The Heat

October 1, 2024

The Heat: China Anniversary

The People’s Republic of China marks the 75th anniversary of its founding. The past decades has seen China rise from a poor country to the world’s second-largest economy.  Today, the People’s Republic is 11 years away from its goal of realizing “socialist modernization,” and 25 […]

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September 30, 2024

The Heat: UN General Assembly

The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly wrapped up in New York. We discussed the role of communications in advancing the global agenda and the role of media in promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals with our guests: Saleumxay Kommasith, Laos Deputy Prime […]

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September 27, 2024

The Heat: UN General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly has heard from global leaders this week on a wide range of challenges facing the world.  To discuss some of these pressing issues, we are joined by: Badr Abdelatty, Egyptian Foreign Minister.  Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of […]

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September 26, 2024

The Heat: UN General Assembly

As world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly, we take a look at the development goals and sustainability with our guests:  Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.  […]

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September 25, 2024

The Heat: UN General Assembly

The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened with urgent calls for action. World leaders are in New York amid ongoing conflicts, geopolitical tensions, global economic challenges, and dire warnings of looming environmental and human catastrophe. Our guests:  Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s Foreign Minister.  […]

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September 24, 2024

The Heat: UN General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly began with the challenging task of encouraging countries to work together toward peace. The escalating situation in the Middle East, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the civil war in Sudan, along with more than a hundred other conflicts around […]

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September 23, 2024

The Heat: Summit of the Future

The Summit of the Future that wrapped at the United Nations headquarters in New York was a pivotal event aimed at addressing critical global challenges and reshaping the multilateral system to better respond to modern threats. The summit’s goal was to revitalize cooperation in areas […]

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September 20, 2024

The Heat: Global Development Initiative

When Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the 76th session of the UN General Assembly on September 21, 2021, he unveiled a bold new vision to support all 17 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. China’s Global Development Initiative aims to revitalize the global development partnership […]

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September 19, 2024

The Heat: Mideast Tensions

Hezbollah’s leader has vowed retaliation against Israel following deadly attacks in Lebanon that killed at least 37 people and injured thousands. The explosions were caused by hand-held devices. The Israeli government has not commented on the attacks. Joining the discussion:  Nabeel Khoury is a Former […]

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September 18, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Economy

The U.S. Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, signaling that inflation is being tamed. What will be the impact in the country and beyond? Joining the discussion:  Anthony Chan is former Chief Economist at JP Morgan Chase.   John Quelch is Vice Chancellor of Duke Kunshan University.  […]

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September 17, 2024

The Heat: Migration Crisis

Germany re-established checks at all its land border crossings after two deadly knife attacks this summer were attributed to migrants. Neighboring nations are now concerned about the new measures and how they might impact travel inside the European Union. What does that mean for asylum […]

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September 16, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Presidential Race

Former U.S. President Donald Trump met with acting Secret Service Director in Mar-a-Lago, Florida on Monday, after an apparent second assassination attempt. The suspected gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, is now charged with federal gun crimes. Prosecutors say the 58-year-old came within 500-meters of the former […]

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September 13, 2024

The Heat: Global Economy

The World Bank said global growth is stabilizing but at a weak pace. In the United States, inflation reached a 3-year low as the Federal Reserve prepares to cut interest rates next week. Meanwhile, in China foreign trade is up while producer prices are down. […]

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September 12, 2024

The Heat: Global Climate Crisis

A recent World Meteorological Organization report revealed that in 2023, the Southwest Pacific region experienced 34 reported extreme weather events that caused 200 deaths and impacted more than 25 million people. With global sea levels rising at rates unprecedented in three thousand years, what actions […]

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September 11, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Presidential Race

With the U.S. presidential election less than two months away, voters had the chance to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in what can only be described as a contentious debate. The Republican and Democratic presidential nominees discussed key issues […]

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September 9, 2024

The Heat: Violence Against Women in India

The rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the Indian city of Kolkata last month sparked nationwide protests, and reignited public outrage over sexual violence against women. According to India’s latest available statistics, a rape is committed there every 16 minutes. What’s behind so […]

