeth Puranam | Guests: Angelo Guisado - Civil Rights Lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights; Marsha Catron - Former Spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration; Jennifer de Haro - Managing Attorney at the Refugee and Immigrant Centre for Education and Legal Services
Millions have watched Dr. Robert Lustig's YouTube videos on the role sugar plays in obesity. In this compilation of the popular YouTube series "The Skinny on Obesity," Dr. Lustig and his UCSF colleagues dig deeper into the root causes of the obesity epidemic. Discover why what we eat is as important as how much we eat. Understand the effects of stress on obesity rates, and why some predict that the next generation will die younger than the current one due to obesity and the many health problems it causes.
In the US nearly every state allows child marriage. In some there are even loopholes that allow child rapists to avoid prosecution by marrying the person they raped. In others parents can, in effect, force their children to get married.
It’s a global issue - one in five girls around the world is married as a child - but you might be surprised to know that nearly 250,000 children were married in the US in the first ten years of this century.
In this So What we look at child marriage in the US, why it’s legal and what campaigners are doing to tackle what they see as child abuse.
As President Trump celebrated his 500th day in office Monday, many legal experts warned that the country could soon face a constitutional crisis as the president continues to attack special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. On Monday, Trump tweeted, “The appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!” He also tweeted, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself.” Over the weekend, The New York Times published a 20-page confidential letter written by Trump’s lawyers to special counsel Robert Mueller, in which his lawyers claim Trump is above the law and thus cannot have illegally obstructed the Mueller investigation. Trump’s attorneys also claim the Constitution gives the president power to terminate the Mueller probe. We speak to Philadelphia Daily News columnist Will Bunch in Philadelphia. His latest column is headlined “The week Trump went full dictator and no one tried to stop him.”
The Supreme Court ruled Monday in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, citing his religious opposition. In a narrow 7-2 decision, the justices faulted the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s handling of the claims brought against baker Jack Phillips, saying the commission had shown a hostility to religion. Though the case pitted claims of religious freedom against the fight for gay rights, the ruling stopped short of setting a major precedent on whether businesses can deny people services because of their sexual orientation. For more, we speak with Ria Tabacco Mar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project and counsel of record for Charlie Craig and David Mullins in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
An anti-immigration party has come out on top in another European election. Sunday's vote in Slovenia saw the Democratic party, the SDS, win the most seats, although it fell far short of a majority.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this year that the city would sue manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids to account for their part in the city’s ongoing deadly opioid epidemic. Firms named in the suit include Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and McKesson Corporation. The Guardian reports that more than 60 cities are suing Big Pharma over opioids. An explosive New York Times report has revealed that manufacturers of the drug OxyContin knew it was highly addictive as early as 1996, the first year after the drug hit the market. The Times published a confidential Justice Department report this week showing that Purdue Pharma executives were told OxyContin was being crushed and snorted for its powerful narcotic, but still promoted it as less addictive than other opioid painkillers. Purdue executives have testified before Congress that they were unaware of the drug’s growing abuse until years after it was on the market. Today, drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans under age 50. We speak with Barry Meier, author of “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic.”
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon predicts the government will shut down in the near future over President Trump's proposed border wall.
The Washington Post reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is asking for another nation to pay for his hotel bill during the historic summit between the US and North Korea in Singapore.
John Dickerson, a co-host of CBS This Morning and contributor for The Atlantic, chats with the magazine's editor in chief, Jeffery Goldberg, about Dickerson's recent cover story and its central question of how the office of the presidency is flawed.
Trump's admission that the presidency is harder than he expected should come as no surprise. "This is a common presidential revelation,” says Dickerson. The pair discusses the emergence of presidential campaigns, the outsized expectations of the American public, and why fixing the presidency is a task that’s bigger than any one person.
Italy is now embarking on a political adventure that could put it at odds with the EU and the bond markets. So what lies in store for the European dream? Five Star's Manlio di Stefano and Italy's outgoing Europe Minister Sandro Gozi give their take.
Amid continuing uncertainty over a US-North Korea peace summit later this month, Russia's Foreign Minister met with the leader of North Korea in person on Thursday.
RT's correspondent Ilya Petrenko has been following this meeting - and was granted EXCLUSIVE access to one of Kim Jong-Un's residences.
American neuroscientist and popular author Sam Harris discusses how Donald Trump rewrites reality, the illusion of free will and how social media is driving us all insane.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joins Morning Joe to discuss her new book 'Fascism: A Warning' and what aspects of fascism she sees happening in the U.S. now.
Former CIA Director John Brennan joins Morning Joe to discuss his new Washington Post column on speaking out against the president, U.S.-North Korea relations and election meddling.
Leaders and officials from the E.U., Canada and Mexico were united in their disapproval of President Trump’s move to place tariffs on metals, which could provoke retaliation against American businesses.
The White House has appointed a longtime senior staffer at an anti-Muslim think tank who has been named by National Security Adviser John Bolton as his new chief of staff. Fred Fleitz formerly served as Bolton’s undersecretary of state in the George W. Bush administration. He now joins the Trump administration from the Center for Security Policy, a think tank founded by former Reagan administration official Frank Gaffney. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated the organization an anti-Muslim extremist group. We speak with Eric Levitz, associate editor for New York Magazine’s “Daily Intelligencer,” whose recent piece is headlined “Bolton Installs Anti-Muslim Wingnut as NSC Chief of Staff.”
