Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — April 15, 2019

Pompeo and Bolton Push Us Closer to War with Iran

With the United States designating a part of Iran’s military as a terror group, the administration is inching even closer towards a war with Iran. And thanks to a law passed by Congress shortly after the 9/11 attacks, they might be able to do it without having to get approval from Congress first. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains how this new designation could allow the administration to act unilaterally against Iran.

Sultan of Brunei, Who Passed Anti-LGBT Laws, Owns Slew of Luxury UK Properties

THE GUARDIAN: Hassanal Bolkiah, who believes gay people should be stoned to death, is assisted by leading City auditing firms

The architect of new laws mandating the stoning to death of gay people in Brunei has billions of pounds of property wealth in the UK, shares in a leading tech fund and gets assistance from City auditing firms, a Guardian analysis has found.

Hassanal Bolkiah, the sultan of Brunei, owns a slew of properties in the super-rich enclaves of Kensington and Ascot, including luxury hotels and polo parks. One property alone could be worth an estimated £500m in rent each year.

He has also invested millions of pounds in Draper Esprit, a tech-focused venture capital fund with holdings in Trustpilot and the financial services firm Revolut. Until recently his global hotel empire was audited by the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Bolkiah has become an international pariah for his implementation of sharia laws, including the stoning to death of people thought to be gay or to have committed adultery, in the country he has ruled as a supreme monarch for decades. » | David Pegg, Hilary Osborne and Caelainn Barr | Sunday, April 14, 2019

Steve Bannon Is Going After Pope Francis | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Former adviser to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, along with other conservatives are taking aim at Pope Francis. NBC News' Richard Engel explains what's driving Bannon.

British PM Tony Blair: Brexit or Not, Britain Will Remain a Great Country | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Former British PM Tony Blair discusses the latest in Brexit, his best guess for what happens in October at the end of the extension, the rise of populism and why he says 'if a populism of the left fights a populism of the right, the right wins.'

Duty to Warn: Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess the “Dangerous Case” of President Trump

We revisit our interview with someone who’s led a discussion of mental health professionals who are deeply concerned about President Trump’s psychological instability. Dr. Bandy Lee is a forensic psychiatrist on the faculty of Yale School of Medicine who organized the “Duty to Warn” conference at Yale and edited the best-selling book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.”

Dr. Bandy Lee declares that she is not representing the views of Yale University, Yale School of Medicine or Yale Department of Psychiatry.


World Mental Health Coalition »

Psychiatrist Bandy Lee On What's Wrong With Trump's Mental Health

Trump has been exhibiting some concerning signs of multiple impairments. John Iadarola and Dr. Bandy Lee break it down on The Damage Report.

'We Are Not Going to Shut Up': New York Protesters Demand Freedom for Assange and Manning

Rally was held at the steps of Times Square in New York on Saturday to protest against the recent detention of Julian Assange. Holding banners and delivering speeches criticizing the Pentagon, protesters demanded freedom for Assange. Assange, who was found guilty of breaching his bail at Westminster Magistrates Court, is facing up to 12 months in jail for breaching bail when he is sentenced at the Crown Court, as well as a formal request by US prosecutors that he be extradited on espionage charges.

Geoffrey Robertson QC: Assange's Arrest a Deterrent to Journalists Exposing US War Crimes!

Next we speak to Geoffrey Robertson QC of Doughty Street Chambers on the arrest of Assange, the legality of the revocation of his asylum status, the legality of the UK complying with the US extradition request and what this episode tells journalists around the world.

Assange Indictment: A Threat to the Foundation of US Democracy?

A panel discussion between FAIR's Jeff Cohen and Jacqueline Luqman, with host Marc Steiner examines whether this is the beginning of an attempt to stop investigative journalists from working with whistleblowers and exposing corruption

Paul Craig Roberts Interview on Julian Assange Arrest, Brexit, Venezuela

My talk with Paul Craig Roberts, secretary to the treasury with Ronald Reagan, about the brutal arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Equadorian Embassy today, we also discuss the suppression of freedom of speech, the Washington coup in Venezuela, and the Brexit façade.

