Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa is seeking support for tough measures to tackle gang violence, including plans for armed forces to work alongside police. We hear from Quito on the day of the vote, and ask how one of the safest countries in South America ended up with the region's highest recorded murder rate. Also in the programme: the ultra-ortho…

US President Joe Biden says Ukraine will receive more arms and equipment within the week after the US Senate approved a $60bn aid package. But what difference will this make to the people there? Also on the programme: we hear the conflicting claims about the mass graves found in Gaza; and the ‘lost’ painting of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt that has…

US to deliver more arms to Ukraine after Congress approved multi-billion dollars aid package to Kyiv; also in the programme we look into claims of mass graves in Gaza; why have Tesla’s profit’s dropped?; and a lost Klimt painting goes on auction in Vienna. (Photo: Ukraine supporter holding American and Ukrainian flags outside Congress. Credit: Shut…

The US government says allegations that Israeli forces buried more than three hundred Palestinians in a mass grave at a medical complex in Gaza are incredibly troubling. A spokesman for the US state department said it was seeking a response of the Israeli government. Israel's military had earlier rejected the Palestinian allegation as baseless and …

Cuban exiles enjoy nostalgia for the homes and times they once knew. Those days are long gone, and they will never return. Honduras is creeping toward the same fate.Impunity Observer Publisher Fergus Hodgson comments on his article "The Exodus Is Turning Honduras into Cuba" and explains why this exodus will grow exponentially if socialist policies …

A new law in Britain aims to send people arriving on small boats to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the plan made clear that people who arrived in Britain illegally would not be able to stay. The United Nations says the bill is the wrong solution and sets a dangerous precedent. Also in the programme…

An independent review of the UN's operations in Gaza says it needs to improve its neutrality. We ask the head of the review whether countries that suspended donations because of Israeli allegations should resume them. Also on the programme: US prosecutors have accused Donald Trump of a conspiracy over hush money paid to a porn actress at the start …

The head of Israel's military intelligence has resigned over his role in failing to stop the Hamas attacks on October the seventh. Aharon Haliva is the highest-ranking official to step down over the assault, in which about twelve hundred people were killed and more than two hundred others abducted. He said his department had not lived up to the tas…

In a bonus episode from Delhi, James Coomarasamy explores identity and politics in India as the country conducts the world’s biggest election. He’s joined by journalists Divya Arya and Rajesh Joshi.By BBC World Service

Ukraine's recent lack of air defence systems has been blamed for Russian forces capturing hundreds more square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. So what difference will the aid make? We speak a defence analyst and get reaction from the capital, Kyiv. Also on the programme: Newshour’s James Coomarasamy asks if India can stick to its ambitious plans…

After months of wrangling, US politicians have agreed on a 60-billion-dollar aid package for war-torn Ukraine. We hear reaction from an MP for Ukraine's governing party and a former advisor to the US Republican Party. Also in the programme: the Zambian foreign minister explains why his country is seeking international aid to help deal with an unpre…

After months of delay, the US House of Representatives is poised to vote on tens of billions of dollars in American military aid for Ukraine and Israel. The aid could reshape Kyiv’s war effort. We hear from Kyiv where every minute counts. Also in the programme: we’ll hear from an anti-mass tourism protest in the Canary Islands; and how the ruling B…

Following a presumed Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joins renewed international calls for de-escalation. Israel has not commented on the attack, which saw projectiles reach deep into Iran. Also on the programme: the US Congress moves closer to approving $60 billion of aid for Ukraine; in India voting be…

US officials say Israel hit Iran with a missile overnight on Friday, in what appears to be a retaliatory strike after weeks of escalating tensions between the two countries. There are competing claims about the scale of the attack on the Isfahan region and the extent of any damage, with Iranian state media downplaying its significance. It comes aft…

Germany summons Russian ambassador over arrest of two men suspected of spying for Moscow. We’ll ask if Russian espionage activities are spreading across Europe. Also in the programme, Washington reimposes partial sanctions on Venezuela; the animals in David Bowie’s music, but should nature get the royalties? (Photo: Exterior of Russian embassy in B…

Qatar is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, the country's prime minister has said. Qatar has had a key role - along with Egypt and the US - in trying to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of Israeli hostages. We also hear testimony from the ground in Gaza from Medical Aid for Palestinians and the e…

As fighting continues between the Burmese military and rebels in Myanmar, young men are fleeing into Thailand to avoid the draft. We have a special report from the Thai border. And we ask why Myanmar's military government has moved the detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi from prison to house arrest. Also in the programme: the speaker of the US …

