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"Shame!" Indigenous Leaders & Delegates from Global South Stage Dramatic Protest at COP25 in Madrid
Wed, 11 Dec 2019 08:41:53 -0500
Democracy Now! was broadcasting live from the United Nations climate summit in Madrid, Spain, when hundreds of climate advocates and people's movements at the U.N. climate action summit staged a protest inside the conference venue. As the demonstration unfolds, we speak with Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network; Karin Nansen, chair of Friends of the Earth International; Nigerian climate activist Nnimmo Bassey with Health of Mother Earth Foundation; and indigenous climate activist Daiara Tukano from Brazil.

Rep. Ro Khanna Urges "Universal Condemnation" of Trump as Democrats File Impeachment Charges
Wed, 11 Dec 2019 08:36:10 -0500
House Democrats have unveiled two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump that formally charge him with high crimes and misdemeanors after more than two months of investigation. On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined chairs of the impeachment inquiry committees to announce the charges of "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress." Democrats allege Trump withheld congressionally directed taxpayer funding for Ukraine's military until the Ukrainian president agreed to do what Trump called a "favor" by announcing Ukraine was investigating his potential 2020 political rival Joe Biden. Democrats say Trump then tried to block attempts by Congress to investigate the move. We speak with Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California and a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

"The Most Extreme Fires We've Ever Seen": Record Climate-Fueled Wildfires Engulf Australia in Smoke
Wed, 11 Dec 2019 08:21:28 -0500
As world leaders gather to address the climate crisis in Madrid, massive wildfires have engulfed Australia in flames and smoke. More than 100 climate-fueled blazes have killed at least six people and pushed air quality levels in Sydney to 12 times hazardous levels. Thousands braved extreme air pollution Wednesday to protest the government's climate inaction outside Sydney Town Hall. As Democracy Now! broadcasts live from inside the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, we speak with Australian environmental scientist Bill Hare, director of Climate Analytics and a coordinator of the Climate Action Tracker, which monitors global progress toward the Paris Agreement. The group's new report shows the world is on track to warm by 2.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, double the rate scientists say is needed to limit the worst impacts of climate change.

Billionaire Presidential Hopeful Mike Bloomberg Addresses Press at COP25 But Won't Take Questions
Wed, 11 Dec 2019 08:12:28 -0500
Former New York mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg spoke at the U.N. climate summit Tuesday, saying he came to the climate talks because "no one from the White House" was there. The event was billed as a media opportunity, but Bloomberg refused to answer questions from the press. Bloomberg entered the presidential race in November and has since spent tens of millions of dollars of his own money on the race. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman followed Bloomberg through the conference venue, asking how he would address issues of inequality and whether his strategy to win the presidency was to outspend all his rivals. Bloomberg refused to answer all questions, and Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg's presidential campaign manager, claimed the billionaire was not there "as a candidate."

Headlines for December 11, 2019
Wed, 11 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
Democrats Charge Trump with Two Articles of Impeachment, Trump Meets with Russian Foreign Minister, Who Denies Russia Meddled in 2016 Election, Democrats Agree with Trump on New NAFTA, Federal Judge Blocks Trump from Diverting Funds to Border Wall, Mass Protests Continue in France Against Macron's Pensions Plan, British Voters Head to the Polls Thursday, Protesters at COP25 Continue Demands for Urgent Action: "You Can't Drink Oil, Keep It in the Soil!", Thousands Protest Australian Government's Inaction as Smoke from Wildfires Blankets Sydney, At Least 6 Dead, 3 Missing, After Volcano Erupts in New Zealand, Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed Receives Nobel Peace Prize, Refuses to Hold Customary News Conference, Protesters in San Diego Decry Denial of Medical Care to Migrants in ICE Custody, Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker, Known for "Shock Therapy" to Economy, Dies at 92