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September 6, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Presidential Election

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Former U.S. President Donald Trump were out campaigning this week, pushing their economic plans in a last effort before next week’s presidential debate. How important will the economy be for U.S. voters come November? Joining the discussion: Jadan Horyn […]

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September 5, 2024

The Heat: China-Africa Cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. President Xi said China stands ready to work with Africa to implement ten partnership action plans to jointly advance modernization. Joining the discussion:  […]

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September 4, 2024

The Heat: Israel-Hamas Conflict

Israel continues its military assault in Gaza where the Palestinian death toll is now about 41,000. Meanwhile, the prospect for a ceasefire deal may have dimmed considerably after the bodies of six Israeli hostages held by Hamas were recovered over the weekend.  Joining the discussion:   […]

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September 3, 2024

The Heat: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has escalated sharply in recent weeks. Ukraine says Russian missiles hit a military academy and neighboring hospital in the town of Poltava killing at least 50 people and injuring 271 more.   Joining the discussion: Vladimir Golstein heads Brown University’s Slavic Studies department.  […]

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August 30, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Presidential Election

U.S. Vice President and now Democratic Party presidential nominee Kamala Harris has given her first major TV interview since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. She’s been under pressure to do so for weeks from her Republican opponent Donald Trump.   Joining the discussion:  […]

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August 29, 2024

The Heat: Global Economy

The IMF says the economy is set for modest growth over the next two years amid cooling activity in the United States, a bottoming-out in Europe and stronger consumption and exports for China. Meanwhile, global growth is expected to remain stable at 3.2% this year, […]

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August 28, 2024

The Heat: Global Health Emergency

The World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency earlier this month after reported cases and deaths surged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and quickly spread to neighboring African nations.  Now, the WHO is calling for a global response to deliver vaccines to […]

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August 27, 2024

The Heat: Mideast Tensions

A barrage of missiles and rockets stokes fears of an expanding conflict in the Middle East. Over the weekend, Israel targeted Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, prompting the militant group to retaliate with rocket fire following the assassination of one of its leaders. Joining the discussion: […]

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August 26, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Presidential Election

The U.S. presidential election is very close, especially in the seven battleground states whose ballots are likely to determine the outcome. Both Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will be laser-focused on these states as they enter the final sprint for the […]

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August 23, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Presidential Race

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted her party’s nomination Thursday at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Harris delivered what may be one of the most important speeches of her political career. What are the policies she laid out and how is her rival, […]

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August 22, 2024

The Heat: Global Hunger

A recent United Nations report says the fight against global hunger has been set back 15 years, posing a real threat to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030. The findings show that around 733 million people went hungry in 2023. What must countries […]

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August 21, 2024

The Heat: Middle East Crisis

Efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict is still facing serious challenges. Talks aimed at bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza have so far failed to deliver. Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. are working with Israel and Hamas on a […]

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August 20, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Democratic Convention

U.S. President Biden passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic Party National Convention. A list of speakers made the case for Kamala Harris to win the upcoming election. Issues like reproductive rights and defense of democracy were brought up in a […]

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August 16, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Politics

Immigration is a hot-button issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Republican Party candidate Donald Trump blames his rival Kamala Harris, for presiding over an influx of millions of undocumented migrants into the United States. But the vice president’s campaign insists she can fix what […]

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August 15, 2024

The Heat: Middle East Tensions

A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks is underway in Qatar. The death toll of Palestinians killed in Gaza since Israel’s retaliatory attack last October has now surpassed 40,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Meanwhile, there are growing fears that violence in the Middle […]

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August 14, 2024

The Heat: China-Brazil Ties

Fifty years after establishing diplomatic relations, China is now Brazil’s top trading partner. In 2023, bilateral trade between the two countries exceeded $157 billion U.S. dollars. There are currently more than 300 Chinese companies operating in Brazil spanning electricity, infrastructure and electric vehicles. Joining the […]

