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VOA’s The Issue takes you beyond the headlines, diving into the stories shaping our world. Each episode focuses on a single topic, offering in-depth analysis and essential context. We break down complex issues, explaining why they matter and how they fit into the broader global landscape. If you’re
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The COP29 climate summit presidency released a draft finance deal on Friday that would have developed nations take the lead in providing $250 billion per year by 2035 to help poorer nations - a proposal that drew criticism from all sides. We talked with Professor Gregory Keoleian with the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.
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 crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel, respectively. We talk with Leila Sadat, Washington University professor of international criminal law and special adviser on crimes against humanity to the ICC Prosecutor.
British long-range missiles and U.S. land mines are now being used by Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war. And Ukraine has fired long-range British Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory for the first time. The U.S. and other foreign embassies closed in Kyiv Wednesday over security threat. We speak with Jim Townsend, adjunct senior fellow in the Center for a New American Security Transatlantic Security Program.
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles. Moscow says Ukraine fired six American-supplied longer-range missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region. It marks Kyiv’s first use of the weapons inside Russia in 1,000 days of war. We talk about it with Doug Klain, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
The Kremlin warned Monday that President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles adds “fuel to the fire” of the war and would escalate international tensions even higher. Biden’s shift in policy added an uncertain, new factor to the conflict on the eve of the 1,000-day milestone since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022. A conversation with Jennifer Kavanagh, a Senior Fellow & Director of Military Analysis at Defense Priorities.
Climate activists have written a letter to UN climate leaders demanding that big oil lobbyists be banned from the annual COP climate meetings. This year's U.N. climate summit is struggling to focus minds on the health of the planet, with turbulent geopolitics, a confrontational host and the reelection of U.S. climate skeptic Donald Trump stealing the limelight. We talk with correspondent in Chermaine Lee, who is at the conference in Azerbaijan.
The word unprecedented has been used a lot in analyzing the victory of President–elect Donald Trump’s second term. But U.S. history is replete with examples of what some think is unusual. We talk about it with presidential historian Lindsey Chervinsky, Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library and the historic relevance of her latest book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic.
President Joe Biden welcomed President–elect Donald Trump to the White House Wednesday. Despite the unprecedented nature of the election, the Biden administration continued a long-standing tradition of the United States’ democratic process of a peaceful transfer of power. A conversation about that tradition with VOA Chief National Correspondent and former White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman.
International aid groups say Israel hasn’t met the U.S. demand deadline for allowing more humanitarian access into the Gaza Strip. The groups say conditions are worse now than any point in the 13-month-old war. This week, the outgoing Biden administration is expected to judge whether Israel has done enough to meet a demand issued last month to get more aid flowing into Gaza. We speak to Larry Garber, former USAID Mission Director to the West Bank and Gaza.
The annual U.N. climate summit kicked off Monday with countries readying for tough talks on finance and trade, following a year of weather disasters that have emboldened developing countries in their demands for climate cash. We talk with Meg Mills-Novoa, an assistant professor and director of the Climate Futures Lab at the University of California Berkeley.
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 decisive win.
Days before the election, Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to have the momentum. The polls indicated it was a tight race, with Harris having a slight edge. But in the end, American voters decisively chose Donald Trump. According to an Associated Press survey, Trump held his core base of voters and slightly expanded his coalition to include several groups that have traditionally been a part of the Democratic base. To unpack the results of the election, we speak with Christine Todd Whitman, former Republican Governor of the state of New Jersey who also served as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Republican President George W. Bush.
Donald Trump was elected as the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday. He is the first person convicted of a felony to win the White House and the first former president to regain power since 1892. We talk to John Mark Hansen, professor in political science at the University of Chicago.
Americans will head to the polls to cast their vote for president of the United States. We’ll check in with VOA correspondents across the country. And while every vote counts in presidential elections, not every vote carries the same weight. How a candidate wins is more complicated. It comes down to what is called the Electoral College, where the winner is decided by which candidate gets the most votes in individual states. Matthew Lebo, Political Science Professor at Western University joins us to help explain how the Electoral College works and what to watch for on election night.
With less than 24 hours to go before the U.S. presidential election, one of the main issues for voters is the economy. The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, doesn’t just impact life in America, it has major impacts globally. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have vastly different economic policy plans. We speak with former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich for insights into each candidate’s economic policy plan and the implications each could have across the globe.
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. With the election just days away, the outcome could signal the direction of the nation for years to come. We speak with Michael Ezra, professor of American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University for insights on America’s changing times and demographics and what the future could hold depending on who becomes the next president of the United States.
With Election Day looming, lawsuits and claims of fraud are ramping up before any of the votes are even counted. The goal; to determine if some ballots should be counted or not. One such case was just decided and then appealed in the must win state of Pennsylvania. We talk with Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center.
Less than a week until the presidential election and turnout will be a critical factor. With major issues like the economy, climate change and women’s health at stake, will historically less engaged young and first-time voters show up in numbers that could help decide the winner? We’ll talk about it with Jack Lobel, Press Secretary with Voters for Tomorrow, a Gen Z-led organization engaging and representing young Americans in politics and government.
One week until the U.S. presidential election and voters are concerned not only about the results, but also the potential for a legal fight over the results. Some of the biggest concerns are focused on legal attempts in key states to change election rules. Most experts believe the results will not be final on election night as mail-in votes could take days to count. We spoke with Professor Rebecca Green, Co-Director of the Election Law Program at William and Mary for insights into how the legal process works in a contested election.
U.S. security officials are issuing new warnings about potential election-related violence at the hands of domestic extremists. The Department of Homeland Security’s assessment cited the biggest threat would likely come from anti-government U.S. citizens who are likely inspired by partisan policy grievances or conspiracy theories. Officials say the concerns go beyond election day and into January when the new president will be sworn in. We’ll talk about it with VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin.
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