Indigenous Youth & Elders at COP25 Protest Canada's Support of Dirty Tar Sands Projects
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:52:37 -0500
Indigenous women protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain, on Tuesday morning to demand action to address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls across North America. Madrid police shut down the protest within minutes. On Monday, indigenous youth and elders gathered outside the Canadian Embassy in Madrid to protest the Canadian government's support of the Alberta tar sands extraction and new fossil fuel infrastructure, including a pipeline that would cut through indigenous lands to carry tar sands oil from Alberta to Wisconsin. We speak with one of those demonstrators: Eriel Deranger, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the executive director of Indigenous Climate Action. "Canada comes to these meetings touting themselves as a global leader in addressing the climate crisis, as having great relations with their indigenous peoples," she says. "But the reality is ... not a single project that has ever been proposed in the Alberta tar sands has ever been denied."

"Listen to Mother Earth": Indigenous Youth Leaders at COP25 in Madrid Protest Fossil Fuel Extraction
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:48:00 -0500
"Our movements must be bigger than recycling and braver than holding signs," said Rose Whipple, a member of the Santee Dakota and Ho-Chunk, and youth delegate with SustainUS, who joined a panel of youth climate activists at the United Nations climate summit in Madrid, Spain. Indigenous peoples from Canada and the United States are at the summit, speaking out against extraction, new pipeline projects and the environmental devastation of their territories, and calling for movements to center the rights of indigenous peoples.

Amazonian Forest Protectors Rally Outside COP25 Amid Death of Two Indigenous Chiefs
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:41:36 -0500
On Monday, indigenous activists from the Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian Amazon rallied outside the COP25 venue to protest the targeting of indigenous forest protectors and the destruction of their lands, known as the "lungs of the Earth." Their protest came just days after two indigenous chiefs, Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara, were gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Brazil.

Asad Rehman on the U.K.'s "Climate Election" & Explosive Afghanistan Papers Revelations
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:33:31 -0500
We get response from London-based Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want, on two major news developments: The United Kingdom — which will head the COP next year — is set to vote Thursday in what some are calling "the climate election," and the Washington Post has published a confidential trove of documents that reveal how senior U.S. officials have lied throughout the 18-year war in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history, while hiding evidence the war had become unwinnable.

The U.S. Has Almost No Official Presence at COP25 But Is Still "Obstructing Any Progress"
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:16:56 -0500
This week, Democracy Now! is broadcasting from inside the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, where representatives from almost 200 countries have gathered to negotiate solutions to the climate crisis. Known as COP25 for "conference of parties," the summit offers a rare opportunity for all countries, especially those on the frontlines of the climate crisis, to have an equal say in negotiations. It comes four years after the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to "well below 2 degrees Celsius," or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But as the summit heads into its final days, representatives from the Global South say that the United States and other rich countries are obstructing the talks and trying to avoid their obligation to assist poorer countries already facing the worst effects of the climate crisis. We speak with Harjeet Singh, climate change specialist at ActionAid, and Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want. He has worked on climate change issues for over a decade. "The U.S. is in all streams of discussions that are happening, be it finance, be it loss and damage," he says. "They're everywhere. And everywhere they are obstructing and not allowing any progress to happen."

Headlines for December 10, 2019
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
House Democrats to Unveil Articles of Impeachment Today, WaPo: Secret Afghanistan Papers Reveal How U.S. Officials Lied About War, Sanders & Khanna Urge Lawmakers to Vote Against National Defense Authorization Act, Russia and Ukraine Agree to Ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine, India's Lower House Passes "Anti-Muslim" Citizenship Bill, Protests Continue in Madrid, Spain, Amid COP25, Denmark Passes Climate Act to Reduce Emissions by 70% by 2030, More Than 100 Blazes Rage Across Australia Amid Worst Fire Season in History, Iraq: One Journalist Killed and a Second Disappeared After Covering Protests, Aung San Suu Kyi Arrives at The Hague for Genocide Case Against Burma, Supreme Court Lets Stand Anti-Abortion Kentucky Law, Houston Police Chief Slams Republicans for Loyalty to NRA, Spanish Activists Block Vessel Possibly Carrying Weapons for Yemen War

Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron & BP Could Be Legally & Morally Liable for Climate Crisis in Philippines
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:49:26 -0500
The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines has just determined that 47 major companies, including Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Total, could be found legally and morally liable for human rights harms to Filipinos resulting from climate change. The commission found the companies could be held accountable under civil and criminal laws. Climate activists have hailed the decision as a landmark victory for climate justice. According to Greenpeace, this marks the first time big polluting companies have been found responsible for human rights harms resulting from the climate crisis. We speak to Yeb Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the former chief climate negotiator for the Philippines.

