Ante in another u. S. Trade retaliating with hefty tariffs on dozens of American Goods are donald trump. Trade status. Is the weekly here on r. T. International with me today time for top stories from the last 7 days the latest up to date news welcome to the program. Saudi between the United States and iran this week after washington accused iran of attacking 2 oil tankers in the gulf of oman on thursday the u. S. Claims no one else in the region had the capacity to carry out the act u. S. Central command released a grainy video which it claims shows Iranian Special forces removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels the owner of the tanker those says the crew reported being hit by flying projectiles iran for its part has accused the u. S. Of attempting to undermine peace and stability in the region and says its rival is engaging in quote sabotage diplomacy. 2 vessels caught fire in one of the both key oil routes close to the strait of hormuz is the only way in and out of the persian gulf the incident immediately elicited worldwide reaction and triggered a surge in oil prices with russia saying the situation could pose a threat to the Global Economy but more on the story is kind of well put. So there were 2 oil tankers that were hit. Probably. Back. For all went. From left to from tokyo you. Bought a home. From dont you got a brand you dream im going to be on board no fly well no i dont care but i dont want company. To going to. The boat but it will do the civil. Service men the did it will. Not supposed they can the lets go over the facts now the 1st one belongs to John Frederick so hes a long time norwegian trading partner of iran his relationship with iran goes back to the 1980 s. One biography even refers to him as the ayatollah as lifeline so at a time when washington is using all kinds of pressure to try and stop or running an oil exports it really doesnt make sense for iran to then lash out and attack one of its oldest friends now the 2nd oil tanker to be hit is even more interesting this is a japanese owned chemical tanker and it was hit at the same time that japans Prime Minister shinzo abbay was in tehran meeting with irans Supreme Leader that. Iran from the ancient times. The persian empire into the present day has been the great country of the middle east and will remain sorry in the future so were to believe that at the time that iran was making nice with japan while japan was helping them to find ways to help their oil exports keep flowing despite u. S. Sanctions that iran then turns around and decides to bomb a japanese vessel in fact iran has been rather nice to the United States in the last few days a us resident who is charged with espionage was just released as a gesture of good will so why would they then choose this moment to fire tar paedos in the gulf of oman the Iranian Foreign minister job zarif is describing these events as suspicious reports of the tax on japan related to tank use occurred while pm was meeting with ayatollah for extensive and friendly talks suspicious doesnt begin to describe what likely transpired this morning while iran is struggling to keep its nuclear deal intact and keep its economy afloat by selling its most prized resources on the International Market like bomb peo would have us believe they then flipped out and torpedoed their 2 key Business Partners now why exactly would iran do that well because theyre the bad guys of course dont ask too many questions caleb mop and r. T. New york with regional tensions threatening to spill over into conflict with the number of gas assessment of the situation. Washington with mr palm piro and mr bolton are really trying to. Escalate the situation so that they have an opportunity and an excuse to attack iran when a crime is committed you have to know to whom this crime is beneficial so as all we can discuss and we can see the geopolitical situation of iran and the United States in the persian gulf we can say that the iranians are not going to torpedo if ship which will lead to the americans to attack them and its going to give the american an excuse to attack that. They ran their country of iraq there are other interested parties who could very easily been walled in this particular act which took place in the last 24 hours could be saudi arabia could be washington itself with this fleet in the gulf region the americans not because the americans despite what donald trump always says he doesnt want to go to war he doesnt want to put boots on the ground he doesnt want to send his troops to iran to get killed the American People are not ready for that he just want to score a political win and get the uranium to come and discuss on the table with him in the usa wants to remove the current government in tehran mr bolton has clearly been rubbing his hands with glee over the last decade when he wasnt security adviser that he once removal of the regime in tehran so its only john bolton who wants to go to war but even the president recently said that hes ready to go to the to discuss with the iranians and even my computer the secretary of state with the hotkeys and who was go to war all the time he said recently that the United States is ready to negotiate with iran without any precondition. Plans are the people took part in a silent to march in london on saturday to mark the 2 Year Anniversary of the grand isle tower tragedy it comes after 3 u. S. Firms which produced materials used a block of flats face a lawsuit from hundreds of survivors and relatives of the victims is claiming they facilitated the spread of the devastating