On Monday President Trump announced an escalation of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He also issued a warning to Afghanistan’s neighbor, Pakistan. President Trump went on to say that the U.S. would develop its strategic partnership with India, calling on the Modi government to help in Afghanistan. Observers say that the move might be a signal to Islamabad that the U.S. would back India in the struggle between the South Asian rivals, unless Pakistan severed ties with the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, one of its factions. For more we speak with Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi, editor of the national Pakistani newspaper The Daily Times and a professor at Cornell University and Ithaca College.
Spanish police are continuing to investigate last week’s attack in Barcelona, where 15 people died after a van plowed into a crowded walkway along Las Ramblas—the city’s most famous avenue. On Monday police shot dead the man suspected of driving the van: a Moroccan-born, 22-year-old named Younes Abou-Yaqoub. Police believe he was part of a 12-person cell plotting to carry out a series of bomb attacks. Eight of the cell’s members are now dead, four suspected members have been detained. The events of the past week have shocked many in the Barcelona region. On Sunday, thousands of Muslims, including many from Morocco, marched against violence in Barcelona, chanting, "Islam is peace" and "not in my name." We speak to Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University. Ramadan was named by Time Magazine as one of the most important innovators of the twenty-first century. In 2004, Tariq Ramadan accepted a job at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and Time magazine listed him among the top 100 thinkers in the world. But nine days before Ramadan was set to start teaching here in the United States, the Bush administration revoked his visa, invoking a provision of the PATRIOT Act that allows the government to deny entry to non-citizens who "endorse or espouse terrorism."
Real News Senior Editor Paul Jay speaks with Truthdig editor-in-chief Robert Scheer on the crisis in the White House and the calls for removing Trump as president
Ahead of Trump’s speech in Phoenix on Tuesday, there was much speculation that Trump would pardon Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court for defying an order to stop his deputies from detaining people on suspicion of being undocumented. While he didn’t pardon Arpaio on Tuesday, Trump hinted during his speech that a pardon would be coming soon. For more we speak with Francisca Porchas, organizing director of Puente Arizona, a grass-roots human rights movement for migrant justice.
Earlier this week, we sat down with award-winning actor Alec Baldwin, the acclaimed Donald Trump impersonator on Saturday Night Live. Baldwin’s performances have been seen by millions—including President Trump himself. Baldwin is currently preparing for another run of Trump impersonations on the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live. We spoke with Baldwin on Monday at Guild Hall, in East Hampton, New York.
Breitbart editors told a fake Steve Bannon all their plans for the destruction of Jared and Ivanka. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.
US president blames the media for the widespread condemnation of his response to the Charlottesville protest organised by white supremacists that led to the killing of a counter-protester. Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday
Emmanuel Macron is the youngest president in French history. How did he go from banker to economic minister to the President of France?
France’s youngest ever president has now been in office for over 100 days. Emmanuel Macron came to power at the age of just 39. He had no party of his own, but his political movement had thousands of supporters. This documentary follows Macron’s meteoric rise, as seen through the eyes of those who know him personally. Archive footage gives insights into his private life and his unusual marriage.
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has left the White House and rejoined the far-right-wing website Breitbart News as the executive chairman. Bannon has been one of Trump’s closest and most trusted advisers. After departing the White House, he said, "In many ways I think I can be more effective fighting from the outside for the agenda President Trump ran on. And anyone who stands in our way, we will go to war with.” Before his departure, Bannon granted an extraordinary interview to Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of the liberal magazine The American Prospect. For more on Bannon’s departure and his interview, we speak with Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect.
President Trump has announced plans to escalate the U.S. war in Afghanistan—already the longest war in U.S. history. While Trump offered few specifics during his prime-time address Monday night, he has reportedly already signed off on a plan to send about 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan. For more we speak with Matthew Hoh, who resigned from the State Department in 2009 over the Obama administration’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq and Afghanistan including time as a Marine Corps company commander in Anbar Province.