Police Halt Activist-Led "Toxic Tour" of Spain's "Dirtiest" Corporate Polluters Sponsoring COP25
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:35:26 -0500
In Spain, the country's biggest fossil fuel polluters are also some of the most generous sponsors for this year's U.N. climate talks. On Saturday, we joined activists on a "toxic tour" of Madrid from the Madrid stock exchange to Santander Bank. Activists explained that when Spanish President Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain would host COP25, he went to IBEX 35 — the 35 biggest listed companies in the Spanish stock exchange — offering them a 90% tax break on a $2 million sponsorship. Advocates say that these same companies "have deep and dirty links to the fossil fuel industry." But midway through, the police shut down the tour, threatening fines of over 3,000 euros if the peaceful tour did not disperse. Climate justice campaigner for Friends of the Earth International Héctor de Prado says he was shocked and "ashamed" by the attempts by police to halt the tour. "It is not normal," he says.

Greta Thunberg, Rose Whipple & Eriel Deranger on Listening to Indigenous People Amid Climate Crisis
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:29:08 -0500
At the end of Friday's major climate rally in Madrid, a group of indigenous activists took the stage to sing and give speeches, but after some speeches their microphone was cut and the lights on stage were shut off as they spoke. Democracy Now! spoke to Eriel Deranger of Indigenous Climate Action and later asked Greta Thunberg and Rose Whipple about the importance of listening to indigenous voices.

Greta Thunberg at Madrid March: Hope in the Streets, Not the U.N. Climate Summit
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:25:32 -0500
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also addressed Friday's climate march in Madrid. "The hope is not within the walls of COP25; the hope is out here with you," said Thunberg, who inspired the global youth strike movement.

Spanish Actor Javier Bardem: We Need Urgency, Ambition & Reduction to Confront Climate Crisis
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:23:59 -0500
Speakers at Friday's massive climate march in Madrid included the actor Javier Bardem. In 2007, he became the first Spanish actor to win an Academy Award for acting for his supporting role in "No Country for Old Men." He addressed the crowd in Spanish.

Indigenous Leader Sônia Guajajara: The Amazon Is Burning & Its Defenders Are Being Assassinated
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:22:54 -0500
Speakers at Friday's climate march in Madrid included Brazilian indigenous leader Sônia Guajajara. A day after she spoke, two indigenous chiefs — Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara — were gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Brazil.

Meet the Climbing Kids: 8- & 11-Year-Old Siblings Who Rappel from Bridge Demanding Climate Action
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:20:25 -0500
As hundreds of thousands marched to the main stage during Friday's climate march in Madrid, two young children — a brother and sister aged 8 and 11 — staged an act of civil disobedience from a bridge overlooking the protest. While demonstrators marched beneath them, the two children rappelled from an overpass, dangling from ropes in mid-air to hang a banner calling for climate action. Democracy Now! briefly spoke to them after their action.

At Major March in Madrid, Indigenous & Youth Activists Slam Global Leaders for Climate Inaction
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:12:34 -0500
We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the 25th United Nations climate conference is in its second week and representatives from almost 200 countries have gathered for the final days of negotiations. The summit — known as COP25, or conference of parties — has so far focused on meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to "well below 2 degrees Celsius," or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But climate scientists say the talks are failing to produce the drastic measures necessary to address the climate crisis. Since the Paris Agreement four years ago, greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 4%, and this year's summit shows no sign of arresting that trend. On Friday, as hundreds of thousands prepared to take to the streets of Madrid in protest, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg told reporters that the global climate strikes have "not translated into action" by governments. Protesters then marched through Madrid's city center Friday night in a massive climate demonstration led by indigenous leaders and youth activists. Democracy Now! was there in the streets.

