It’s expected that the new U.S. Trump administration may force Russia and Ukraine to sit down and negotiate. In anticipation of that, both sides escalated their war efforts this past week. We speak with Jim Townsend, adjunct senior fellow in the Center for a New American Security Transatlantic Security Program. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war...

Donald Trump wins a second term as president. Are there parallels from the founding fathers of our country? We speak with author and presidential historian Lindsey Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library, whose latest book is Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic. Also, this week, clashes between climate activists and big oil at the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan. We talk with correspondent in Chermaine Lee,...

What will a Donald Trump presidency look like in terms of foreign affairs. He has summarized his approach as peace through strength, remains critical of NATO and has repeatedly praised authoritarians. Could his approach help end the war in Ukraine, bring peace to the middle east and help the U.S. as the world realigns? The pre-election polls indicated it was a tight race, giving Kamala Harris a slight edge. But in the end, American voters chose Donald Trump. A look at what led to Trump’s...

As election day approaches, U.S. officials issue warnings about potential violence from domestic extremists. The concerns go beyond election day into January and the inauguration. Also, as America continues to become more ethnically diverse as divisions over immigration and the nation’s division deepen. It’s become a major theme in the presidential campaign.

An ominous report from the UN paints a dire picture about the direction the planet is heading without immediate climate action. The report says if the current pace continues it will result in global warming of more than 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Will abortion play a role in the U.S. presidential election? Former President Donald Trump takes credit for overturning the U.S. Supreme Court decision which guaranteed the right to abortions in the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris...

South Korea’s spy agency says North Korea has sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia for training and likely deployment for combat in the war in Ukraine. The allegation comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed 10,000 North Korean soldiers could join the war, based on intelligence information. The U.S. expresses concern. We talk with VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin and Naoko Aoki, a political scientist at RAND.

The week began with a somber milestone in the Middle East marking the one-year anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel as the region edges closer to all-out war. Reflecting on the past year and what the future holds, a conversation with John Lyndon, Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace. Two massive hurricanes that hit the United States became the poster child for climate change. We talked with Michael Wehner, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East may already be a reality after Iran’s missile attack and Israel’s military operations targeting militants on two fronts. Could the U.S. be dragged into war? After months of working toward a peace agreement and warnings of a wider war, what if anything can the Biden Administration do? We get perspective from Bruce Riedel, with the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy. Intensifying hostilities come just days ahead of the one-year...

World leaders meeting in New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly were contending with multiple escalating global conflicts. Israeli Prime Minister vowed to continue targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, dimming hopes for a ceasefire and raising fears it could spiral into an all-out regional war. The speech came a day after Palestinian President Abbas urged the UN to stop the war in Gaza, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to New York to sit down with Former...

Tensions are reaching a boiling point between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Rocket fire pounded northern Israel Friday while Israeli warplanes carried out intense airstrikes on southern Lebanon, including a rare strike on the Beirut suburbs. A Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel shares his concerns for a broader regional conflict. The crisis will be one of many complex global issues world leaders will confront next week at the UN General Assembly. And what does Israel’s expanding military...

President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met at the White House Friday as Ukraine intensifies pressure to loosen restrictions of U.S. and U.K. provided weapons to strike Russia. With the U.S. presidential election less than two months away, the next president will have to contend with ongoing conflicts and other serious foreign policy issues. A look at the differences in potential approach of each candidate and what’s at stake. And despite their historically low record of...

Outrage over the murders of 6 hostages in Gaza, Israelis came out in droves demanding a ceasefire deal, as Prime Minister Netanyahu dug into his own demands. A conversation on the sentiment on the ground from policy expert Shira Efron with the Israel Policy Forum. Israel’s military operation in the West bank left dozens of people dead, including an American woman attending a demonstration against settlement expansion. Another warning from the U.N. on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and a...

