The Christian Science Monitor Daily Podcast

Russia's military presence on a narrow sandbar controlling a major Black Sea access point has badly disrupted Ukraine's economy. What can Kyiv do about that?

Also: today’s stories, including how Trump may reach a peace deal between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, why Italy’s far-right premier wins plaudits from European neighbors, and an impression of Provence, where the Tour de France took place.

Join the Monitor's Linda Feldmann for today's news.

Japan is the only country in the world to have experienced nuclear war. As the country marks the 80th anniversary of the United States’ bombing of Hiroshima, some activists wonder if the city is as committed to disarmament as it once was.

Also: today’s stories, the Trump administration’s tariffs take effect on dozens of nations, our Paris correspondent takes a dip in the Seine, and British painter David Hockney’s glorious art book that captures his 60-year career.

Join the Monitor's Clay Collins for today's news.

In Florida, National Guard troops were activated to support Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers in nine cities. The move is part of a larger escalation that expands the military’s involvement in immigration operations.

Also: today’s stories, including residents rebuilding after a volcano eruption in the Canary Islands, aid matchmakers filling the gap left by USAID funding cuts, and the wider impact of Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s shutdown on the media landscape.

Join the Monitor's Yvonne Zipp for today's news.

Famine is threatening tens of thousands in Gaza. To avert it, humanitarian assistance must ramp up fast, experts say.

Also in today’s stories: why young Indonesians remain discontent with the job market despite a new tariff deal, how sea food arrives on your table, and how young people in Massachusetts are working to protect an endangered turtle species.

Join the Monitor's Kurt Shillinger for today's news.

While elite institutions shaped the pandemic response, critics say they sidelined dissenting views, deepening distrust and contributing to Donald Trump’s reelection. As the pandemic divided the United States, could a full accounting help the nation heal?

Also: today’s stories, including European and Arab governments making diplomatic progress towards peace, an artist pulling her work from the National Portrait Gallery, and a national opera house serving as a bomb-shelter cathedral in Ukraine.

Join the Monitor's Clay Collins for today's news.

The international community has unified around the question of Palestinian statehood, diverging from the U.S. and Israel. But will it make a difference? Not since the mid-1950s under Dwight Eisenhower has a U.S. president held such sway over Israel.

Also: today’s stories, including how Sudanese women exiled by war are finding freedom from female genital mutilation; why Europeans have been pushing back on cruise ships; and a photo essay from Massachusetts’ famed Brimfield Antique Flea Market.

Join the Monitor's Linda Feldmann for today's news.

Growing global outrage over the hunger crisis in Gaza has many asking if Israel had a deliberate policy of starving civilians. Israelis say that was never the case, but an ignorance of Palestinian suffering allowed an inconsistent government policy to lead to a calamity.

Also: today’s stories, including how the president has recently touted a trade deal with the EU, but the overall economic outlook is uncertain, how

staff are working to help patrons stay connected to reading, education, and daily life, and how Finland has been ranked the world’s happiest country for years. But that doesn’t mean Finns are a smiling, perky people.

Join the Monitor's Kurt Shillinger for today's news.

President Trump’s tariff threats are in some cases turning into tariff deals. The details of the broad agreements are yet to come and may determine whether the U.S. comes out ahead.

Also: today’s stories, including how Europeans feel in the wake of a new U.S.-EU trade deal; why Argentines are struggling economically despite efforts to tackle inflation; and a look at how volunteerism in Japan has surged in the decades following the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Join the Monitor's Ira Porter for today's news.

The Trump administration faces pressure to release additional files from investigations of sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. Here’s what’s known from two decades of lawsuits and what could come from efforts to reveal more.

Also: today’s stories, including a look at the effects of Syria’s drought crisis, the Monitor’s Francine Kiefer’s farewell letter to readers and a new generation of journalists, and how the ceasefire reached between Thailand and Cambodia could help hundreds of thousands of displaced people return home.

Join the Monitor's Christa Case Bryant for today's news.

A spirit of “We’re in this together” colored the early days of the pandemic in the United States. But that frayed as debate over what steps to take became increasingly politicized.

Also: today’s stories, including how a third of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are not eating for multiple days in a row, how the truth-telling folk singer Patty Griffin was thinking about hanging up her guitar, and our global progress roundup this week: how California’s Yurok tribe doubled its land holdings.

Join the Monitor's Clay Collins for today's news.