Headlines for December 9, 2019
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
House Judiciary Committee Holds Impeachment Hearing Today, FBI Opens Terrorism Probe into Air Base Shooting That Killed 3 Sailors, Hundreds of Thousands March in Madrid as COP25 Enters Second Week, Iraq: Gunmen Kill 25 Anti-Government Protesters in Baghdad, India: 43 People Killed in a Fire in Factory in Delhi, Evo Morales Travels to Cuba for Medical Appointment, Protests Against Economic Inequality Continue in Chile & Colombia, Two Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Killed, Hundreds of Thousands Pour into Streets for Pro-Democracy March in Hong Kong, France: Protests Continue Against Macron's Pension Overhaul, Finland: Sanna Marin to Become World's Youngest Sitting Prime Minister, Beirut: Man Lit Himself on Fire Amid Anti-Government Protests, North Korea Carries Out Missile Test, Says Denuclearization Off Table, Iran Frees American Graduate Student; U.S. Frees Iranian Scientist, Madrid: Residents & Refugees Protest Xenophobic Attacks on Migrant Shelter

Why Are Some of Spain's Biggest Polluters Sponsoring U.N. Climate Summit?
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 08:50:09 -0500
A group of climate activists walked out of a panel at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid on Thursday to protest the presence of Shell, BP and Chevron. Representatives from the oil companies were taking part in an event organized by the International Emissions Trading Association. This comes as the Spanish government is facing criticism for reaching out to Endesa, Spain's biggest corporate greenhouse gas polluter, to sponsor the U.N. climate talks. We speak with Pascoe Sabido, a researcher and campaigner for the Corporate Europe Observatory, who has been organizing toxic tours of Madrid to expose the corporations and financiers driving the climate crisis.

"It's Our Future": Meet the Youth Activists Behind Fridays for Future Movements in Uganda and Chile
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 08:31:11 -0500
In Spain, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Madrid to take part in today's strike as well as a major march set for 6 p.m. local time. Greta began the climate strike movement last year when she started skipping school every Friday to stand in front of the Swedish parliament, demanding action to prevent catastrophic climate change. Her protest spread, quickly going global. We speak with two youth climate strikers: Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is the founder of Fridays for Future Uganda and Angela Valenzuela is a coordinator with Fridays for Future in Chile, where this year's U.N. climate summit had been scheduled but massive protests against neoliberalism forced the Chilean government to cancel the talks.

COP25: Alternative Climate Summit Honors Those "Suffering the Crimes of Transnational Corporations"
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 08:12:08 -0500
We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP25, began Monday and will continue through next week, as environmental leaders from around the world gather to negotiate global solutions to the climate crisis. Activists have converged on Madrid for the conference and are hosting an alternative summit of their own: Cumbre Social por el Clima — the Social Summit for the Climate. The alternative summit has been organized by social justice and environmental groups to draw attention to the ongoing political repression in Chile, corporate influence on the climate summit, Spain's own failure to address the climate crisis and the Eurocentrism of the climate conference. This is the third year in a row that the conference is being held in Europe. We speak with Tom Kucharz, one of the organizers of the alternative climate conference. He is a journalist and activist with the group Ecologists in Action.