fire which saw 72 people lose their lives some of the products are banned from use on u. S. Skyscrapers prompting accusations of double standards. Are comics and the message that foreign lives are worth less than american lives and that it is acceptable to expose people outside the United States to dangerous to which people in the United States would not be exposed. The lawsuit names cladding produce conic whose product is by the companys own admission a flammable it also names will pull the maker of the refrigerator that is believed to have caused the fire and insulation made by salad tanks is said to have released a cyanide gas leading to further avoidable fatalities. All 3 companies expressed their sympathies with the victims well paul also noted that 2 separate probes failed to find fault with its refrigerator so the tech said its insulation was just one element of the clotting system used on the tower whilst all conic said it would respond in court. We spoke to Peter Hubbard cofounder of b m e lawyers for a grand fellow and he says these Multinational Companies must face up to the law. The United States does have a very good our friendly culture whereby its very Multinational National Company Guilty often selling products or rich trail products without sufficient safeguards that they will permit those previously been cases in the United States where a Building Collapse has resulted in damages of around about 230000000. 00 to be distributed to the victims residents and the tragedy i believe theres a 2 year limitation here in the night it states that action must be tremendous but fall 2 years expires otherwise the limitation act would rule any action outside of their limited jurisdiction of the u. S. So it is a necessity to safeguard the legal position and at the end of the day the question is are the individuals the ground so stop that so much going to get you but serial benefits for those of their families who have been bereaved people who are often the breadwinners and therefore if that is right then that must be partly just subtle but. The death of a syrian rebel i. I. Contrie widespread Media Attention this week prompting impassioned debate about his legacy according to the opposition been fighting with abdel baset else i would succumb to earlier in the month to wounds he to stay injury in clashes with Government Forces in Hama Province a former goalkeeper for syrias youth team the 27 year old a shop to prominence in the early years of the uprising seeing him as street protests against the countrys president Bashar Al Assad widely referred to as the 19 gallant the revolution he was even the subject of an Award Winning 2013 documentary but in the years that followed as the countrys deep into gruelling sectarian conflict and the messiah of cells and statements became increasingly extreme arties dull quarter takes a closer look at the closure of a city and a warning his support contains images of an execution. He became the poster boy of the syrian uprising or shall we say the voice. Ringback of oh my. God. And his death in battle against Government Forces apparently made him a fallen hero in the eyes of the media syrian football and singer of revolution killed in conflict. Syrian soccer goalie who became rebel i can dies in battle syrian soccer star symbol of free vault dies after battle. That also route was a former syrian footballer who turned rebel fighter and not just any rebel fighter all know he became an icon of the fight against Bashar Al Assad so he wasnt shying away from speaking the truth heres one of the socalled singer of the revolutions greatest hits judge for yourself. Perhaps the lyrics dont exactly communicate the artists intended message thats all right though also it was much more articulate about his political beliefs in this 2014 interview about the vision of what we do blame Islamic State. But that blame comes with love because we know that these 2 groups and not politicized and have the same goals as us they are working for god and they care about islam and muslims no you didnt hear that wrong the same goals as Islamic State and apparently 911 was a great accomplishment to. Was good yet. There are those in the media who acknowledge its problematic characteristics but for them a little elbow rubbing with terrorist groups shouldnt stand between him and his rightful page in the history books. Some individuals celebrated as heroes make you doubt all stories of heroes in history books others like abdul basset also root not inspire of but despite his flaws make those stories highly plausible hes a true legend and his story is well documented may his soul rest in peace so if these guys got an oscar. Abdul deserves a grammy no less as in other. Kovar western operations it becomes important to to maintain this sense of plausible deniability its clearly been useful for for the us and the us media to maintain the this whole idea of there being moderate Democratic Forces among the rebels in syria but clearly most of the groups fighting the government were really extreme Islamist Groups thats the reality and these were the groups that the cia and and its allies its british and french and saudi and qatari and turkish allies were supporting and arming from the very early stages of this conflict. It seems the us is heading into another International Trade standoff thats after indias announcement that it will be imposing tariffs on 28. 