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August 13, 2024

The Heat: UK Racial Tensions

Riots erupted in England and Belfast, Northern Ireland in the wake of the July 29th murder of three young girls in the British town of Southport. Seizing on false information posted on social media about the attacker’s name, religion, and migration status, far-right rioters set […]

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August 12, 2024

The Heat: Politicization of the Olympics

The Paris Olympics Games ended with a spectacular finale. Over the past two weeks athletes from around the world came together in a celebration of the human spirit. Records were set and broken; China had its best Olympic games since 2008 winning a whopping 40 […]

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August 9, 2024

The Heat: Haiti Crisis

After months of heightened violence and years of political instability, Haiti is being called the worst humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly 580,000 people have been internally displaced and millions are facing hunger.  As Port-au-Prince looks to the international community for security assistance and […]

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August 8, 2024

The Heat: COVID-19 Summer Surge

The World Health Organization says COVID-19 is “still very much with us” and is urging governments to strengthen their vaccination campaigns. Officials warn that cases are rising globally with a high percentage of positive tests across Europe and the United States.  In Paris, at least […]

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August 7, 2024

The Heat: Global Market Turmoil

Weak jobs numbers and recent speculation about a U.S. recession contributed to warnings that this year’s stock rally may have gone too far. From New York to London and Tokyo, equities were hit hard. Wall Street’s “fear gauge” dropped from 65 on Monday to about […]

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August 5, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Politics

Kamala Harris has earned the backing of enough state delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination in the United States. With two weeks to go before the Democratic National Convention, who will Harris pick to solidify the presidential ticket? Joining the discussion: Rob Long is […]

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August 2, 2024

The Heat: Global Economy

China’s economy maintained stable growth for the first half of the year, with its gross domestic product at 5%. Beijing plans to boost consumption to further improve its economic recovery.  Meanwhile, job growth in the United States slowed much more than expected in July and […]

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August 1, 2024

The Heat: Climate Change

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 1,600 places across the globe tied or broke heat records in the past few weeks. Scientists say it’s the hottest the planet has been in about 120,000 years, the result of human-caused climate change. What’s […]

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July 31, 2024

The Heat: Mideast Conflict

The political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran. No country or group claimed responsibility for the killing, but it might exacerbate tensions in the region. Meanwhile, the Red Cross describes a scene of unbearable tragedy in Gaza. The agency says famine is […]

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July 30, 2024

The Heat: China-U.S. Trade Relations

In its latest push to showcase a commitment to further developing and enhancing trading opportunities between China and the US, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade hosted a networking forum in New York, partnering with the Chinese Consulate in the city along […]

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July 29, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Politics

The U.S. presidential election is a virtual dead heat in the polls for now. But the ground has shifted since President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance and the emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. She has secured enough delegates to win […]

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July 26, 2024

The Heat: 2024 Paris Olympics

The Olympic Games are underway in Paris, which saw a unique citywide opening ceremony. Instead of staging it in a Stadium, the organizers used iconic landmarks along the river Seine to kick off the games.  Joining the discussion:  Mariana Mello is a Sports Planning and […]

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July 25, 2024

The Heat: Artificial Intelligence

A UN report shows China is leading the world in AI innovation. Over the past ten years, Chinese inventors have filed more than 38,000 patents.  Earlier this month, the UN also unanimously adopted a Chinese-sponsored resolution on strengthening international cooperation in artificial intelligence. It aims […]

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July 24, 2024

The Heat: Israel-Hamas Conflict

Representatives from Hamas, Fatah, and other Palestinian factions signed a joint statement with China’s mediation, agreeing to end years of divisions and form a national unity government.   According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed and roughly 90,000 wounded since […]

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July 23, 2024

The Heat: China-South Asia Expo

The 8th China-South Asia Expo opened in Kunming on Tuesday. The week-long event has attracted over 2,000 exhibitors. It is showcasing a wide range of products and new technologies from several countries and is expected to boost regional integration. What will it mean for more […]

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July 22, 2024

The Heat: U.S. Politics

U.S. President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Many democrats are rallying behind Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.  Joining the discussion: Jacquie Luqman is Member of the Coordinating Committee of Black Alliance for […]

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