IBTN USA

Meme warfare in Trump’s battle with Beijing

Saturday, Apr 19, 2025
A trade war that pits the world’s two largest economies against each other is now under way. Alongside the tariff battle is a heated battle of narratives and messages between the two countries.

Contributors:
Andy Mok - Senior Research Fellow, Center for China and Globalisation
Jude Russo - Managing Editor, The American Conservative
Isaac Stone Fish - CEO, Strategy Risks
Yun Sun - Director of China Program, Stimson Center

On our radar

On April 15, the civil war in Sudan hit the two-year mark. The Sudanese media landscape has been devastated. According to Reporters Without Borders, since the war began, nearly 450 journalists have fled the country. Meenakshi Ravi has more.

How Trump’s '51st state' talk galvanised Canadian voters

Donald Trump’s public musings about how Canada should become the United States’ 51st state, has Canadians rallying around their flag. The Listening Post’s Ryan Kohls discusses the Trump effect and the unprecedented impact it is having on Canadian nationalism and politics.

Featuring:
Rachel Gilmore – Host, Bubble Pop
Jonathan Kay – Editor, Quillette
David Moscrop – Author and Journalist

Psychological terrorism: The war against reproductive rights in the US

Friday, Apr 18, 2025
As Donald Trump begins his second term as president, headlines focus on immigration, trade and free speech. But advocates warn of another front, a quieter campaign targeting reproductive rights and abortion.

Just years after the fall of Roe v Wade, critics say new policies signal a renewed push to erode reproductive freedom, especially for women of colour.

Is the Trump administration waging a quiet war on reproductive rights in the United States?

This week on UpFront, Redi Tlhabi speaks with Michele Goodwin, professor of constitutional law and global health policy at Georgetown University and author of Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood.

What is behind Trump's U-turn on tariffs?

Thursday, Apr 10, 2025  
In a dramatic change of policy, Donald Trump has paused his so-called "reciprocal" levies on most nations for 90 days.

This, after his tariff policy sent markets globally into a freefall and left business leaders and even pro-Trump Republicans warning of a recession.

While the White House will be looking to cut deals with other nations on the levies, Trump has ramped up his trade dispute with China.

His decision to reverse course may have brought relief to markets.

But, with Trump's series of reversals since taking office in January, critics say uncertainty remains hanging over the United States economy.

Mearsheimer: The Israelis lost in Gaza

Friday, January 31, 2025
Despite the rhetoric, US President Donald Trump will not be able to ethnically cleanse Gaza nor resolve the Ukraine war, argues University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer.

Mearsheimer tells host Steve Clemons that Arab governments fear “the risk of being overthrown by their populations” should they bend to Trump’s desire to “clean out” the Palestinian people in Gaza.

On Ukraine, Mearsheimer predicts a “frozen conflict” without a peace treaty, and warns that Trump should stop “slapping around” US allies if he wants their cooperation in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Democracy doesn’t exist in the United States: Chris Hedges

Friday, January 31, 2025
As Donald Trump returns to the White House, many are raising concerns about the possible decline of liberal democracy.

What then would a second Trump term mean for the next four years for the United States? And what impact will the president's foreign policy have on the Middle East?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill discusses these issues with Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and former war correspondent Chris Hedges.

US air collision: Plane collides with helicopter midair in Virginia

Thursday, January 30, 2025
A plane and helicopter collision has sparked a desperate search and rescue operation in the US state of Virginia.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said late on Wednesday that a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet collided with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to the airport in Arlington County.

News agencies are citing the US Army saying three soldiers were on board the helicopter.

At least two bodies have been recovered.

All takeoffs and landings have been stopped at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Emergency services are at the scene.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi joins us now live from Arlington, Virginia.
 
Keith Mackey is an aircraft accident investigator and aviation consultant. He is also a retired pilot who has flown into Reagan National Airport many times. He joins us live from Ocala in Florida to discuss the latest developments. 

US President Trump signs Laken Riley act, in Washington

Thursday, January 30, 2025
US President Donald Trump signs the Laken Riley Act, legislation requiring the detention of immigrants living in the US illegally who are accused of theft.

Al Jazeera's White House correspondent Kimberly Halkett joins live from Washington.

How will US tech firms react to DeepSeek?

Wednesday, January 29, 2025  
Investors have poured billions of dollars into artificial intelligence research and development over the past year, hoping to capitalise on this rapidly advancing technology.

Generative AI could automate countless tasks and change how many sectors do business.
 
The US has largely led this revolution but now a Chinese rival has emerged.

DeepSeek's models are faster, smaller and a lot cheaper.

Will investors still be willing to put up billions if a more cost-effective alternative exists?

And who is in the best position to benefit from AI's vast potential?

Presenter: Elizabeth Puranam

Guests:
R Ray" Wang -- CEO and principal analyst of Constellation Research, a technology research and advisory firm in Silicon Valley

Toby Walsh -- Professor of AI at the University of New South Wales and author of "Faking It: AI in a Human World".
 
Brian Wong - Independent geopolitical strategist and fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World.

Does US-Colombia deportation row have wider implications?

Monday, January 27, 2025  
An explosive diplomatic row between the US and Colombia over the deportation of unauthorised immigrants on military planes.

It has been quickly defused for now, but threats of further action are being made.

What does this signal about the new Donald Trump presidency?

Presenter:

Elizabeth Puranam

Guests:

Niall Stanage - Political analyst and White House columnist for The Hill newspaper in Washington, DC.

Sergio Guzman - Director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a political consultancy in Bogota.

Rachel Schmidtke - Senior advocate for Latin America at Refugees International in the US.

Trump’s ethnic cleansing idea unlikely to come to fruition: Analysis

Monday, January 27, 2025  
US President Trump’s idea of the mass expulsion of Palestinians in Gaza to Jordan and Egypt is unlikely to ever happen, says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani.

"Even if he applies pressure on Jordan and Egypt, I think their leaderships will recognise the price of going along with Trump is going to be much greater than the price of resisting him – in terms of the survival of their leaderships for participating in something like this," Rabbani told Al Jazeera, referring to Trump’s plan as "ethnic cleansing".

"This isn’t going to happen because Israel is not going to succeed in ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip after a war, after having failed to do so during a war."

When former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went on a tour of Arab states to promote this idea late last year, he was met with a "blanket refusal", Rabbani added.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu is feeling the heat from his coalition partners over the ceasefire deal who view the Israeli leader as succumbing to US demands, the analyst said.
“I think there’s a kind of a mix of personal, political and ideological factors at play. But ultimately, I think the key relationship to look at here is not that between Netanyahu and his coalition partners, or between Israelis and Palestinians, but between Washington and Israel – because Washington is the one calling the shots, and Israel has no choice but to comply.”