00 u. S. Goods the retaliatory measure follows donald trump withdrawing the trade deal status for the asian nation for goods such as steel and alum in the u. S. President accused delhi of not giving a washington equitable access to the indian market tariffs as high as 70 percent been for. On u. S. Goods such as almonds and apples u. S. Secretary of state my pompei are says americas open to continue trade dialogue with india with trump said to meet indian Prime Minister there and modi at the g 20 summit later this month we spoke to the editorial advisor from indias republic t. V. Who believes theres nothing equitable in real trade. Its not a train well its a john think thats what she does i mean you need to meet these noises you use every country has constantly constantly saying im going to do this and well do up at the end theres nothing equitable in trade nor more than there is anything critical in Foreign Policy the big guys do what they want ok this only set interest the end tire tree the trade platform is there would be next but at the end you cannot compare a country of the American Economy size the Indian Economy we are now going on in the country is the need each other trade means trading with each other this is business as usual in the latest episode of artes in case you missed it takes a sideways look at washingtons controversial trade policies and those countries blacklisted by terrorists. How do you launch a war without needing to fight a war in case you missed it the economy stupid. International access to the u. S. Market used to be a bit like dating the rich girl next door when you were a vogue was not easy or cheap but in the end it was worth their time for those u. S. Markets are now and 11 at the end stage of a well lit window access is now expensive and even if it was worth it you know its going to hurt so we all know that america has the biggest military in the world just level the cost of whatever country youre in theres a good chance that there is a u. S. Aircraft carrier staring right back at you so now the u. S. Is away from raising its economy in order to fight International Disputes and dominating the market is i. C. B. M. s. Teetered you saying these intercontinental ballistic sanction ready to be deployed anywhere you need it advantages of the i. C. B. M. s include causing misery to entire populations in countries you dont like without firing a single shot collapse the economies of your opponents and then blame the attack countries without actually having to deploy a single soldier and then accuse them of aggression and remember once deployed i. C. B. M. s will work for decades with absolutely no effort from you just keep it fueled with a strong dollar youre going to leave the country very. Traditional because it was. Running sands are great to use against the likes of cuba venezuela last korea iran russia you know the bad guys the problem is you cant use them against the good guys which is why i dont know the difference administration has repackaged sanctions he calls. Them read tarot efs allow you to target friends like mexico your canada and especially your buddies in beijing because while sanctions are used as punishment tyrants are just a normal part of global trade right the way the us has been using them is no different china started fighting back though apparently theyve started to prevent the release of American Films this might all be a hollywood ending after all. Britains National Broadcaster the b. B. C. Is facing a backlash from u. K. Pensioners theyre on grayle 1st and i was t. V. License for the over 75. 00 so being scrapped would cast here as the story respecting and honoring our elders looking out for them is one thing but moneys money if a 75 year old could watch t. V. These sure as heck couldnt pay for it says the b. B. C. Currently all households with people over 75. 00 are entitled to a free t. V. License that government funded scheme which is expected to cost 745000000. 00 pounds by 2021 slash 22. 00 comes to an end in 2023 teles over the grandpas and grandmas to cough up in short millions of pensioners many of them disabled and living on very modest incomes are going to have to sponsor the b. B. C. Because the corporation doesnt feel like shutting some of its hugely expensive projects the b. B. C. Did the math right what they got wrong was the public reaction outrage boycott the b. B. C. They are in disgrace moneygrubbing also down to 5 year old should be exempt from pains a license fee. So over 70 fives have served their country and worked for decades to make her country a better place will not be church 154 pounds for a t. V. License a week after d. Day commemorations shima new b. B. C. Petitions popping up left and right anger frustration a feeling of injustice why of those who worked serve the nation for decades being put in the same level as everyone outs where are your manners even government ministers Party Leaders are upset pensioners have spent their lives contributing to our society providing over 74 hours with 3 t. V. Licenses is not too much to ask here is the kicker the b. B. C. Plans to make an additional 500000000 pounds by making the seniors pay for comparison thats roughly the cost of 5. 00 f. 35. 00 fighter jets which the u. K. Is buying 140. 