Issues in the News - Voice of America

Armenia and Azerbaijan finalized the text of a peace agreement Friday aimed at establishing formal relations that would end decades of conflict. We get insights on the significance with Ben Dubow, Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Democratic Resilience Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis. Also, President Donald Trump openly challenged U.S. allies by increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% as he vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, drawing quick retaliation from Europe and Canada. We speak with John W. Diamond, Senior Fellow in Public Finance and director of the Center for Public Finance at the Rice University’s Baker Institute.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he sent a letter to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal. We talk to Alex Vatanka, a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute. Facing the prospect that the United States might cut them adrift under President Donald Trump, European Union leaders launched a day of emergency talks Thursday in a bid to beef up their own security and ensure that Ukraine will still be properly protected. Joining us is Nicolas Tenzer, a Non-resident Senior Fellow with the Democratic Resilience program at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

A White House meeting between U.S. President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky fell apart in front of the whole world after Vice President JD Vance questioned Zelenskyy’s thankfulness. It had been hoped that the two would make a deal that gave the U.S. minerals deal in exchange for a security agreement. The White House put out a statement that Zelenskyy had been asked to leave the White House and not come back until he was ready for Peace. We spoke with Ambassador Steven Pifer with Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and a non-resident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday pushed Kyiv to sign a critical minerals agreement while Washington pursues talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Ramping up criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in what has been a remarkable turn in U.S. policy and relations with Kyiv and Europe. Conversations with Michelle Michot Foss, Fellow in Energy, Minerals & Materials, at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy; Jamil Jaffer, President and Founder of the National Security Institute.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss plans for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But that was overshadowed by his address to conference attendees. Analysis with Daniel Hamilton Senior non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University SAIS. Also this week - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said NATO countries need to spend 5% of their GNP on defense and European members of the alliance must be responsible for their own defense. We spoke with Jennifer Kavanagh, Director of Military Analysis at Defense Priorities.

The Trump administration has shuttered the United States Agency for International Development, known as USAID. Most of the foreign aid that the U.S. distributes flowed from this agency. The U.S. State Department will take over the distribution of aid. Some people think the aid should be cut altogether and others say it should continue. We talk to both sides; Alex Nowrasteh at the CATO Institute and Michael O'Hanlon at the Brookings Institution.

A brewing crisis in Africa as Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo's largest city said they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa. Congo’s president has called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion, and his defense minister rejected calls for talks. Efforts are continuing to retrieve the two aircraft involved in a midair collision outside of Washington that killed 67 people Wednesday night. Investigators from multiple U.S. agencies recovered so-called black boxes from the American Airlines jet that broke into several pieces in the Potomac River after colliding with a U.S. military helicopter. An interview with aviation crash attorney William Angelley.

In his first major address since taking office, President Donald Trump tells global business leaders at the World Economic Forum that America is open for business. He promised countries lower taxes if they bring manufacturing to the U.S. and threatened to impose tariffs if they don’t. A conversation with economist David Kass, Clinical Professor of Finance at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. And on foreign policy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his tenure as the top U.S. diplomat pledging to execute what he said was President Trump's aim of promoting peace through strength. Insights from Daniel S. Hamilton nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution

The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company. President-elect Donald Trump had called on the court to keep the ban on hold until after he takes office Monday and vows to save the app. We talk with Damian Rollison, director of market insights with SOCi, an AI marketing platform. Also on Friday, President Joe Biden called the Equal Rights Amendment "the law of the land." But in a rare joint statement, the archivist and deputy archivist of the United States said Tuesday that the 1970s-era Equal Rights Amendment cannot be certified without further action by Congress or the courts. Congresswoman Theresa Leger Fernandez makes the case for the ERA.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday called the Equal Rights Amendment "the law of the land," backing an effort to enshrine the change into the U.S. Constitution more than a century after the guarantee of gender equality was first proposed. However, in a rare joint statement, the archivist and deputy archivist of the United States said Tuesday that the 1970s-era Equal Rights Amendment cannot be certified without further action by Congress or the courts. We spoke with Congresswoman Theresa Leger Fernandez, chair of the Democratic Congressional Women’s Caucus.