Magazine

Should the word "racist" be used to describe US President Donald Trump? That question is at the centre of debate across US media outlets.

After Trump told four Congresswomen of colour to "go back" to the countries they came from - even though three of them are American born - some media outlets are still stopping short of using the word.

But according to Ryan Devereaux, an immigration reporter with The Intercept, the notion of Trump being a "racist" is not a new phenomenon. He says Trump "has made it pretty clear what's in his heart, from the very beginning."

"There have been a number of journalists from the very beginning to call out this administration for exactly what it was. Maybe other legacy institutions or journalists are slower to come to these realisations. But it's not been a secret," he adds.

Suketu Mehta, author of This Land is Our Land, explains that Trump's relationship with media outlets like Fox News enables him to influence his own narrative.

"He is president of the United States, of Fox News watchers," Mehta argues. "He really doesn't care if people call him racist. He can manipulate the media like no one I've seen in the recent history of the United States."

Politics does not often come down to a war of words. Ahead of the upcoming 2020 elections, the US is a nation of opposing political narratives, where Trump's white nativist message is facing push-back from a new progressive force on the political left.

The four Democratic congresswomen Trump told to "go back", Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar, do not mince their words when talking about his border control policies and what they call 'concentration' camps.' They were outraged in describing their visits to two migrant detention centres in Texas.

But their outrage was followed up with an alternative photo-op by the US Vice President Mike Pence who appeared to be unmoved by what he saw at the detention centre on the Texas border, after he came face to face with detainees held in a caged area.

"We also saw a VP who didn't seem particularly moved by any of this. And I think that is really the human tragedy of it all," explains Crystal Fleming, author of How to Be Less Stupid about Race.

"In terms of the intentionality of the optics, I think what we can say is that unfortunately there is a segment of Trump's base that actually likes seeing people of colour being detained or being policed - being mistreated even," she adds.

But identifying someone as 'racist' can be particularly challenging, especially in a country that inherits its own historical debates about race.

"There is a history in this country in debates about race," notes University of Pennsylvania professor Mary Frances Berry. "Since you can't read their minds, you can talk in terms of their behaviour and you can talk in terms of the words that they use or whatever, but you can't say that person is a racist because you don't know exactly what they really inside believe in."

Iran seizes a UK oil tanker after Britain detained one of its ships.

When the UK seized an Iranian oil tanker two weeks ago, Tehran warned of retaliation.

It appears it's carried out that threat.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards detained a British vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

Tehran said the Stena Impero was involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat.

A powerful council that works closely with Iran's Supreme Leader later said the seizure was a retaliatory act.

Britain's foreign secretary is worried Iran may be going down a dangerous path.

Can compromise be found before the situation spirals out of control?

Since President Donald Trump came to power in the United States, he has made global headlines for his often audacious comments on women's rights, foreign political interference, Muslims, and immigrants.

#TrumpisRacist and #RacistinChief are some of the hashtags trending on social media platforms after Trump told four women of colour in Congress (three of whom were born in the US) to go back to the "totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came".

Ilhan Omar, House of Representatives member for Minnesota, was among those targeted.

Born in Somalia, she escaped the civil war to spend much of her childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya, before her family emigrated to the US - where she is a citizen. In 2016, she became the first elected Somali-American Muslim legislator in the US.

This was not the only time she has faced the president's ire.

Trump has made defamatory comments accusing her of praising al-Qaeda, and saying that she downplayed the 9/11 terror attacks.

Responding to Trump's accusations, Omar tells Al Jazeera: "Those (9/11) are horrific attacks. There's no question about it, that's not a debatable thing. Innocent Americans lost their lives that day, we all mourn their deaths ... And I think it's quite disgusting that people even question that and want to debate that."

Trump made the comments after Omar said Muslims in America have lost access to their civil liberties because they are collectively seen to be responsible for the attacks claimed by al-Qaeda.

"What is important is the larger point that I was speaking to," Omar clarifies, "which is about making sure that blame isn't placed on a whole faith, that we as Muslims are not collectively blamed for the actions of terrorists."

"I do not blame every single white person when we have a white man who massacres children at a school, or moviegoers in a movie theatre. And I think this really horrendous narrative that says, as a Muslim, I'm supposed to explain, apologise, for the actions of someone who's also terrorising me, is absurd."