A technocrat interim prime minister who may never form a government. Will the Italian president call early elections or try again to cut a deal with an unprecedented populist coalition. Will a founding member of the EU be led by euro skeptics? With no clarity on the horizon, the now-steadied European markets may falter. Why is the backlash against traditional politics still growing, with new parties blowing up the old left vs right divide? When the dust settles, what will Europe look like?
Across the United States, there has been a growth in organizations that portray Islam as a threat.
Over two years, the number of groups that make up what’s become known as the Islamophobia industry has more than tripled.
This investigation reveals the tactics these groups use to instigate a fear of Islam, including how they manipulate social media to create a false narrative that Muslims are trying to take over the country.
Anti-Muslim messages proliferate social media with bought-in followers, fake accounts and robotic amplifiers. The investigation also shows how these organizations try to suppress the rise of a Muslim political voice in America. It uncovers the “dark money” that has fuelled the rapid growth of Islamophobia Inc. - tens of millions of dollars which is funnelled through secretive, anonymous donor funds.
We unveil the donors of the dark money and ask; what do they ultimately hope to achieve?
Islamophobia in the United States is on the rise - and now a multi-million dollar industry is promoting it, a new documentary by Al Jazeera's Investigations unit has found.
Hate crimes against Muslims have dramatically increased, according to FBI statistics. Muslims in the US have reported incidents ranging from verbal abuse and intimidation to physical assaults, whille mosques have been vandalised and, in some cases, been hit with home-made explosives.
Against this backdrop the number of Islamophobic organisations in the US has risen sharply - anti-Muslim groups trebled between 2015 and 2016. The election of Donald Trump as US president has given them more space to thrive, and they are becoming ever more adroit at spreading their disinformation through social media, buying fake Twitter followers and using bots that spread anti-Islam messages.
The traditional image of hate organisations brings to mind groups of disaffected, angry individuals with placards. But Islamophobia Incorporated is well-oiled, amply funded and politically connected.
South Korean president addresses the media following his surprise meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He reveals the cordiality of the meeting and indicates that Pyongyang remains committed to the US-North Korean summit scheduled for 12 June.
We've heard about the dangers of eating too much fat or salt. But there has never been a warning about sugar on our food labels - despite emerging research that suggests the sweet stuff is making more of us fat and sick.
Erdogan invites foreign direct investment and the Turkish diaspora population in Europe to vote for him in the upcoming snap election. We speak with co-editor of Rapture Magazine
The Five Star Movement celebrated an historic victory in the Italian parliamentary elections. Luigi di Maio has been under consideration for prime minister.
But what does the movement stand for? The Five Star movement defines itself as grassroots and post-ideological. Its program of environmentalism, criticism of Italian refugee policy and the promise of financial aid for the socially disadvantaged appeals to both right and left-wing voters. A camera team accompanied the populist "anti-system party" on the campaign trail. Its core voters are in southern Italy, where unemployment is high and average incomes are low. Salvatore Micillo, who won 58 per cent of the votes cast in his constituency north of Naples, says, "Populism means addressing the people, and that's not bad: it's more about providing answers. The promise of a basic income of € 780 is intended to signal our intention of looking after our citizens. It doesn’t mean letting them stay at home, it means that the state will take you under its wing, protect you, give you work and trys to train you.” The candidates themselves project an image of modesty. "The ultimate goal of politics is not to do extraordinary things, but to prevent crap from happening," proclaims Party founder Beppe Grillo. But is the "MoVimento 5 Stelle" really ready for the responsibilities of government?
Alexandr Buzgalin and Paul Jay discuss the antagonism between Russia and US despite the former adopting ‘Jurassic Park capitalism’ since the demise of the USSR
The Ukrainian issue has intensified the tension that existed between the West and Russia: now, another Cold War is possibly lurking on the horizon. Are we to witness another stand-off - or will it be averted? The relations between Russia and the West seem to be stuck at dead-end, so is there hope common ground will emerge between the two? We ask these questions to the man who prides himself on ending the Cold War, the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, on Sophie&Co today.
One man who knows how Donald Trump rolls is Steve Bannon. The former chairman of the hard, right-wing Breitbart News website was appointed by Trump as his chief strategist after helping run the presidential campaign. But while the White House may have broken ties with Steve Bannon he's still carrying on with the work that brought him to the President in the first place - flying the flag for right wing populism in the US and across the globe. Our Europe Editor Matt Frei went to meet him.
After cancelling his June 12th summit with Kim Jong-un, President Trump now says talks are still possible. We speak to journalist Tim Shorrock about North Korea's overlooked and misunderstood concerns and how Mike Pence and John Bolton stand in the way of peace.
Iran's supreme leader has set out conditions for Tehran to stay in its nuclear deal with world powers, including steps by to be taken by European banks to safeguard trade with Tehran after the US withdrawal from the deal.
