Videos

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We're Not Alone: NASA Looks for Extraterrestrial Life on Earth-Like Planets

Astrophysicist , Alan Boss, member of the Science Working Group of NASA’s Kepler Mission, says "earth-like" planets are common and that the Kepler mission is likely to find hundreds of them. The next step for NASA will be to build something that will not only find earth-like planets, but also find evidence of life on those planets. Boss' personal feeling is that those planets are going to be inhabited by something. Not necessarily intelligent life, because those planets...

Israeli Troops Admit Abuses in Gaza

After the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, broke with the story of abuse by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) during the recent Gaza attacks, the New York Times carried a story on its cover last week - which out of character for this newspaper - had the words "Israel" and "war crimes" in the same paragraph. The BBC has also run a report questioning war crimes in Gaza. The Real News Network talks to Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC who writes...

Time to End the War on Drugs

Produced by an Oscar-winning studio for the Global Drug Policy Program of the Open Society Institute, the International Drug Policy: Animated Report 2009 highlights some of the disastrous effects of drug policy in recent years. This short film seeks to show that pursuing a "drug-free world" can lead to more harm than good. Ten years ago the United Nations (UN), thought they could free the world from drugs. By 2008, they aimed to wipe out the use of drugs.  However, given...

TV Journalist Leads Historic Power Shift in El Salvador

Mauricio Funes, a well respected television journalist became the president-elect of El Salvador on Sunday, 15 March 2009. He will become the country's first left wing leader since it won its independence from Spain in 1821, ending 150 years of oligarchy and military dictatorship. Funes is the leader of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a social democratic political party that was formerly a Guerilla organisation fighting against a military dictatorship for El...

Bolivia Transfers Land from Rich to Poor

On Saturday, 14 March 2009, President Evo Morales gave away 34 land titles in Bolivia's Santa Cruz province. This was state owned land that was not being used. The government has also confiscated thousands of hectares of land that belonged to five powerful ranchers. Morales promised to redistribute the land to those he says are its rightful owners. Indigenous Bolivians are celebrating the fact that for the first time since the country was invaded by Spain, all the people of the country have...

The Global Financial Crisis and MDGs

Responding to a question about the importance of education and water in developing countries and their significance for women, Stephen Lewis, Director of AIDS-Free World speaks about the impact of the global financial crisis on MDGs. Stephen Lewis: (There is a) need to engage women in a way which isn't prejudicial to them. To keep girls in secondary school. One of the things we do at AIDS-Free World is to focus people on secondary education, because although now primary education is...