A welcome to the program the Swedish Academy has announced that it will not award the nobel prize for literature this year the institution is in crisis over its handling of Sexual Assault allegations against the husband of one of its leading members the scandal has seen a string of Board Members leave over recent weeks the price of the worlds best rises for more than one hundred years but will be absent from the mystery calendar until next year. Its not unprecedented but it is rare the Swedish Academy has postponed the twenty eighteen nobel prize for literature. Decided not to watch the prize this year and we did that after a long and intense discussion. But we reached the conclusion that the confidence of the academy is so low in the world of the moment that is the deciding reason why we know refrain from watching the products. That the body was plunged into crisis last november when a swedish newspaper published testimonies against this man. Hes married to Swedish Academy member catarina frost and sun the jeweler will significant influence in swedens art world eighteen women accused of Sexual Misconduct the accusations include an incident in which he allegedly touched swedens Crown Princess victoria in appropriately denies the claims the revelations and the handling of them so deep discord among the academys members a wave of resignations followed including permanent secretary sorry danny us. From cairo now. Im leaving the academy it was the wish of the academy that i should leave my role as permanent secretary or to take it out. Of the ouster of ms dani has prompted an outpouring of support regarded by many as a case example of a woman taking the fall for a mans bad behavior. Care into naturally else this is a huge scandal internationally norms. Sound that would truly scouts and then its unbelievably symbolic when the first woman to hold the post as permanent secretary is forced out when she tries to sort things out the more using it for true in the capital. The nobel prize for literature will be postponed until twenty nineteen when the academy will name the laureate. Lets get more on this from d. W. Culture at his account home stats are welcome carol. Eighteen allegations of Sexual Misconduct against the show include on the over the no on over two ok but no action from the Swedish Academy until this whole me to issue explodes the room and youre wondering why well i think our women obviously felt empowered by the need to movement to actually make their voices heard as i say this was going on for over two decades but obviously no one was listening and there were structures in place that were quite effective at keeping things quiet for quite a long time they took advantage of that momentum and as we know many institutions have been slow to react until they get really hit with the bomb and cant do otherwise and we saw in the report that his wife is a member of the Committee Chair of the committee and without but the committee voted against removing her which seems odd given the what looks like a clear conflict of interest i thought it does seem odd and i cant really tell you why why they did that and why they caused all this ruckus in their own ranks really dont i really dont know how many people do know that i think you have to be a real insider because the Swedish Academy is well known for being an incredibly Secretive Group very nontransparent they literally tried to get away with keeping this quiet so obviously you know i think we can basically grant this the cademy and its procedure as relics of the Nineteenth Century and they need to get with the times people want to know whats going on. Aside from this that they had to be has maintained a generally good reputation throughout its a hundred a year history lets have a little over two hundred thirty actually lets have a look at some of its for the women. Nobel prize in literature in award to quote denote the most outstanding work in an outstanding direction that conferred the greatest good on mankind that was Alfred Nobels wish when he founded the award one hundred seventeen years ago over the past century it has been given to people as diverse as thomas mann. Ernst hemingway. And Winston Churchill for their contributions to world literature. But its more than just a celebration of the worlds literary canon the nobel prizes often help more obscure authors who find wider readership. And this region cademy that overseas the prize has also been accused of taking political positions as well like with the selection of which russian journalist is a prominent critic of russian president Vladimir Putin and was selected for nonfiction works the collapse of the soviet union. The decision to award the prize to bob dylan twenty sixteen pours lyrical work caused controversy especially when the american singer songwriter seemed to ignore it for weeks afterward one member of the academy reportedly called him rude and arrogant while the nobel prize for literature has had its detractors throughout its history its still remains the most visible and relevant literary prize in the world. How does the academy now go about restoring its reputation well i can start by changing its rules and statutes and. Has actually suggested doing this i dont know if you know that the academy has eighteen members normally and of course with all of these people stepping down theyve got chairs that are left empty those numbers are appointed for life those chairs are then left empty until the members actually technically passed away so they are now working with only ten and they need twelve to make a viable quorum decision so they need to rethink those rules completely modernize reappoint new members and then rethink their Public Relations strategy broaden their horizons and just think transparency transparency transparency thats what you have to do nowadays and this kind of stuff cant go on. Forever. Now u. S. President donald trump has vowed to defend gun owners rights in a speech to the National Rifle association as annual convention he shrugged off demands for tighter gun controls in the wake of recent Mass Shootings instead you promised his audience he would do everything to protect their constitutional