Israel agrees to a series of daily humanitarian pauses for a major polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, as a resurgence of the highly contagious virus creates alarm. Israel continues its large-scale military operation in the West Bank. John Lyndon, Executive Director with the Alliance for Middle East Peace on the motivation and why now. Also, we hear from a Russian American journalist freed from jail by the Kremlin and look at the rising threats to those risking their lives to bring truth to...

On the final, and most anticipated night of the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris formally accepts her party’s nomination for President, a speech before an electrified crowd. Drawing a sharp contrast with her Republican opponent Donald Trump, Harris made a rousing call to the war in Gaza and promised to fight tyranny around the world. If elected, she will become the first woman to in U.S. history to hold the office of President. We’ll dive into the historical significance.

The mpox virus has been detected in Pakistan, the health ministry said on Friday, days after the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency. A new variant case was also confirmed in Sweden on Thursday, the first case outside Africa. We talk to Dr. Jarod Fox, Chair of the Infectious Disease Department at Orlando Health. Gaza cease-fire talks resumed Thursday in Doha. Will they succeed? We talk to Boaz Atzili is a professor at the Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security,...

Israeli troops began a new assault into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where officials believe Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ newly named leader - one of the architects of the October 7 attack on Israel could be hiding in underground tunnels. Russia declares a “federal level” emergency in the Kursk region after hundreds of Ukrainian troops pour in across the border. New polls show Kamala Harris edging ahead of Donald Trump with less than three months to election day. The historic nature of what...

Tears of joy at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington as three Americans released from Russian custody stepped off the plane that returned them to U.S. soil and their families. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and American journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich were greeted with hugs by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Freedom House interim President Nicole Bibbens Sedaca on why this is really a part of the autocrat playbook and suppressing free speech. A...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a divided U.S. Congress Wednesday, with many Democratic lawmakers boycotting his speech and protesters surrounding the U.S. Capitol. But congressional Republicans said the speech was key to reaffirming the U.S. commitment to its Middle Eastern ally in the midst of the 10-month-old war with Hamas. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was as much an address to the Israeli and Arab worlds about Israel’s goals as it was an address to the American...

Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination with a marathon speech that began with a call for unity pivots into grievance and apocalyptic warnings for the country if he is not returned to the White House. Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman joins us for her view on what's at stake in the presidential election. Trump’s coronation before an adoring audience on Thursday stood in contrast to the turmoil roiling President Joe Biden’s campaign who is said to be...

A growing number of Democrats in Congress are publicly calling on President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid against Republican rival Donald Trump. Jessica Taylor analyst with the Cook Political Report talks about the challenges facing Biden's campaign. NATO leaders wrapped up their summit in Washington Friday with unity in support for Ukraine and as the political turmoil in the U.S. lingered under the cloud of uncertainty in its most powerful member – the United States. Rose Gottemoeller,...

Britain’s new Prime Minister officially takes office after his UK Labour Party’s landslide victory in a parliamentary election that ended 14 years of Conservative government. Timothy Hellwig, Professor of Political Science with a focus on politics of European Nations at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences provides insights into what the historic vote says about how voters are feeling, and if it signals a shift of the trend toward right leaning leadership. And with the U.S....

We’re halfway through 2024, and the elections taking place across the globe this year will set the course for the latter half of this decade. Political landscapes are shifting, and the outcomes of four contests could shape our collective future. What are these critical elections and what is their potential impact on the world stage?

A peace summit for Ukraine in Switzerland this weekend will be attended by at least 90 countries and organizations —except Russia. World leaders explore ways of ending the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. G-7 world leaders boost support for Ukraine while aiming to raise the cost to Russia’s war efforts. U.S. and NATO leaders were at odds over the extent to which Ukrainians can use Western-provided weapons to hit military targets inside Russian territory. The U.N. nuclear...

Poignant ceremonies on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day as President Biden gives an impassioned speech on fighting for freedom that Allies fought and died for. While paying tribute to veterans, Biden stressed the importance of international alliances, warning democracy is facing its greatest risk since World War II. David Greenberg, historian and professor of US history and media studies at Rutgers University about how current threats to democracy add...