Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — May 6, 2019

US Deploys Aircraft Carrier and Bombers after 'Troubling Indications' from Iran

THE GUARDIAN: National security adviser John Bolton says any Iranian attack on US or its allies will be met with ‘unrelenting force’

The US is sending an aircraft carrier and a bomber task force to the Middle East in response to a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran, the national security advisor John Bolton has said.

It was unclear on Sunday night what Iranian actions Bolton was referring to. There have been no recent incidents in the Persian Gulf where US and Iranian navies are routinely in close proximity and the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was already bound for the Gulf a month before Bolton made his announcement.

However, the tone of Bolton’s declaration looked likely to escalate tensions in the region, and it comes days after the Iranian government expressed concern that Bolton and other hawks were seeking to draw the Trump administration into a new war.

In a written statement, Bolton said the ships and planes were intended “to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.” » | Julian Borger, World affairs editor | Monday, May 6, 2019

Brunei Says It Will Not Enforce Gay Sex Death Penalty after Backlash

THE GUARDIAN: Sultan extends moratorium to death by stoning law in rare response to global criticism

Brunei’s Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, has extended a moratorium on the death penalty to incoming legislation on punishments for gay sex, after a global backlash led by celebrities such as George Clooney and Elton John.

The country provoked an outcry when it rolled out its interpretation of Islamic laws, or sharia, on 3 April, punishing sodomy, adultery and rape with death, including by stoning.

Brunei has consistently defended its right to implement the laws, elements of which were first adopted in 2014 and which have been rolled out in phases since then.

However, in a rare response to criticism aimed at the oil-rich state, the sultan said on Sunday that the death penalty would not be enforced in the implementation of the sharia penal code order (SPCO). » | Reuters | Sunday, May 5, 2019

Mike Pompeo: A Bully Boy Calls at No 10

THE GUARDIAN: The visit of the hawkish US secretary of state poses problems for Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt

American secretaries of state can be earnestly dull, like John Kerry, or plain brilliant, like George Marshall; Machiavellian, like Henry Kissinger, or intensely political, like Hillary Clinton. Mike Pompeo, the bluntly spoken, present-day incumbent who will discuss “shared global priorities” with Theresa May in London, is simply a problem.

As last week’s failed US pressure tactics in Venezuela showed, the former army officer, Christian evangelical and ex-CIA director favours a muscular approach to diplomacy. His messianic drive to force regime change in Iran is another example. He recently suggested Donald Trump had been sent by God to save Israel from Tehran’s mullahs.

Speaking in Cairo in January, Pompeo celebrated US support for dictators such as Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Saudis’ war in Yemen. Next month, he will help unveil a peace plan that could destroy any lingering Palestinian hopes of an independent state. But he makes no apologies. “I’ll put it bluntly. America is a force for good in the Middle East,” he declared. » | Simon Tisdall | Saturday, May 4, 2019

Why We Can't Stop Eating Unhealthy Foods

Sugar scientist and UCSF professor of health policy Laura Schmidt questions whether consumers really do have freedom of choice – and what policymakers can learn from corporations in nudging consumers toward healthier behaviors.

Florida Votes to Allow Teachers to Carry Weapons in the Classroom

THE TELEGRAPH: Florida has voted to allow teachers to carry weapons in the classroom in the latest response to last year's mass shooting at the Parkland high school.

In the aftermath of the massacre, in which 1 7 people were killed, state representatives lifted a ban on arming those who "exclusively perform classroom duties".

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is now expected to sign off a new law that enables teachers who pass a 144-hour training course to carry a gun.

Activists including a gun control group started by survivors of the Parkland shooting, March for Our Lives, are calling on Governor DeSantis to veto the reform, using the hashtag #BooksNotBullets on social media. » | Phoebe Davis | Friday, May 3, 2019

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — May 3, 2019

Trump's Foreign Policy | Full Debate | George Galloway, Mark Leonard

Many think Trump a buffoon and a threat to world peace. But with ISIS weakened, and signs of progress in North Korea, perhaps his supporters can point to some initial successes. Could a belligerent approach to foreign policy make for a safer world? Is the beat way of pursuing peace to prepare for war? Or has Trump in fact made the world more precarious than ever?

Craig Murray: "Anyone Who Believes Julian Assange Case Is Genuinely Independent Is a Fool"

"Anyone who believes this case is genuinely independent is a fool" says Craig Murray as Julian Assange tells UK court that he doesn't want to be extradited to the US.

