White House invites conspiracy theories

White House invites conspiracy theories

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney held a briefing with the media on Wednesday afternoon to relay President Barak Obama's decision not to release photos of Osama Bin Laden taken after his Sunday night execution. This announcement marks the government's latest flip-flop on the matters surrounding the al-Qaeda leader's death. Now, some well known politicians and figures are saying that the government's latest decision only invites conspiracies.

Journalists targeted by US forces

Journalists targeted by US forces



Cases continue to mount of journalists willed while covering war, not because they are caught in the crossfire, but because they are targeted by US forces.

Assange calls Facebook "spying machine"

Assange calls Facebook "spying machine"



In an exclusive interview with RT, Wikileaks founder Jullian Assange recently called Facebook the "most appalling spying machine that has ever been invented." According to Assange, Facebook exists as "the world's most comprehensive database about people...all sitting within the United States." Further, US intelligence has an interface to access that data at any time, he says. Is he right? CNet correspondent Declean McCullagh thinks he probably is, though no evidence has so far been able to support his argument. If he is right, who will be able to access this information and under what conditions?

Bin Laden dead, let's leave Afghanistan

Bin Laden dead, let's leave Afghanistan

What does it mean now that Bin Laden is dead? "I think it definitely means that the last reasonable sounding rationale for the war in Afghanistan has evaporated," says Derrick Crowe, political director at Brave New Foundation. Now that enemy number one is dead, what scarce rationale that existed for the United States' involvement in Afghanistan has vanished, says Crowe. According to him, the US needs to begin actual political reconciliation and get out of the way while the timing is right.

Freedom of the Press for who?

Freedom of the Press for who?

America boasts being home of the free, but independent journalist Brandon Jourdan says that the members of the press aren't as free to do as the First Amendment makes them out to be. Speaking from Netherlands on World Press Freedom Day, Jourdan recounts his tales of being arrested for documenting American events and being detained and searched regularly at border crossings.

Katrina Vanden Heuvel on Osama bin Laden's killing

Katrina Vanden Heuvel on Osama bin Laden's killing

With Bin Laden being slain after years of a war in Afghanistan, will the death of the al Qaeda leader change anything for US foreign policy? "Let us hope it will," says Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation. Speaking with RT, Heuvel says lawmakers should use this opportunity speak out to the public and realize that there is no rationale for American occupation of Afghan.

Is Freedom of Assembly alive in America?

Is Freedom of Assembly alive in America?

Forty years ago marked the biggest mass arrest in history when 10,000 anti war protestors were arrested at the height of the conflict in Vietnam. From 1971 to 2011, however, the popularity of protests has fallen drastically in the US. Why are Americans so reluctant to protest today? RT's Adam Kokesh discusses the decline of assembly among angry and angsty Americans.

Jailed Journalists

Jailed Journalists

Media Criticism of the Establishment is Under Siege, despite the US being founded on a Constitution that includes the freedom of the press.

Mayday: biggest arrest in US history

Mayday: biggest arrest in US history

Forty years ago today, more than 200,000 protesters and veterans converged on the US capital to demand an end to the war in Vietnam on May 3, 1971. "The idea was to shut the city down because the war wouldn't stop. The only way to stop the war was to stop the government, and that was by putting your bodies on the road and blocking traffic," said Eddie Becker, a cameraman who covered the protests. Then President Nixon called in the military and by the end of the day more than 7,000 people had been arrested, the most arrests in any single day in American history. But protesters say they haven't seen the magnitude of protests—and the pressure brought to bear on government—since Mayday, despite America's decade-long war in Afghanistan and eight year presence in Iraq.

Is the press free in the US?

Is the press free in the US?
May 3 marks World Press Freedom Day, though in a country where the First Amendment allows for much, restrictions are still imposed upon the American media. Jeff Cohen, author of Cable News Confidential, speaks out on the state of the freedom of the press in the US, where, he says, those outside of the mainstream are often made the exception to the Bill of Rights.

With Osama gone why stay in Afghanistan?

With Osama gone why stay in Afghanistan?

Bin Laden may be dead, but former US State Department official Matthew Hoh says that we have a long way to go in Afghanistan. As America continues to send troops and spend money on the Afghan War, insurgency grows, says Hoh, who is now the director of the Afghanistan Study Group. While Bin Laden's death may bring closure to some, the US still remains stuck on stalemate as they intervene in another country's civil war and violence continues to grow.

Gochez: US workers unite against bosses

Gochez: US workers unite against bosses

We have seen workers take to the streets of Los Angeles. They are protesting in Wisconsin and across the Midwest to protect their collective bargaining rights. What's the outcome and how effective will the move turn out to be? Ron Gochez, a community organizer lays out his expectations for the future of the US workers' rights movement.

Scahill: Osama death won't stop US in Middle East

Scahill: Osama death won't stop US in Middle East

Some pundits and experts see Osama's death as a continuation of the mission started President George W Bush. For some this is also an evidence that the Obama administration and Bush administration are not as different, as many may think. Osama Bin Laden was the initial excuse to invade Afghanistan. What will change with his elimination? Jeremy Scahill, a blogger and the author of "Blackwater: The rise of the most powerful mercenary army" shares his thoughts.

Bolivarian Revolution in DC

Bolivarian Revolution in DC

In Washington, the rhetoric most heard about Venezuela and its socialist president, Hugo Chavez Frias, is overwhelmingly negative. But just a few miles from the US Congress in working-class Washington, Venezuela isn't seen as the enemy. Activist and community organizers like Reverend Graylan Hagler are seizing on the spirit of the Bolivarian Revolution to tackle poverty and inequality in their own communities.

May Day Protests in Los Angeles

May Day Protests in Los Angeles

Check out RT's coverage of May Day protests on the streets of Los Angeles, California.

Bin Laden media hysteria

Bin Laden media hysteria

The mainstream media has been dominated today with coverage of the death of Osama Bin Laden. In the bigger picture, however, what role does his passing play? Will this end al-Qaeda? Will it end the wars? Filmmaker Danny Schecter debates the effect of the assassination of Bin Laden on America and the message that the media is missing out on.

Spencer: 'Bin Laden a useful bogeyman'

Spencer: 'Bin Laden a useful bogeyman'

Now that the US has announced that they have eliminated Osama Bin Laden, will things change abroad? Richard Spencer, director at the National Policy Institute, says the US is in a worse position now than it was ten years ago. Americans thinks they've won by killing Obama, he says, but that is total nonsense. Spencer suggests that Bin Laden was but a scapegoat and that his death falls short of providing any closure for an America at war.