Sky News and NBC News are jointly launching a new podcast on global affairs – and the first episode is out now, with a focus on how America’s next president might affect the crisis in the Middle East.
Sky News’ lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim and NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel have teamed up to share their experiences from the frontline in a new podcast that will be available every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts.
With the US election on 5 November less than a month away, the pair discuss how a potential Kamala Harris administration will handle rising tensions between Israel and Iran’s proxies and, crucially, how this will differ from a potential Donald Trump administration.
But they also discuss how the ongoing Middle East turmoil might impact the American race – especially if Israel strikes Iran’s oil industry before the vote.
“I think that if Kamala Harris wins this election, it will be a continuation as far as Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned of how he has behaved under the Biden administration,” Hakim says.
She adds: “We’re still unclear of exactly what her policies are, what she stands for. She seems to be very thin on explaining exactly who and what she is and what her administration would look like.
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“If Donald Trump gets re-elected… some people say the situation could get worse on the ground. [But] I’m not sure because Trump is so incredibly unpredictable. Last time, he left his adversaries and America’s allies guessing constantly.”
“It is unnerving,” Hakim adds.
She says: “I’ve had people who say to me, ‘If Donald Trump gets re-elected, we’re screwed. If Kamala Harris gets re-elected, we’re screwed.'”
Engel says that whatever the outcome of the election, there will be “turmoil in the US between the election and inauguration” – which is scheduled for Monday 20 January.
“If [Trump] wins he’ll start governing right away because that is his style,” he says.
“Let’s say he wins on 6 November. The 7 November is clear, and then he starts making policy.
“He has been saying the Ukrainians don’t need any more weapons, that they’ve had enough and they should have a peace deal. Or in Gaza, he is signalling how he wants that to end – that’s not policy at this stage.
“If she wins, it’s already clear that it’s very likely going to be a contested result in the courts. I’m estimating that there’s going to be a vacuum of power, some sort of chaos at the very least until inauguration, if not beyond.”
One thing that will have a “huge impact” on the US election, according to Engel, is if Israel launches retaliatory strikes against Iran – and hits the country’s oil industry.
Engel says: “Suddenly gas prices are up. That’s not good for for Harris. It helps Trump. He can say, ‘Look at the chaos here. I would fix all of this.’
“So there are real consequences of what might happen [after] an Israeli reprisal.”
Agreeing, Hakim adds: “There will be some in the US who think, ‘Yeah, go in, smash Iran’… but that feels very much like a very simplistic, naïve approach to resolving what feels so deep and unresolvable at this moment.”
Listen below to a short introductory episode of The World podcast – then check out episode one wherever you get your podcasts, or at the top of this article.
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Also on Wednesday’s episode, the pair discuss the anniversary of the 7 October attacks and ask whether there is a way out of further escalation in the region.
Episodes of The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim will be available every Wednesday on all podcast platforms.
Listeners can submit questions to the podcast by emailing theworld@sky.uk.
Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.
Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.
Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.
Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.
“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”
Russia did not comment on the attack.
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It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.
While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.
Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.
In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.
He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.
He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”
He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.
“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.
“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”
In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.
He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”
Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.
The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.
The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.
Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE,went missing on Thursday.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.
“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.
The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.
“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.
Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.
The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.
While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.
The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.