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — May 2, 2019

As Venezuela Coup Fizzles, Pompeo Threatens US Attack

Self-proclaimed Venezuelan president Juan Guaidó's coup yesterday failed to get off the ground. The military did not join him and protests were barely seen outside a few of Caracas's wealthy neighborhoods. Frustrated and furious, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by threatening direct US military action to overthrow President Maduro. An urgent call with Russian foreign minister is scheduled today. Are neocons about to ignite the earth?

A Very Singular Man: Edward Heath Profile

Edward Heath was one of the most controversial Prime Ministers this century. He took Britain into Europe, but was brought down by the very trades unions he soughttotame. In an intimate Portrait Sir Edward talks candidly about his life and career, and of his stormy relationship with his successors. Michael Cockerell reports. Originally transmitted 27 September 1998.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs: US Sanctions Have Devastated Venezuela & Killed Over 40,000 Since 2017

More than 40,000 people have died in Venezuela since 2017 as a result of US sanctions, according to a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research co-authored by economists Jeffrey Sachs and Mark Weisbrot.

The report examines how US sanctions have reduced the availability of food and medicine in Venezuela and increased disease and mortality.

We speak with Jeffrey Sachs in our New York studio. In the report, he writes, “American sanctions are deliberately aiming to wreck Venezuela’s economy and thereby lead to régime change. It’s a fruitless, heartless, illegal, and failed policy, causing grave harm to the Venezuelan people.”

What's Next for Venezuela after 'Attempted Coup'? | Inside Story

President Nicolás Maduro vows to prosecute those behind dramatic attempt to oust him. Venezuela's president is hailing victory after what he calls an attempted coup. Nicolas Maduro is promising to prosecute those behind a dramatic attempt to remove him from office.

On Tuesday, opposition leader Juan Guaidó called on the army to oust Maduro. But by the end of the day, Guaidó was in hiding, and dozens of his supporters were injured in scuffles with security forces.

Both sides are urging Venezuelans to hold more protests. Who's backing them? And what's next in this drawn-out political crisis?

Presenter: Imran Khan | Guests: Ramon Muchacho - former mayor of Chacao District, an opposition stronghold in Caracas; Paul Dobson - journalist at venezuelaanalysis.com; Tom Long - Professor of South American Politics at Warwick University, UK

Guaidó’s Coup Is a ‘Farce’ – Daniel McAdams

Venezuela’s opposition leader and US-back presidential aspirant Juan Guaidó has called for a military uprising in his latest effort to topple President Nicolás Maduro. Clashes have broken out between police and protesters in Caracas. Meanwhile police in Washington, DC have set up barricades between the pro-Maduro activists occupying Venezuela’s embassy and more recent arrivals protesting in favor of Guaidó. Rachel Blevins reports. Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute joins News.Views.Hughes to weigh in.

Peter Tatchell on Julian Assange 50-week Sentence: "This Is Excessive, Extreme and Unjustified"

Venezuelan Government Says 'Coup Attempt' Failed | Al Jazeera English

Chaos and violence fill the streets of Caracas after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó called for a "military uprising" against the government of Nicolás Maduro. Warning: this video contains some graphic content.

Venezuela Crisis: Maduro Claims Victory over 'Deranged' Coup Attempt

THE GUARDIAN: President blames Trump imperialists and ‘coup-mongering far right’ as rival Juan Guaidó calls for more protests

Nicolás Maduro claimed his troops have thwarted a botched attempt to topple him masterminded by Venezuela’s “coup-mongering far right” and Donald Trump’s deranged imperialist “gang”.

In an hour-long address to the nation on Tuesday night – his first since the pre-dawn uprising began – Maduro accused opposition leader Juan Guaidó and his political mentor Leopoldo López of seeking to spark an armed confrontation that might be used as a pretext for a foreign military intervention.

However, “loyal and obedient” members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian armed forces had put down the mutiny within hours of it starting shortly after 4am, Maduro claimed, in direct contradiction to Guaidó’s earlier remark that the president no longer had military backing. » | Wednesday, May 1, 2019


THE GUARDIAN: Venezuela: Moscow persuaded Maduro not to step down, US claims » | Julian Borger in Washington and Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá | Tuesday, April 30, 2019

UK's Brexit Obsession Will Diminish Country, Says UN Poverty Expert

THE GUARDIAN: Britain ‘screwing itself royally for the future’, warns human rights lawyer Philip Alston

The United Nations global poverty expert, Philip Alston, has warned that Britain’s preoccupation with Brexit will leave the country severely diminished whether or not it leaves the EU because too little is being done to alter policies driving people deeper into poverty.

The eminent New York-based human rights lawyer, who is in the final year of his term as the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, said on Tuesday: “You are really screwing yourselves royally for the future by producing a substandard workforce and children that are malnourished.” » | Robert Booth, Social affairs correspondent | Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — April 30, 2019