This week's show features stories from NHK World Radio Japan, Radio Deutsche-Welle, Sputnik Radio, and Radio Havana Cuba.

http://www.outfarpress.com/swr190510.mp3

From JAPAN- North Korea launched several missiles on the weekend, saying that it was part of ordinary military training for self-defense- Japanese Prime Minister Abe said there were no threats to national security. Then reports from Monday through Thursday on the evolution of tensions between the US and Iran- resulting in Iranian threats to start higher enrichment of uranium and the US sanctioning Iranian metal sales.

From GERMANY- A European view on the surprising escalation of conflicts between the US and Iran. The UN released a new report on biodiversity, pointing out the unprecedented increase in species extinction caused by human activity.

From RUSSIA- Former UK MP George Galloway talked with Jonathan Steel, former chief foreign correspondent for The Guardian. They discuss the attempts at creating a coup in Venezuela, directed by the US with support from some European nations. Why has the coup so far failed, and do the Venezuelans really support Guiado? Jonathan points out that unlike exploits in the Caribbean, the US has not sent troops into South American nations in modern history, preferring to covertly create regime change. He suggests the need for a third party to create dialogues between Maduro and Guiado, which Mexico has been trying to establish. They also remark on the US regression to going after Cuba.

From CUBA- Mike Pence is offering new incentives to Venezuelan military to turn against Maduro. The American Association of Juries, which consults at the UN, says former Brazilian President Lula da Silva is a political prisoner. The monitoring group Air Wars says new figures released by the Pentagon grossly underestimated civilian war deaths last year caused by the US military in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen. The university in Amherst Mass allowed a pro-Palestinian rally despite attempted court injunctions. Mercenary corporation Blackwater, under a new name, has returned to Iraq to train defeated Daesh terrorists at a military base Trump visited in December.