The Impunity Observer podcast is scaling up to a weekly episode and new formats that allow us to get closer to our audience. Our contributor Mauro Echeverría begins this weekly series with a deeper look at one of his investigations. His latest investigation revealed that a rising number of Chinese citizens are flying to Ecuador, where they begin th…

Unseasonably warm temperatures in southern Russia and Kazakhstan have triggered fast-melting snow, causing unprecedented high rivers and flooding close to major cities. We speak to residents in Kazakhstan's badly affected areas. Also in the programme: Arizona Supreme Court reinstates near-total abortion ban from 1864; and we hear about the contenti…

Rosa María Payá, founder of nonprofit Cuba Decide and daughter of assassinated Cuban political dissident Oswaldo Payá, took the floor on the last day of the examination of Cuba by the UN Human Rights Council. Her petition was simple: expel Cuba from the council. A Cuban official responded by attacking her character, but he said nothing in response …

The Israeli military has recovered the body of a hostage in Gaza. It accused the Islamic Jihad group of murdering Elad Katzir, who was snatched from a kibbutz in southern Israel during the Hamas attacks in October. His sister blamed the Israeli government for his death, saying it had failed to strike a second ceasefire deal to allow his release. Th…

Aid organisations have stressed the need for an independent investigation into the deadly Israeli drone strike on an aid convoy after the IDF published its first account of the event. Also in the programme: The BBC's analysis of Israel's evacuation warnings in Gaza; we remember the Nirvana singer, Kurt Cobain, thirty years after his death; and will…

Fernando Linares—a Guatemalan lawyer and former congressman—has initiated the legal process to remove the president and 24 congressmen. All belong to President Bernardo Arévalo’s suspended Semilla party. According to Linares, this party has committed numerous illegalities, such as falsely registering more than 8,000 members to qualify for the ballo…

In this heartening episode, join Mike as he engages with Mohsin Zaidi, a passionate lawyer, LGBTQ activist, and best-selling author of "A Dutiful Boy". Learn about Mohsin's remarkable journey from a poor London neighborhood to his rise as a celebrated lawyer amidst the challenges and triumphs of growing up as a gay Muslim. Gain deeper insights into…

Luis Espinosa Goded—a Spanish professor of economics at San Francisco University of Quito, Ecuador—explains how citizens and private businesses will pay a high price for the government's conflict with narcoterrorists. Curfew impositions, reduced mobility, and narco extortion are already some ways in which individuals—rather than the state or the na…

Mario Duarte—co-founder and CEO of DH Global Strategy, a global consulting and lobbying firm—predicts 2024 will be a hectic year worldwide for geopolitics. He believes the Democratic Party is promoting the US border crisis: "the Western Hemisphere appears to be being weaponized to influence the US November elections in the United States."For Duarte…

Martín Litwak—an Argentine tax and wealth structuring expert—explains that the next three months are key to the Javier Milei administration for implementation of liberal reforms. Milei is enjoying a honeymoon period, and Argentines are on their summer vacations.Although Litwak expressed his excitement regarding a liberal government to be in power i…

Mauro Echeverría—deputy editor of the Impunity Observer—and Sebastián Díaz—policy analyst with the Impunity Observer—explain the internal armed conflict in Ecuador. For them, the violence has been increasing since 2020. Díaz adds that gangs declared war on Ecuador after Adolfo “Fito” Macías, leader of the Los Choneros gang, escaped from prison on J…

It's an honour to have Peter Tatchell on the podcast, a fearless LGBTQ and human right's activist who's launched social movements the world over including in some of the most politically dangerous countries. He and Mike talk early life, influences and trajectory and his own gay journey both in Australia and in the UK, as well as his work founding O…

José Luis González Dubón—a Guatemalan lawyer, university professor, and independent journalist—explains the irregularities associated with President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Semilla party. These include more than 8,000 forged signatures used to register the party. He contends that international community members such as the Organization of American…

Carlos Torrebiarte—a director with the Association for the Defense of Private Property and a Nuestro Diario weekly columnist—explains how the US Embassy in Guatemala revoked his and his wife’s US travel visa. He contends that the embassy did this to spite him for speaking up against “the policies that the United States wants to impose in Guatemala.…

Adam Dubove, cofounder and director of financial-intelligence service Ichimoku Fibonacci, and Eduardo Marty, founder and president of the Foundation for Intellectual Responsibility in Argentina, contend that Argentine President-Elect Javier Milei has a historic opportunity to succeed in his incoming administration.Milei, however, needs to work his …

Maribel Espinoza—a Honduran congresswoman of the Salvador Party—contends that Xiomara Castro’s socialist Libre Party is on a mission to control every branch of the state. She explains that Libre congressmen have violated the Honduran Constitution and the Public Ministry Law with their appointment of a new attorney general. The decision has been in …