00 of talk about priorities some are angry about the t. V. License cost say the b. B. C. Of today the quality of their programmes dont justify the billions that go into it with the latest public hits show hosted by a cartoon Vladimir Putin who has what appears to be a middle eastern accent. You see now why the b. B. C. Needs more money the poor fellows cant even afford a russian voice actor public patience is wearing thin for those that are getting tired of the scandals of the scandal coming out of the b. B. C. Be it ridiculous salaries for the top guys or lack of objectivity so many british people are asking openly why are they still paying to own t. These in the age of the internet almost certainly this idea of a t. V. Being a separate box that different to your computer will completely disappear. From many many households and then the question do you have a t. V. Will become a weird question to ask by the way the b. B. C. Is still 250000000 pounds short of keeping the all of its stuff on there so if you have any ideas of who else to squeeze for a few more quid immigrants centenarians dont hesitate get in touch l appreciate it the channels decision comes after the u. K. Government passed the cost of funding licenses over to the broadcaster itself the b. B. C. Says that maintaining free line since it would affect the quality of its programming and those least able to pay would still be entitled to a fee waiver author and journalist mike yardley says people are losing patience with the institution. There is a tremendous amount of anger in the country about the b. B. C. There is this feeling that the b. B. C. No longer represents the voice of ordinary british people and it is extraordinary the 10 percent of the people who go to court in britain are going to court about t. V. Licensing issues and that most of those people are little old ladies and some of them may even end up in prison for not paying a t. V. License i think there is an argument that people are deeply concerned about the elitist liberal direction of the b. B. C. Its very positive on Global Warming this is a major issue for the b. B. C. It doesnt like mr trump it doesnt like wrecks it and a lot of people feel theres been a huge political bias of the reclaim. That theyd say had to stay with us. In the. We had one man 3540 years old. It also destroyed in the water. Some 30 fisherman well destroyed later it is not. Understood. That either one of them to move ahead of me i was something take another man a most of my feet will stubborn and hurt the machine but. I believe that this is none of the therapy is. Tama. Absurd its really harsh things that happen in life. What politicians do usually to. Put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. So when you want to be president or injury. Or somehow want to be rich. Which youd like to be close with what before 3 of them or cant be good. Im interested always in the waters of our. Friendship. All. Of. The while going to all the parties its hard to believe now but there was a time when the western economists genuinely believed that the soviet union would almost inevitably overtake the United States as. The worlds leading economy and it wasnt just fear speaking they had graphs and calculations to prove but decades later it is now china thats projected onto the kids benefit and has learned a lot from the soviet failure is that enough though to win and hold onto it cannot make primacy will to discuss that im now joined by James Robinson prominent political scientist and also rolf why in nations fail mr robinson good to talk to you thank you very much for your time pleasure now you published the book back in 2012 when the world felt like a totally different place it was before the economy became political again before this wave of populism rolled over a number of western societies if you were writing you today do you think you would have changed anything in it. Well not really i mean our focus is very much on the long run you could say. You know were trying to figure out you know why does the world look the way it does you know in terms of these big patterns of Economic Prosperity and poverty and thats a sort of deeply historical process so you dont change your views over a few years and i would also say that you know in terms of populism i mean youre right that in a sense the world looks a lot different but but but not the different i mean theres lots of populism historically for somebody like me who studies latin america a lot you know very used to populism you know thats all part of the package in some sense well the reason im asking is that question is because i have a sense that in many western societies people im now starting to question whether indeed they have a winning economic and political systems and you define failure or success as 1st and foremost Economic Growth but the problem with Economic Growth in the west is that its quite imbalanced a lot of it goes into a very small portion of society the majority. Either benefits very little on doesnt benefit at all so whether you have that growth but only for selected few is that really a success or failure and qualify the system as inclusive or the other charmi use extractive i mean thats a good question and i think you know in the book we you know we make this argument about how inclusive economic institutions are create broad based patterns of incentives and opportunities are what you need for sustained Economic Growth and innovation in the long to ship and i think you still do have that in the United States i think if you look at these enormously wealthy people like bezos gates and how did they make their money through through innovation you know. They make their money by selling people things that people value but i also agree with you that this enormous increase in inequality is is a challenge you know im not you know in the book we point out this happened in the 19th century in the United States and the system was able to respond to that you know the inclusive Political Institutions was able to kind of respond to the enormous increase in the