right to bear arms. Thank you for. Your energy your oh and your voice to stand strong for those sacred rights given to hers by god including the right to self defense. Theres a dedication you have ministration fighting to protect your Second Amendment we will. Go to war almost from day doubly correspondent to claire riches and the washington d. C. Welcome claire walk us through mr trumps comments what stood out. It stood out that he was assuring the crowd that his administration was really in their corner and i think what is also interesting to look at is how little has really changed in this address that hes giving to the n. R. A. Compared to previous years where hes spoken at this convention this is the fourth time that hes there and its a major rally with some eighty thousand people there largely Trump Supporters hes telling them that he is in their corner in terms of protecting the Second Amendment and their right to bear arms in what is so far been a highly nationalist speech now there had been some talk that this could go a little bit differently of course over the last few months the United States has been having a big debate over gun control following the massacre at a high school in parkland florida at marjories dome in Douglas High School and what followed was a wave of student activism including National School walkouts major protest backed by big name celebrities and there was talk that this could perhaps lead congress to pass some kind of meaningful federal legislation which it has not done to date or also that it might intimidate President Donald Trump to stepping away from his support for gun lobby groups like the n. R. A. But instead were seeing him here him here addressing the convention and showing that he really still has his support behind the lobby. Of to School Shooting this to troll did promise a bomb along these stocks remind us what that was about and how four of the proposals go. Thats right trump or promised some kind of action on gun control immediately after the shooting at parkland but has since walks back from her bump stocks are a device that essentially let a semi automatic rifle which are widely popular in the United States to fire as though it were an automatic weapon but now the administration is actually pursuing a federal ban on the bum starks this was the weapon that was used of course in the Las Vegas Massacre in late last year so they are looking to at least remove this one this one feature that can make a gun fire much more quickly and powerfully. Richardson in washington thank you saturday marks the two hundredth birthday of perhaps the most Divisive Political and economic thinker of modern history karl marx he argues that capitalism would have to make the rich richer and the poor poorer today some see him as a visionary others revile him for inspiring authoritarian communist regimes a reporter a new a chef an author hit the streets of berlin to find out what people think. Marxs ideas pocked revolutions those ideas originated here in berlin and they continue to resonate in the city. In eight hundred thirty six the eighteen year old car marks came to study at berlins university. He started studying law but soon found he was far more interested in philosophy and history a quote in the Entrance Hall of the University Press tribute to its former student. Marks wrote the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways the point however is to change it locks didnt just want to theorize about the state of the world he wanted to do something about it he wanted to shake things up. Was the tone of the Industrial Age and while in berlin marx witnessed the plight of poor workers. It was their cause that marx took up his theories of eliminating social injustice by empowering workers started revolutions and change the map of the world. His ideology was the basis for modern communism and socialism the defining philosophies of the cold war which ended up dividing the world and this city. In former east berlin a launching of a new still bears marxs name the boulevard was built as a propaganda project by the socialist regime by the workers for the workers. The last military parade to celebrate the achievements of the selfstyled workers and peasants state was held here just a month before the berlin wall fell. But what does maag still mean to people here that a government be had a kind of different idea of how society should work that all of those heroes a lot of good stuff. Of capital for example which is still valid today this is i started reading the communist manifesto but youve got to have quite a bit of concentration for them do you know this man. Marx he was a great thinker in his time of course unfortunately things didnt quite turn out the way he predicted but always good to see in voight is a. Clever man and a weighty book definitely with. Things that are really just as worthy of discussion today. Especially now considering the split in society between rich and poor because of his by them through. Communism as a political system in germany might have fallen with the balance but for some of the people here it is. Of their relevance. Now to some of the other stories making history making news around the world or the hundreds of Palestinian Protesters have been injured in fresh violence close to the border between gaza and israel and dozens were wounded by live ammunition others suffer from the effects of inhaling tear gas friday saw thousands of palestinians gather for six weeks of protests there demanding the right to return to their homes which are seized by israel in one thousand nine hundred forty eight. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is apologize for remarks he made about the holocaust earlier this week it suggested that the persecution of European Jews was because of their role as bankers and money lenders rather than their religion or race in his apology he condemned the anti semitism and called the holocaust the most wretched crime in history. Thats it youre up to date more at the top of the hour or have a look at the website d w dot com in the meantime its Star Wars Day so may the force be with you. 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