Headlines for December 6, 2019
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
Pelosi Calls On Democrats to Proceed With Drafting Articles of Impeachment, Joe Biden Lashes Out at Iowa Town Hall over His Son Hunter's Work in Ukraine, Pentagon Weighs Sending Up to 14,000 More U.S. Troops to Middle East, Saudi Aramco Raises $25.6 Billion in Historic IPO, 140,000 Died Globally from Measles in 2018, 62 Refugees Died after Boat Capsized off Coast of Mauritania, Shocking Video Shows How Border Patrol Let Teenage Asylum Seeker Die in Custody, French Workers Continue National Strike into Second Day, Uber Says It Received 3,000 Reports of Sexual Assault in U.S. in 2018, The Guardian: Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib Targeted in Far-Right Online Operation, Ex-Cop Reveals How NYPD Forced Officers to Arrest Black & Latino Men, 700,000 Americans to Lose Access to Food Stamps, UNC Students Protest After School Secretly Gave $2.5M to Neo-Confederate Group, Nigerian Police Rearrest Journalist & Activist Omoyele Sowore

Sweden Provides Free Higher Education, Universal Healthcare, Free Daycare — Why Can't the U.S.?
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:52:21 -0500
Medicare for All and tuition-free universities have been at the core of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns, creating a stark division between progressive candidates and their centrist counterparts. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed to make Medicare for All and public universities cost-free by taxing massive corporations and the super wealthy, and earlier this year, Sanders introduced legislation that would cancel student loan debt. His plan would be paid for with a new tax on Wall Street, he says. It would also make public universities and community colleges free — a key pillar of Sanders's 2020 education platform. These proposals are not radical ideas in Sweden, a country that has built one of the world's most extensive social welfare systems. In Sweden, healthcare costs are largely subsided by the state. Daycare and preschool programs are mostly free. College and university are free. Public transportation is subsidized for many users. To explain how Sweden does it, we speak with Mikael Törnwall, Swedish author and journalist focusing on economic issues at Svenska Dagbladet, a Stockholm daily newspaper. His most recent book is titled "Who Should Pay for Welfare?"

Aminatou Haidar Honored For Decades of Peaceful Resistance in Western Sahara, Africa's Last Colony
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:26:05 -0500
In Stockholm, Democracy Now! sat down with one of the winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award: Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar. For over three decades, Haidar has led a peaceful campaign to resist the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, which is often called Africa's last colony. Morocco has occupied Western Sahara — a small region just south of Morocco in northwest Africa — since 1975. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the occupation. Peaceful protesters, led by women, are routinely beaten in the streets. Despite this violent repression, Haidar has led countless hunger strikes and demonstrations, and unflinchingly documented the abuses against the Saharawi people for more than 30 years. She is a former political prisoner who was jailed for four years in a secret prison. In granting her the award, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation cited her "steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara." Haidar says it's time for the international community to push for an end to the Morrocan occupation of Western Sahara. "My message is: Let's put an end to our suffering. Let's put an end to this injustice. Let's give a voice to Sahrawi people, let them choose their future."

Edward Snowden: If I Came Back to the U.S., I Would Likely Die in Prison for Telling the Truth
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:11:48 -0500
The Right Livelihood Awards celebrated their 40th anniversary Wednesday at the historic Cirkus Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, where more than a thousand people gathered to celebrate this year's four laureates: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Chinese women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei, Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, the Yanomami Hutukara Association; and Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades. The Right Livelihood Award is known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four decades, it's been given to grassroots leaders and activists around the globe — among them the world-famous NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. At Wednesday's gala, Amy Goodman interviewed Snowden in front of the award ceremony's live audience via video link from Moscow, where he has lived in exile since leaking a trove of secret documents revealing the U.S. government's had built an unprecedented mass surveillance system to spy on Americans and people around the world. After sharing the documents with reporters in 2013, Snowden was charged in the U.S. for violating the Espionage Act and other laws. As he attempted to flee from Hong Kong to Latin America, Snowden was stranded in Russia after the U.S. revoked his passport, and he has lived there ever since. Edward Snowden won the Right Livelihood Award in 2014, and accepted the award from Moscow.

