The Radio National Hour

America’s latest national security strategy has landed with a thud in world affairs. According to it, Europe is in civilisational decline, China can be managed economically, and immigration is America's major security threat. So where does this all leave Australia - for so long, the deputy sheriff to Washington in our region? 

The anger is growing at pace with the death toll in Hong Kong after fire tore through seven apartment blocks last week. As more details emerge - of the defective building materials that fuelled the inferno and the alarms that were deactivated, there’s also signs Beijing is intent on extinguishing dissent in this grieving community.    

“It’s a beautiful day for fishing”, that was the final message sent by Colombian man Alejandro Carranza Medina to his family, just hours before he was killed in a US strike near Venezuela. America insists he was smuggling drugs, but his family is demanding compensation. 

He once boasted he would stuff cocaine right up the noses of the gringos, but the former Honduran president convicted and sentenced to 45 years for drug trafficking could soon walk out of his Manhattan jail cell with a pardon from Donald Trump. The same US President who’s currently pursuing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro over his alleged involvement in drug trafficking. The decision has shocked the investigators and prosecutors who worked for years to build their case against Hernandez.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally asked for a pardon from President Isaac Herzog relating to corruption charges against him. The Prime Minister insists he’s innocent and that the long running trial is is preventing him from governing properly and tearing at Israel's social cohesion. 

In recent days there's been fevered speculation on social media channels in Pakistan and India about the welfare of former Pakistani Prime Minister and international cricketer Imran Khan, with some even suggesting he has been killed in prison. Authorities in Pakistan say the claims are unfounded and that he is alive and well. 

The long campaign to pass new environmental laws finally ends in the government’s favour, with a little help from the Greens. And Barnaby Joyce, quits the party he once led. But what does his future hold? Was a steak and salad dinner with Pauline Hansen enough to win him over to One Nation? 

Fran Kelly brings you compelling conversations on issues that challenge,entertain and inspire us. 

Fran Kelly brings you compelling conversations on issues that challenge,entertain and inspire us. 

Ukraine is locked in negotiations with US leaders over a proposed peace plan that could see it forced to cede the Donetsk region to Russia. US President Donald Trump had given Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky until Thanksgiving  - this Thursday - to respond to his 28-point peace plan which demanded many concessions from Kyiv, including relinquishing territory. Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun says as her nation braces for another winter at war, there is room for negotiation but they will not be blackmailed by the US.