Latin America

In an historic announcement, President Obama has become the first U.S. president to support same-sex marriage. We get reaction from acclaimed playwright and activist Tony Kushner. In 2003, he and his partner became the first same-sex couple to appear in the Vows section of the New York Times.

Occupy Wall Street protesters, environmental activists, and struggling homeowners are converging in Charlotte today for a protest outside Bank of America’s annual shareholder meeting.

We turn to part two of my interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Steve Coll. His most exhaustive book, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, pulls back the curtain on one of the largest and most powerful corporations in the country. He calls it a corporate state within the American state.

Voters in Europe have supported anti-austerity candidates in landmark victories. In France’s presidential election, François Hollande was elected as the first Socialist to lead France in 17 years. Greek citizens rejected two parties in parliamentary elections that had pledged to enact harsh international bailout measures.

Negotiations between Israel and hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners start as prisoners enter their third week, meanwhile Israeli military intensifies assaults on Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

We look at one of the largest and most powerful corporations in the world: ExxonMobil. Last week, the corporate giant reported it earned $9.5 billion in profits in the first three months of this year — or almost $104 million per day.

Robert McChesney, co-founder of Free Press, calls the British report that slams News Corp. over the phone-hacking scandal a “moment of truth” for American media. News Corp. owns 27 broadcast licenses in the United States.