Headlines for December 5, 2019
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
Constitutional Experts Debate Impeachment at House Judiciary Committee Hearing, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes Sues CNN over Story about Nunes' Ukraine Meeting, Trump Departs NATO Early after Video of Other World Leaders Mocking Him, Report: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Hit Record High in 2019, Colombia Holds Third National Strike in Two Weeks, Workers Strike Across France Today over Macron's Pensions Plan, Hand Grenade Thrown over Wall of Migrant Shelter in Madrid, India: Rape Survivor Attacked on Her Way to Court in Latest Assault on Women, Head of Japanese Aid Agency Killed in Afghanistan, AG Barr Threatens Communities Critical of Police Brutality, George Zimmerman Sues Trayvon Martin's Family for $100 Million, Tucson Joins Pima County in Lawsuit over Trump's Border Wall, Harvard Students Protest University Decision to Deny Tenure to Popular Latina Professor

U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 08:48:28 -0500
A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affirming the world's commitment to protecting children. It is the most ratified U.N. Treaty in history — the United States is one of the only countries that hasn't ratified the convention. We're joined by Manfred Nowak, lead author of the U.N. Global Study on Children Deprived of liberty. Nowak is also a human rights lawyer and U.N. independent expert. He served as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture from 2004 to 2010.

Brazilian Indigenous Leader Davi Kopenawa: Bolsonaro is Killing My People & Destroying the Amazon
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 08:18:44 -0500
Democracy Now! sat down with Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa, one of this year's Right Livelihood Award honorees, along with the organization he co-founded, Hutukara Yanomami Association. Kopenawa is a shaman of the Yanomami people, one of the largest Indigenous tribes in Brazil, who has dedicated his life to protecting his culture and protecting the Amazon rainforest. He says indigenous people in the Amazon are under threat from business interests as well as politicians, including far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has a long history of anti-indigenous statements and policies. "He doesn't like indigenous people. He does not want to let the Yanomami people to live at peace, protected. ... What he wants is to extract our wealth to send to other countries."

"Alternative Nobel Prize:" Right Livelihood Award Celebrates 40 Years Honoring Grassroots Activists
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 08:11:32 -0500
The Right Livelihood Award is marking its 40th anniversary. The award was established in 1980 to honor and support those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us." It has since become known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four decades, the award has been given to activists and grassroots leaders around the globe. A number of them have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's winners are: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades; Chinese women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei; and Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the Yanomami Hutukara Association, who fight for the Amazon's biodiversity and the rights of Indigenous people in Brazil. In Stockholm, Sweden, we speak with Ole von Uexkuell, executive director of the Right Livelihood Foundation. He says the name of the award refers to "the idea of living lightly on the Earth, of not taking more than a fair share of the resources, and it means to bring change into the world through your practical actions."

Headlines for December 4, 2019
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
House Impeachment Report Accuses Trump of Soliciting Foreign Interference in 2020 Election, Report: Europe Could Face Annual Extreme Heat Waves Due to Climate Change, Kamala Harris Ends Her 2020 Presidential Campaign, ProPublica: McKinsey Helped Trump Speed Up Mass Deportation Program, Detained Asylum Seekers Protest in Winnfield, Louisiana, House Votes for Bill to Punish China over Mass Imprisonment of Muslims, ICC Begins Hearing over Alleged U.S. Military Torture in Afghanistan, Rikers Island Officers Stood By as Teenager Attempted to Hang Himself, Today Marks 50th Anniversary of Assassination of Fred Hampton

Indigenous Protectors Are Defending the Amazon and "Paying With Their Lives"
Tue, 03 Dec 2019 08:52:53 -0500
This week we're on the road in Stockholm, Sweden, where we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." One of this year's recipients of the award is Yanomami indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, Hutukara Yanomami Association. The Right Livelihood Foundation has praised them for "their courageous determination to protect the forests and biodiversity of the Amazon, and the lands and culture of its indigenous peoples." The award comes as indigenous forest protectors and uncontacted tribes in Brazil are increasingly under attack. Last month an indigenous forest protector named Paulo Paulino Guajajara was shot dead in the Amazon by illegal loggers. It was the latest incident in a wave of violence targeting indigenous land protectors since the election of Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro last year. One month ago, human rights groups warned in an open letter that the Amazon's last uncontacted indigenous people face "genocide," amid raging fires and mounting incursions into their territories. Brazil's Indigenous Missionary Council says the number of invasions of indigenous territories has doubled under Bolsonaro — with more than 150 such incidents since January. We speak with Fiona Watson, advocacy and research director for Survival International. The organization is a 1989 winner of the Right Livelihood Award for its work protecting the Amazon.

