Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. OCTOBER 22, 2019

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The top American commander in Afghanistan revealed Monday the size of U.S. troop force in the country has quietly been reduced by 2,000 over the last year, insisting remaining military personnel are still capable of reaching their stated objectives.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy appears on live television to announce the blockade of Cuba after an American spy plane spotted Soviet missiles being placed on the island. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for six very tense days as the United States and Soviet Union came close to exchanging nuclear blows. The USSR ultimately agreed to dismantle the missiles, and later, the U.S. removed missiles from Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin to plot military strategy along Turkey’s Syrian border. Erdogan is vowing to resume his offensive against Kurdish fighters if they do not leave the region before a cease-fire expires in hours.

Apparently persuaded by groundless conspiracy theories of foreign meddling, the Kremlin seems impervious to calls to adopt a more relaxed approach to their critics and opposition groups.

VIDEO: Kenya’s reputation as a producer of world-class marathon runners was further boosted this month when Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei broke world records on the same weekend. Running is a source of national pride in the East African nation, where regular competitions give Kenyans a chance to prepare for possible international glory. VOA reports from Nairobi.

VIDEO: India’s rural areas are feeling the pinch as the country’s once booming automobile sector struggles with it worst downturn in two decades. VOA visited a village near the business and auto hub of Gurugram district in Haryana state to find out why plummeting automobile sales are affecting rural areas where fortunes rose along with the auto industry.