Omar is critical of Trump's leadership and has supported calls for him to be impeached.

"I always said it wasn't the question of whether he should be impeached, but when. And we are seeing now so many people are coming to that conclusion," she says. "This president said he didn't see any problem in having a foreign, hostile government (Russia) intervene in our elections. He didn't understand how that could be a problem ... We do not accept information that is going to change the trajectory of our elections, from hostile governments."

Omar is vocal in her opposition to other US-foreign allegiances, including the relationship with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"How can we make a decision to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, knowing that they have been part of causing one of the most atrocious humanitarian crises in Yemen, when we know that they have a hand in what's happening right now in Sudan, what's happening in Libya, and the list can go on and on and on," she says.

"Our alliedship with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates is immoral. I believe that it is one of the most absurd alliedships; it doesn't fit with any of our values. When we think about what is in the interest of our national security, entrusting them to help us with that is like trusting a thief to watch over your shop. We know that they can't be trusted in that process."

Omar acknowledges the challenges posed by the current US administration, but believes the polarisation it creates has resulted in some positive side effects, including mass mobilisation of voters and the election of the most diverse Congress in US history.

"The positive thing is that every time there is a challenge, there is an opportunity. Because we have the most divisive president [and] we're living in historically traumatising times ... so many people are rising up, to not only resist the detrimental policies that are coming from this administration, but to also insist on having the America we all know we deserve," she says.

"So that's why you're seeing the rise of so many people who have always sat on the margins of society, saying 'this is our time to seek our seat at the table, we have to make sure that we're representing all of our voices'."

It has been nearly three years into the Trump era and United States media finally use the "R" word to describe him: "Racist". Plus, the war criminals turned best-selling authors in Serbia.

Trump's tweets and the 'racist' debate
The coverage of the Trump White House is caught up over one word, "racist", and whether or not it should be used to describe the US president.

After Donald Trump told four Congresswomen of colour to "go back" to the countries they came from - even though three of them are American born - some media outlets are still stopping short of using the "R" word.

Ahead of the 2020 elections, the US is a nation of opposing political narratives, where Trump's white nativist message is facing push-back from a new progressive force on the political left.

On our radar
Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Tariq Nafi about the BBC's decision to accept Iran's demand not to broadcast its coverage on BBC Persian.

Serbian war criminals turned authors rewriting Yugoslav history
It hasb been roughly 20 years since the war finally came to an end in the region once known as Yugoslavia. The important narrative of Serbia's role in the decades-long conflict - Europe's deadliest war since World War II - is hotly contested.

The evidence, as per the United Nations and multiple other investigative bodies tells a tale of disproportionate Serbian aggression, brutality and ethnic cleansing.

The alternative version of that history is now being told in book form by men convicted of crimes including genocide, and whose rewriting of history serves the nationalistic narrative favoured by today's Serbian elites.

The Listening Post's Johanna Hoes explores the historical revisionism in former Yugoslavia and the inmates who have gone from convicted war criminals to published authors.

Historical dispute reignited over forced labour during World War Two.

The events of the Second World War have always stirred up emotions between South Korea and Japan, and tension has recently escalated.

Last year, South Korea's highest court ruled that Japanese firms should compensate the victims of forced labour during Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

But Japan said the issue had already been settled under a 1965 treaty.

The dispute has triggered a trade dispute, with Japan imposing export bans on South Korea, and some South Koreans boycotting Japanese products.

Can the two sides resolve their differences?

In this show, we look at three stories from the African continent that have our community talking.

President Bobi Wine?
Uganda's rapper-turned-politician Bobi Wine has finally answered the question everyone has been asking. Yes, he will run against the country's longtime leader in elections scheduled for 2021. "I will challenge President Museveni on behalf of the people," the 37-year-old opposition darling said in an interview. It hasn't, though, been an easy road for the self-styled "Ghetto President" since he was elected to parliament in 2017. There have been treason charges, his driver was shot dead by security forces and he was badly injured while in military custody. So why does he keep going? We'll ask him as he joins The Stream again.