Meet Yetnebersh Nigussie: A Blind Ethiopian Lawyer Fighting for Global Disability Rights
Tue, 03 Dec 2019 08:37:44 -0500
December 3 is International Day of Persons With Disabilities. "Unfortunately, disability-based discrimination is still a global phenomenon," says Yetnebersh Nigussie, a lawyer and disability rights activist from Ethiopia who in 2017 received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Nigussie is the director for advocacy and rights at Light for the World and the former chair of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind women's wing. She has been blind since the age of five. Yetnebersh Nigussie speaks with us in Stockholm. She is one of many former Right Livelihood Award recipients from across the globe who have gathered to celebrate this year's recipients: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Sahrawi human rights activist Aminatou Haidar, Chinese women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei and indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the Yanomami Hutukara Association, who protect the Amazon's biodiversity and indigenous people.

"We Are Facing a Global Emergency": Greta Thunberg Arrives Back in Europe to Attend Climate Talks
Tue, 03 Dec 2019 08:28:39 -0500
From Stockholm, Sweden, we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year's recipients include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who arrived Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal, after traveling for three weeks across the Atlantic in the 48-foot catamaran La Vagabonde, refusing to fly because of the high carbon footprint of air travel. Thunberg was on her way to attend COP25 in Santiago, Chile, when the conference was abruptly relocated due to mass demonstrations against a proposed subway fare hike. She sounded a rallying cry to fellow youth climate activists as she made landfall in Lisbon, promising to ensure that young people have a seat at the table at the upcoming climate summit in Madrid. "We will continue to make sure within those walls, the voices of the people ... especially from the global South — are being heard," she says.

My Generation Needs to Say "Enough": A Swedish Climate Striker Speaks Out About Fridays For Future
Tue, 03 Dec 2019 08:12:57 -0500
From Stockholm, Sweden, we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year's recipients include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, whose school strike for climate started in Stockholm when she began standing outside the Parliament building every school day to demand bold climate action more than a year ago. Her act of resistance soon became a global movement, with millions of youth around the world leaving school and taking to the streets to demand swift action to halt the climate crisis. Greta has just arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, after a nearly three week-long boat journey across the Atlantic Ocean to participate in the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP25, in Madrid, Spain. We speak with Ell Jarl, an 18-year-old climate activist with Fridays For Future Sweden and high school student who marched with Greta Thunberg in Stockholm. Along with other youth climate advocates, Ell will accept the Right Livelihood Award Wednesday on Greta's behalf.

Headlines for December 3, 2019
Tue, 03 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
House Democrats May Widen Impeachment Inquiry, Trump Lashes Out at Macron Amid NATO Summit, Rep. Duncan Hunter Pleads Guilty to Campaign Finance Violations, Supreme Court Hears Arguments over Arsenic Pollution in Montana, Half a Million Forced to Evacuate as Typhoon Kammuri Slams Philippines, Amnesty Says Over 200 Killed in Iran's Crackdown Against Nov. Protests, 7 Men Sentenced for Murder of Honduran Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres, Honduran TV Host José Aritas Murdered in Puerto Cortés, Guatemala: Ex-Military Official to be Tried for Genocide Against Ixil Mayans, White House Quietly Releases $105 Million in Military Aid to Lebanon, Women Demand Prince Andrew Testify in U.S. Court About Epstein Sex Trafficking, WashPost: Lobbyists Help Lawmakers Write Anti-Medicare for All Op-Eds, ICE Arrests 90 More International Students Enrolled in DHS's Fake University

A World in Revolt Against Neoliberalism & Corruption: Tariq Ali on the Roots of Today's Uprisings
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:52:13 -0500
The historian and activist Tariq Ali talks about the uprisings that are happening around the world, from Chile and Colombia to Iraq and Lebanon. "It's extremely significant, because what it reveals is a new generation completely alienated from the political structures of their societies," Ali says.