European powers must continue buying crude oil, protect Iranian oil sales from US pressure and promise to not seek new negotiations on Iran's ballistic missile programme and Middle East activities, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's official website said on Wednesday.
New reporting from Yahoo News that the FBI has obtained foreign intelligence wiretaps of a Putin ally who met Trump Jr. at an NRA convention in 2016 and a prosecutor with knowledge of the calls say the President’s son should be concerned. It is apparently all tied to the Russia Probe. Michael Isikoff explains his reporting and Joy Reid is joined by Danny Cevallos and David Corn.
Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the US president is very "committed to regime change" in Iran, in a speech for the Iranian opposition cult the MEK. Then Trump sabotaged the JCPOA and Mike Pompeo announced "the strongest sanctions in history."
Donald Trump called off much-awaited talks with Jong-un scheduled for next month in Singapore. North Korea said Trump's decision was 'extremely regrettable', a sentiment echoed worldwide, as a missed opportunity for peace.
The US President called it a 'sad moment of history'. He blamed Pyongyang's anger and open hostility for the cancellation. But both aren't ruling out a change of mind sometime in the future. The North's Vice Foreign Minister said that they are willing to meet any time to resolve any issues. So what happens to the North's nuclear weapons now?
Presenter: Elizabeth Puranam | Guests: Mintaro Oba - Former US State Department diplomat specialising in North Korea; Ra Mson - Lecturer in International Relations and Japanese Foreign Policy, University of East Anglia; Se-Woong Ko - Dormer Korean Studies Lecturer, Yale University
George delivered a true-to-style monologue in which he said "The day will come when we will look back on our role in Syria and conclude THIS is the worst thing we have ever done." He also discussed Grenfell Tower, the Manchester arena bombing, and Tommy Robinson.
As tough talk between the US and Iran heats up and diplomatic relations deteriorate, the majority of Americans remain opposed to the American withdrawal from the JCPOA. To analyze the impact of crumbling relations between the two countries, RT America’s Ed Schultz is joined by author of ‘Triumph of Diplomacy’ and President of the National Iranian-American Council, Trita Parsi.
In part one, Nancy Maclean reveals Nobel-prize winning economist James M. Buchanan as the architect of the Koch Brothers' secret campaign to undermine public education, unions and to reshape America
After withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the US is threatening those countries who remain in it. We speak to scholars Eskandar Sadeghi and Pooya Ghoddousi, who have organized an open letter urging the European Union to withstand US pressure and save the agreement
Donald Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, talks to Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis about President Trump, the Mueller investigation and US-UK relations.
Iran has condemned the US for its threat of the "strongest sanctions in history". Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined new demands for Tehran in a speech on Monday.
It’s been estimated that a thousand highly-skilled migrants, among them doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs, have been told to leave the country under measures intended in part to expel terrorists and war criminals.
The US decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions may imperil the upcoming summit with North Korea, former US ambassador Bill Richardson tells RT America’s Ed Schultz.
Italy is raising anchor and setting sail for unchartered waters, with Europe's boat rocked by an unprecedented populist coalition. President Sergio Mattarella is expected to approve law professor Giuseppe Conte as premier. The new government, led by the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement and the far-right League, is promising a flat tax, welfare payments to poor families, a pivot towards Russia and the deportation of migrants. Will this government be the kiss of death for a strong EU?
Mike Pompeo has outlined America's tough new policy on Iran in his first major speech since becoming Secretary of State.
Tensions between the two countries grew considerably when President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear deal. But Pompeo’s hardline stance goes far beyond the nuclear issue, although he did threaten that America was ready to respond if Iran resumed its nuclear activities, refusing to elaborate.
The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed Pompeo's demands saying the world would no longer blindly follow America's lead.
One senior Iranian official said Pompeo's remarks showed the U.S. was seeking régime change in Iran.
Presenter: Elizabeth Puranam | Guests: Michelle Dunne, Senior Associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Mohamed Marandi, Head of American Studies Post-Grad. Program at the University of Tehran; Ali Vaez, Director of Iran Project at the International Crisis Group
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married Saturday at Windsor Castle in a ceremony that many heralded for celebrating black culture and history. Markle is biracial, divorced and a self-proclaimed feminist. The wedding featured a sermon about slavery, poverty and the enduring power of love by Bishop Michael Curry, the first African American to preside over the Episcopal Church. The British royal family is a “celebration of wealth, of elitism, of privilege in the hands of the few, of all the resources concentrated in the hands of a very small percentage of the country. In that sense it very much represents the current economic order in which we all live,” says Priya Gopal, a university lecturer in the faculty of English at the University of Cambridge.
On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to threaten Iran with “the strongest sanctions in history.” Pompeo presented a list of 12 “basic requirements” for a new nuclear treaty with Iran, including “unqualified access” to all nuclear sites and an end to its interventions in Yemen. This comes just under two weeks after the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. “Pompeo and Bolton have made the choice for the international community much, much easier,” says Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council. “Either you collaborate with the Trump administration and go along with these sanctions, walk away from this nuclear deal and speed up this march toward war—or you resist.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out a list of demands for the Iranian regime for the country to achieve relief from sanctions and reach a new international agreement.
