Sudan Facing Military Coup; Assange Hearing May Decide Fate of Anti-War Journalism

International security observers again suspect the US empire as Sudan becomes the latest African nation to face a military coup.

Dr. Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss domestic politics. Congress is running out of time as the President works to get his economic agenda through Congress before he leaves for Europe at the end of the week. Also, progressives battle to keep a few social spending programmes in the bill as they seem to be almost completely stripped from the legislation.

Tunde Osazua, on the Africa Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and coordinator of BAP's "U.S. Out of Africa" Network, joins us to discuss Africa. International security observers again suspect the US as Sudan becomes the latest African nation to face a military coup. The prime minister has been arrested by the military and taken to an unknown location, as radio and TV stations in the capitol fall into the hands of the coup plotters.

Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss Julian Assange. Consortium News is reporting that "Ian Duncan Burnett, the most powerful judge in England and Wales, will join Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde on the bench next week for the two-day U.S. appeal in the extradition case of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange." The Assange case has completely disintegrated and some are holding out hope that he may reverse the trend of unfair and unreasonable findings by the court.

Leo Flores, Latin America coordinator for Code Pink, joins us to discuss Venezuela. The Venezuelan government was working in a reasonable and professional manner in talks with the opposition when the talks were sabotaged by the Biden administration. The Biden team kidnapped Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab and illegally brought him to Miami. The appearance is that the administration has no intentions of holding honest negotiations with the Bolivarian republic.

Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr remains one of the most influential politicians in Iraq. Al-Sadr's political followers have secured 70 seats in the latest election, and observers wonder if he can garner enough support to form a ruling coalition. Also, the US seems to be hitting roadblocks in their attempt to secure permission from Pakistan for the use of their airspace to continue their assault on Afghanistan.

Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss President Putin's Valdai speech. President Putin infuriated the Davos crowd when he made pointed statements about the moral and economic decline in the West. Putin argued that the current model of neoliberal globalist capitalism serves only the rich and is creating destabilizing wealth inequality.

Jonathan Kuttab, human rights lawyer, joins us to discuss Israel. Israel has effectively outlawed six Palestinian human rights organizations Friday by designating them as terrorist organizations. Many observers expect harsh police and/or military crackdowns on these groups as a result of this move.

KJ Noh, peace activist, writer and teacher, joins us to discuss the US's relationship with the UN. The leaders of Russia and China have both recently made comments about the UN and the need for it to remain a stable body for international stability. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the US's recent moves to change the security council will destroy the credibility of the body and reduce it to a discussion platform.

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