Tensions in Nagorno Karabakh are on the rise for over a month, as Azeri protesters are blocking the only road connecting the Armenian-populated region with the rest of the world. As the region is running out of supplies, food and fuel, a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.Yerevan claims Baku is using siege tactics to starve the Armenians into submission. Conflict has haunted the region for almost three decades, and Russia previously stepped in to broker a cease-fire. But now Moscow is stuck in Ukraine, and is increasingly absent in the region.Baku-based analyst Zaur Shiriyev, and international relations professor Asbed Kotchikian from the American University of Armenia reflect on the prospects of war and peace in South Caucasus.

China has witnessed a wave of demonstrations against its zero COVID policy. The Chinese Communist Party now faces a difficult choice between relaxing COVID restrictions or ignoring protesters’ demands at the cost of an even more significant movement of protests.Guests: Robert Daly, the Director of the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China, and Kevin Slaten, the research lead of the Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor.Host: Živilė Raškauskaitė

Elon Musk publicly endorsed the Republican party on the eve on U.S. Midterm elections, picked online fights, posted dubious polls on Ukraine peace and, most recently, on whether to reinstate Donald Trump‘s Twitter account. In this episode, we ask experts to opine whether his attitude and Twitter reforms will help the platform or ruin it.Guests: Daniel Kreiss, Professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Media, Michael Bossetta, Assistant Professor at Lund University and author of Social Media and Politics podcast, Petros Iosifidis, Professor at City University London.Host: Lukas Kivita

It’s midterm elections season in the United States. Republicans were expected to take control of Congress, but the predictions did not materialize. The Senate remains in Democrats' control and signals a massive win for Joe Biden's party.Guest: Dr. Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri. His research focuses on American politics, with particular emphasis on legislative institutions and elections.Host: Živilė Raškauskaitė

The international community condemns Russia's war against Ukraine. Moscow is openly supported only by a few isolated countries: Iran, Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Nicaragua.In the podcast, Taras Kuzio, professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, tells why a few countries still support Russia.

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles early on Sunday. It’s the seventh such launch since September 25. World 5 is asking what is behind North Korea’s latest missile tests and how should international community react to it.Guests: Dr. Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute think tank, and Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Professor of international relations at King's College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance of Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

The United States is getting ready for the mid-term elections in November, in which members of the House of Representatives and some senators are elected. Republicans are predicted to regain control of Congress. The primary election shows that not just any Republicans will return to Congress, but those who support former President Donald Trump.Only two of the 10 Republicans who supported a second impeachment of Trump will compete for a seat in the House of Representatives in November. Liz Cheney, a famous critic of Trump, also lost the primary election.Guests: James King, a political science professor at University of Wyoming and Darrell West a vice president and director of Governance Studies at Brookings Institution.

The people of Sri Lanka, who have been protesting for several months demanding the resignation of the President, have achieved their goal. After the demonstrations escalated President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, accused of mismanagement and corruption, fled the country and eventually resigned from office. A country gripped by an economic crisis is electing a new president.Colombo-based political scientist Aruna Kulatunga, a journalist and economic analyst Shiran Illanperuma and a lawyer Bhavani Fonseka, researcher at the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, tell us what united the nation for peaceful protests against the President.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s premiership is ending after a series of scandals in recent months. Johnson said he would resign once a successor is chosen. In this podcast we discuss why did Boris Johnson resign.Guests: Dr Simon Griffiths, Goldsmiths University of London, Dr Matt Beech, a Director of the Centre for British Politics at University of Hull and a senior fellow at the Institute of European politics at the university of Berkley, Dr Tony Travers, a professor London school of Economics, and Dr Ben Worthy, a senior lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London.

The impact of the war on the environment is not as obvious as destruction in the cities but it will quietly harm people and wildlife for decades, even after the ceasefire.Svitlana Krakovska, a head of the Ukrainian Laboratory of Applied Climatology, and Olivia Lazard, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, discuss how does Russia's war in Ukraine contribute to climatre change.