Sierra Leone's emergency
It was a plan that made international headlines. In February, Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio declared sexual violence a national emergency, saying: "We as a nation must stand up and address this scourge". High-profile campaigns were launched. A dedicated police division was announced along with a special court focusing on such cases. And plans were unveiled to hand life in prison to those found guilty of sexually assaulting minors. The emergency status has just been revoked by parliament and a new sexual crimes bill is in the works. But what was achieved? And can other countries learn from Sierra Leone's radical action? We ask the activists on the ground.

Remembering Hodan Nalayeh  
Everybody says she was special. "Passionate", "brave", "a shining star". Somalia-Canadian journalist Hodan Nalayeh was killed last week alongside her husband in an attack by the armed group al-Shabaab in which 26 people died and more than 50 were wounded. The 43-year-old, who left Somalia at the age of six with her parents, returned last year permanently with her children determined to tell positive stories of a homeland in which, despite its troubles, she saw much hope and progress. Since her death, there has been an outpouring of grief and tributes. People have recounted stories of kindness on social media, the government has announced an annual prize in her honour and a memorial event will this week be held in Ontario. We'll also remember her in this episode and ask what her legacy will be.

Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is declared an international public health emergency.

It's the largest-ever outbreak of ebola, after the 2014 epidemic in West Africa.

And the spread of the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached a critical point.

The World Health Organization has now declared this latest flare-up a public health emergency of international concern.

That rare move could boost global attention and encourage more aid.

Almost one year into the crisis, more than 2,500 people have been infected in the region and at least 1,600 have died.

The first confirmed case is in the city of Goma. It's a major regional hub on the border with Rwanda and that's raising concerns the virus may be spreading beyond the DRC's borders.

So given the resurgence of the disease, has enough been done to stop it?

‘Recycling’ brings to mind an intensive process where used plastic, metal and paper is cleaned and re-purposed. But a great deal of apparently recyclable rubbish often ends up being dumped in countries across Southeast Asia.

The region became a market of choice for waste exporters in 2017 after China announced strict restrictions on imports of certain types of solid waste, as well as shipments of material contaminated with items that cannot be reprocessed. Waste and scrap exports from countries including the US, UK, France, Canada and Australia are now directed to Southeast Asian countries. Incoming material is seldom salvaged or recycled – it usually goes straight into unmanaged landfill or is incinerated, polluting the air and waterways and imperiling the health of both people and wildlife.

Now there are signs that countries in the region have had enough. Earlier this month Indonesia declared it will send 210 tons of unsorted hazardous material back to Australia. In May Malaysia rejected 3,000 tons of imported rubbish. And the Philippine government sent 69 containers of mixed household and electrical waste from Canada that had festered in port for five years.

We’ll look at the impact that an avalanche of waste is having on communities across Southeast Asia and ask what’s needed worldwide to deal more ethically and responsibly with the rubbish we leave behind.

A huge stash of weapons is found in Italy with neo-Nazi sympathisers and the government says the seizure is unprecedented.

An arsenal of weapons has been seized by Italian police in a raid on a far-right group.

The stockpile was discovered during an investigation into the involvement of Italy's far-right movement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

And it included an air-to-air missile, rocket launchers and automatic rifles described as 'latest generation'. Neo-nazi propaganda material was also seized.

Police have arrested three people, including a former candidate for the neo-fascist Forza Nuova party. Fabio Del Bergiolo's house was found to contain a huge stash of arms, as well as Hitler memorabilia.

So, how significant is this?

And what does it tell us about the re-emergence of Nazism and the far-right movement in Europe?

President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" has killed thousands of drug suspects in the Philippines over the past three years. But rights groups believe the number of casualties is much higher than the 6,600 deaths the government admits to, and that the raids disproportionately target poor communities.

Last week, the UN Human Rights Council voted to investigate alleged abuses in the country, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and police impunity. Authorities say those killed in anti-drug raids were crime suspects who were armed and resisting arrest. The Philippines’ human rights commission estimates that there could be more than 27,000 deaths from extrajudicial killings.

Those who support the country's anti-drug campaign say Duterte's policies are necessary to reduce crime.

In this episode, we'll learn about the people impacted by Duterte's policies and ask whether the nation’s approach towards fighting drug crime needs reform.