Italy: Steve Bannon's Populist Academy in the Trisulti Monastery | Focus on Europe

Former advisor to US President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and British right-wing founder of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute have transformed the medieval Trisulti monastery into an academy for nationalist and identitarian populism. Are they lookng to find a right-wing answer to George Soros' Open Society Foundation by emulating it?

Democracy Now! US Trying to Make Assange “Suffer” for Publishing Secrets, His Former Lawyer Says

British human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, who formerly represented Julian Assange, says the WikiLeaks founder has made many enemies, including the governments of Ecuador, Australia, the UK and US."

At the end of the day, you come down to the question of free speech, whether it’s right that a publisher who has received information from sources who want it published ... should be jailed and punished for the efforts he’s made on behalf of free speech," says Robertson.

Marlene Dietrich - No Angel - A Life of Marlene Dietrich

No Angel - A Life of Marlene Dietrich - Documentary

What Does Julian Face in the US? Chris Hedges Explains

Will Julian Assange Be Extradited? | Inside Story

WikiLeaks founder faces an uncertain future after being kicked out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. For 2,487 days, Julian Assange was within touching distance of the British police, but was always untouchable.

Assange was an unintended guest of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, as he tried to avoid angry governments and accusations of sexual assault and hacking. But on Thursday that all changed, as Ecuador revoked his political asylum, and then allowed police into the embassy, where he was arrested on the spot.

It's a complicated story because there are many allegations across multiple countries. Some have been dropped on technicalities. This first arrest, dramatically played out in front of the media, was for breaching bail and could mean 12 months in prison. But then later Assange was arrested again at the request of the United States, which wants him extradited.

Is this all about freedom of speech? Or about a man hiding from charges against him?

Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria | Guests: Michael Patchett-Joyce, barrister in International and European law; Claire Finkelstein, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; Vaughan Smith, freelance journalist and personal friend of Julian Assange

John Pilger: Julian Assange Exposed US' 'Kill Them All' Mentality!

We speak to legendary journalist and film-maker John Pilger who discusses the arrest of Julian Assange after his asylum status was revoked by Lenin Moreno of Ecuador and subsequent removal from the Ecuadorian Embassy. He discusses the importance of Wikileaks’ work, why it is a threat to the United States, the danger the arrest poses to journalists everywhere and the possibility of extradition to the US.

Amerika und Julian Assange: Aktivist, Journalist, Hochverräter?

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Seit Julian Assanges Festnahme ist in den Vereinigten Staaten die Diskussion über die Grenzen der Pressefreiheit neu entbrannt. Donald Trumps Haltung in der Sache ist eindeutig uneindeutig.

Heldenhafter Freiheitskämpfer oder terroristischer Hochverräter? Mit der Festnahme von Julian Assange, die aller Voraussicht nach in seine Auslieferung an die Vereinigten Staaten münden wird, ist in Amerika abermals eine heftige Diskussion um den Wikileaks-Gründer entbrannt. Ob Assange als Held oder Verräter gilt, hängt ganz davon ab, ob die Veröffentlichungen des Australiers als Journalismus eingestuft werden – wie er und seine Befürworter es stets für Wikileaks reklamiert haben. » von Nina Rehfeld, Phoenix | Samstag, 13. April 2019

Steve Bannon ‘Told Italy’s Populist Leader: Pope Francis Is the Enemy’

THE GUARDIAN: Trump’s ex-strategist advised Matteo Salvini ‘to target pontiff’s stance on plight of refugees’

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon advised Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini to attack the pope over the issue of migration, according to sources close to the Italian far right.

During a meeting in Washington in April 2016, Bannon – who would within a few months take up his role as head of Trump’s presidential campaign – suggested the leader of Italy’s anti-immigration League party should start openly targeting Pope Francis, who has made the plight of refugees a cornerstone of his papacy.

“Bannon advised Salvini himself that the actual pope is a sort of enemy. He suggested for sure to attack, frontally,” said a senior League insider with knowledge of the meeting in an interview with the website SourceMaterial. » | Mark Townsend, Home affairs editor | Saturday, April 13, 2019

1944: Language Does Not Lie