Top US News & World Headlines — December 13, 2017

Trump's Jerusalem Move Angers Muslim World; UK and EU Break Deadlock on Brexit

‘Trump Was Wrong on Jerusalem’ – Israeli Who Witnessed Hamas Rocket Fire

The West Bank city of Bethlehem has remained turbulent since Donald Trump's announcement last week that he was recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Inside Story - Does the EU Have a Rôle in the Middle East?

There have been widespread protests and condemnation since the US announced its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. As activists around the world take to the streets in anger, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his own tour to change minds. He is hoping to convince European leaders to follow the policy of US President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu met EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. The Israeli leader is also expected to open the issue of the Iran nuclear deal. Most EU members have expressed alarm over Trump's decision on Jerusalem.

EU leaders say they want Netanyahu to resume meaningful negotiations with Palestinians. But as European and US policies towards the Middle East diverge, what options does Brussels really have?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan | Guests: Ali Fathollah-Nejad - Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center; Robbie Sable - Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; James Moran - Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy.

Top US News & World Headlines — December 12, 2017

Im Zentrum: Rauchverbot auf der Kippe - ORF | 10.12.2017

Das geplante Rauchverbot ab Mai 2018 könnte wieder fallen, wenn es nach den Wünschen der FPÖ in den laufenden Koalitionsverhandlungen geht. Handelt es sich dabei um einen gesundheitspolitischen Rückschritt? Die Gegner des Rauchverbots sprechen von staatlicher Bevormundung, Mediziner und Nichtraucher sind alarmiert. Die Debatte um den blauen Dunst wird immer heftiger und emotionaler.

Saudi Arabia: Authorities Lift Ban on Cinemas

Top US News & World Headlines — December 11, 2017

Erdogan Calls Israel 'Terrorist', Netanyahu Hits Back

The Israeli prime minister says he won't take lectures from a Turkish president "who jails journalists... and helps terrorists"

Netanyahu in Paris: We Will Not Be Lectured to by Erdogan

Benjamin Netanyahu says Palestinians must quote "get to grips" with the reality that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel in order to move towards peace. The Israeli Prime Minister made the comments in Paris during a meeting with the French president. When asked about discontent across the region over Trump’s decision, including harsh criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Netanyahu said he would not be given morality lectures by the Turkish leader. Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler reports from Paris.

Brexit Could End the Age of "Cool Britannia" | The Economist

Chris Hedges "Fascism in the Age of Trump"

Journalist, author and war correspondent Chris Hedges spoke at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy NY on November 10, 2017 on fascism and empire in the age of Trump.

Inside Story - Jerusalem: A Momentous Change, But At What Cost?

For decades American presidential candidates from both parties have promised to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - but once elected they have retreated from the idea.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump changed that. Trump overruled his top political and military advisers to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and announce plans to relocate the US embassy. To give you a sense of how unusual that is: of all the countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel, not one currently has an embassy in Jerusalem. And the few that have had embassies there in the past have been small countries with little connection to the Middle East, such as Costa Rica and El Salvador.

Trump's decision has been widely condemned and has sparked protests in many parts of the Middle East and the wider Muslim world. It remains to be seen, however, exactly what will change and how fast those changes will be. While making his much-anticipated announcement in Washington on Wednesday night, Trump also signed a new national security waiver, exactly the same sort of waiver regarding the embassy move that every US president has signed twice each year for more than two decades. He also said that actually building a new embassy and moving American diplomats into it is a process that will take a minimum of several years.

There is no question, however, that Trump's move will alter the diplomatic and political situation on the ground. The question is: how?

Presenter: Laura Kyle | Guests: Mouin Rabbani, Senior Fellow, Institute for Palestine Studies: JD Gordon, Former National Security & Foreign Policy Adviser to Donald Trump; Yossi Mekelberg, Professor of International Relations, Regent's University, London

Trump Is Allowing Israel 'to Annex Jerusalem': Ashrawi

The city of Jerusalem has its historical, religious and political significance, and is a prominent symbol for the Palestinian cause, or what is left of it. The US, which undertook the role of peace broker between Israelis and Palestinians for over two decades, has become the first country in the world to recognise the whole of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Hanan Ashrawi, executive committee member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, told Al Jazeera why she believes Trump's move will allow Israel to "annex" Jerusalem from the Palestinians.

WIKI: Hanan Ashrawi »

Jerusalem Move ‘Makes Clear There Will Be No Peace Settlement’ – Former Diplomat

President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is in line with his Saudi and Israeli-aligned foreign policy, encourages his pro-Israel evangelical base, and builds bridges with Zionist Democrats like Chuck Schumer who praised the move, former diplomat Jim Jatras tells RT.

“There Are Thousands of Us”: Mental Health Professionals Warn of Trump’s Increasing Instability

As questions over President Donald Trump’s mental health grow, we continue our interview with Dr. Bandy Lee, a forensic psychiatrist on the faculty of Yale School of Medicine and an internationally recognized expert on violence. She 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.

What's Next for Brexit? – Inside Story

It is a breakthrough on Brexit at long last. Leaders beat Friday’s deadline and shook hands on the terms of a "Brexit" divorce, allowing them to open up talks on the future of their relationship.

The European Commission announced on Friday that "sufficient progress" had been made by Britain on separation issues including the Irish border, Britain's divorce bill, and citizens' rights.

The initial agreement contains few specifics, and there are already signs that the different players' have conflicting views about what exactly has been agreed.

Presenter: Sami Zeidan | Guests: John Mills - Chairman of the Labour Leave campaign; Nina Schick - Europe political analyst; Conor Lenihan - Former cabinet minister in the government of Ireland

US President Trump Recognises Jerusalem As Israel's Capital

BBC Question Time from Swansea – November 7, 2017

David Dimbleby presents topical debate from Swansea. The panel includes Conservative MP and member of the Vote Leave campaign Bernard Jenkin, the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Labour's Owen Smith MP, the leader of Plaid Cymru at Westminster, Liz Saville-Roberts MP, TV and radio presenter Richard Bacon and Kate Andrews of the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Top US News & World Headlines — December 8, 2017