BBC Question Time – April 19, 2018

Red Lines, Military Strikes: Media Coverage of Syrian War – The Listening Post

Will a New President Mean Change for Cuba? | Inside Story

Who will succeed the Castros - Fidel and Raúl - has been the subject of intense speculation in Cuba for decades. We now know it is Miguel Diáz-Canel, the 57-year-old Vice President. He was sworn in as president on Thursday, replacing Raúl Castro. But Raul, who is 87, will continue to play a big role in policy decisions as head of the ruling Communist party.

The biggest challenges the new president faces are economic. Although unemployment stands at less than three percent, earnings are low. The government is the main employer and state salaries average 30 dollars a month. Reforms to boost private enterprise introduced by Raúl Castro have been accompanied by cuts in subsidies and pensions. And Cuba has a dual currency system that distorts the economy. One is used to pay wages and local goods; the other in tourism and foreign trade. Unifying the two would raise the price of imports.

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault | Guests: Carlos Alzugaray, former Cuban Ambassador to the EU; Vicki Huddleston, former US Chief of Mission in Havana; Andrew Otazo, Executive Director of the Cuba Study Group

Prince Eddy, The King We Never Had

This revealing film uses newly discovered letters written by Prince Eddy himself to explore whether his early death saved Britain from a monster, or cheated the nation of a good king. For the first time, Eddy's own words serve in his defence in a fresh investigation of the remarkable kind Britain never had.

Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life of William Haines (2001 Documentary)

What price Hollywood? was the title of an early George Cukor film, but is a question every closeted movie star has probably asked himself. In 1930, the top box office star was a gay man. Billy Haines lived with his lover, Jimmie Shields, and never posed on the red carpet with a beard on his arm. By 1933, he was washed up in show business; and by 1936, he had become hugely successful in an entirely new line of work-interior decorator. Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: the Life of William Haines details the extraordinary life of Billy Haines, the only matinee idol who ever decided that Hollywood’s price was too high and walked away from film stardom.

Cuba without a Castro: A New Country on the Horizon?

Interview Of Lavrov | BBC HARDtalk

Im Zentrum: Großmächte auf dem Kriegspfad – Kein Ende der syrischen Tragödie

Can Arabs Solve Their Problems? | Inside Story

Arab heads of state discussed a wide range of issues from the wars in Yemen and Syria to Israel's role in the UN Security Council. But they were clear about what they will not be talking about. The air strikes by the US, UK and France in Syria are not on the agenda. Nor is the GCC crisis and the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar.

US President Donald Trump's plan to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem topped the agenda. Yemen is also on the table, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia heavily involved in the war and the humanitarian crisis there.

What can Arab leaders offer? And do these summits serve any purpose at all?

Presenter: Richelle Carey | Guests: Sami Nader, Director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs; Mkhaimer Abu Sada, Professor of Political Science at Al Azhar University in Gaaz: Hakim Al Masmari, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of the Yemen Post

Something Strange Is Going On In Saudi Arabia

Will Strikes Deter Assad from Using Chemical Weapons? | Inside Story

The US, the UK and France launch air strikes on Syria, targeting suspected chemical weapons sites. In what is the biggest military action against President Bashar.

Al Assad since the start of Syria's war 7 years ago, the US, UK and France have bombed multiple government facilities. The air strikes targeted a research centre outside the capital Damascus and two suspected chemical weapons storage sites near the city of Homs. The action was in response to an alleged chemical attack by Syria on civilians in the town of Douma last week.

The Syrian government claims to have shot down many of the more than a hundred missiles launched – and in Damascus people celebrated on the streets, honking their car horns in a show of defiance. Russia says the strikes are an act of aggression and warns of consequences. But what does this mean for the war in Syria? And will the strikes stop chemical attacks against civilians?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault | Guests: Alexey Khlebnikov, Middle East specialist at Russian International Affairs Council

The World This Week: To Strike or not to Strike: US and Allies Mull Response to Apparent Syria Chemical Attack

First came the horrific images reportedly out of the besieged Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta and claims of at least 40 dead. Then came Donald Trump's tweet warning Russia that he would fire missiles at Syria. But with the deadline for action passed, is striking Syria still a good strategy? Also on the program, Facebook's founder apologized before Congress for privacy breaches and agreed to some regulations. And Hungary's Viktor Organ's landslide election victory.

Professor Ian Kershaw - "Hitler's Place in History"

Will Trump End the Iran Nuclear Deal? | Al Jazeera English

In May, Trump faces a bigger deadline on whether to waive sanctions on Tehran; and, given his very public displeasure with the nuclear agreement, the prospects do not look good.

Observers believe the tensions between the two countries are driven largely by domestic US politics. Trump has recently replaced members of his administration that advocated the nuclear deal with hardliners who are calling for scrapping it. Iran, in turn, has indicated that it would not feel bound by the deal at all if the US walks away from it.

Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Washington.

Is Putin Still In Full Control in the Kremlin? – BBC Newsnight

As tensions heighten between Vladimir Putin and Western leaders, Gabriel Gatehouse takes a look into Russia's power structure and how much control President Putin really has over the factions that surround him. The film does contain some flashing images.

"Brexit Makes Me Furious Sometimes", Says EU Council President Donald Tusk

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — April 10, 2018

Tucker: Would War against Assad Make US Safer?

Apr. 09, 2018 - 7:18 - Syria is a complicated situation. With Assad gone, who would run it?

The Russian Revolution

The February Revolution (known as such because of Russia's use of the Julian calendar until February 1918) began on March 8, 1917 (or February 23 on the Julian calendar), when demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now called St. Petersburg).

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was said to be a major factor to the February Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered a line of protests. A council of workers called the St. Petersburg Soviet was created in all this chaos, and the beginning of a communist political protest had begun.

Overview. The Russian Revolution took place in 1917, during the final phase of World War I. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), replacing Russia's traditional monarchy with the world's first Communist state.

1917 Russian Revolution. The 1917 Russian Revolution was not, as many people suppose, one well organised event in which Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and Lenin and the Bolsheviks took power.

Bolshevik, ( Russian: “One of the Majority”) , plural Bolsheviks, or Bolsheviki, member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, which, led by Lenin, seized control of the government in Russia (October 1917) and became the dominant political power.

The Nature Of Things – The Curious Case of Vitamins and Me (CBC)