Tariq Ali on U.K. Elections, Corbyn's "Radical Social-Democratic Program" & Rise of Extreme Right
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:33:01 -0500
The British general election is just 10 days away and will have huge implications for the future of the country as well as Brexit. When voters cast their ballots later this month, they will choose between two dramatically different candidates: right-wing Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson and left-wing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn recently unveiled an ambitious election manifesto promising to transform the country and resuscitate its public sector. The plan proposed a $100 billion tax increase on the wealthy to fund investment in infrastructure, as well as increased spending on education and healthcare. We recently spoke with Tariq Ali, the acclaimed activist, filmmaker, author and an editor of the New Left Review. He says the Conservative Party has been "taken over by the extreme right wing," while Corbyn's Labour is pushing a "radical social-democratic program."

Youth-Led Protests Topple Iraqi PM as Demonstrations Calling for Overhaul of Government Continue
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:13:53 -0500
Anti-government protests are continuing in Iraq one day after the Iraqi Parliament voted to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. On Saturday, protesters set off fireworks in Baghdad's Tahrir Square when Abdul-Mahdi announced he would submit his resignation, though he will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed. The resignation came two days after Iraqi security forces killed at least 44 people in the southern cities of Nasiriyah and Najaf after the Iranian Consulate was burned down on Wednesday night. Following the bloody crackdown, Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged the Iraqi Parliament to withdraw its support of the prime minister and warned that the escalating violence could lead to a civil war in Iraq. More than 400 Iraqi protesters have been killed and 15,000 injured since the widespread anti-government demonstrations began in October. We speak with Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, and Sinan Antoon, poet, novelist, translator and scholar born and raised in Baghdad.

Headlines for December 2, 2019
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0500
COP25 Opens in Madrid Amid Dire Warnings About Climate Change, House Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing in Impeachment Inquiry, 3 Women Accuse Ambassador Sondland of Sexual Misconduct, Iraqi Prime Minister Resigns Amid Anti-Government Protests, Malta Prime Minister Resigns Amid Probe of Journalist's Murder, Three More Egyptian Journalists Arrested, Attack on London Bridge Kills 2 Cambridge Graduates, Trump Visits Afghanistan in Surprise Thanksgiving Trip, Supreme Court to Hear First Major Gun Case in Nearly a Decade, Twitter Suspends Account of Ilhan Omar's Challenger, Sestak and Bullock Drop Out of 2020 Presidential Race, Pope Condemns "Virus" of Consumerism Amid Black Friday Protests, Rosa Parks Honored with New Statue in Montgomery, Alabama

David Byrne on His Broadway Show "American Utopia," Talking Heads, Reasons to Be Cheerful & More
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:30:00 -0500
An hour with David Byrne, the celebrated musician, artist, writer, cycling enthusiast, filmmaker and now Broadway star. He has a new hit Broadway show called "American Utopia." The show grew out of Byrne's recent world tour, which the British music publication NME said "may just be the best live show of all time." Byrne talks about the production, his time in the groundbreaking band Talking Heads, his website Reasons to Be Cheerful, Greta Thunberg and more.

Arundhati Roy: It's Hard to Communicate the Scale and the Shape of This Shadow Taking India Over
Thu, 28 Nov 2019 08:18:19 -0500
Human rights groups are condemning the Indian government for carrying out widespread torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and other crimes in Kashmir after the region's special status was revoked in August. We speak to the acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy about the crackdown in Kashmir, rising authoritarianism in India and other issues.

Our History Is the Future: Lakota Historian Nick Estes on Thanksgiving & Indigenous Resistance
Thu, 28 Nov 2019 08:01:33 -0500
Lakota historian Nick Estes talks about Thanksgiving and his book "Our History Is the Future." He is a co-founder of the indigenous resistance group The Red Nation and a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

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