Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. NOVEMBER 6, 2019

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Tuesday was the deadline for the commercial space industry to give NASA its proposals for an all-new 21st century lunar landing system as the United States strives to return to the moon within five years. No one has been on the moon since December 14, 1972 when Apollo 17 took off from the lunar surface.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln was the first Republican to occupy the nation’s highest office. Despite his legacy, Lincoln only received 40 percent of the popular vote, but was able to beat three other candidates. Notably, the Democratic Party was severely split between northern and southern Democrats over the issue of slavery. Ultimately, it took the Civil War, which began in 1861, to end slavery.

As Iraqi protesters burn effigies of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and set fire to Iran’s consulate in Karbala, 40 years of Iranian policy towards its neighbor appears to be going down the drain.

From launching the world’s first “combat icebreaker” to training soldiers on how to handle sleds pulled by reindeer, and from rebuilding Soviet-era airbases and radar stations to adapting weapon systems and armored vehicles for cold-weather warfare, Russia is bolstering its military presence in the Arctic. It has been keen to advertise its focus with war games and test firings of new missiles.

Untold amounts of foreign donations are flowing into America’s political system, with little accountability or limits. Although election experts say it’s impossible to accurately estimate the extent of foreign financial influence over U.S. elections, many agree it has increased substantially since a landmark Supreme Court ruling nearly a decade ago opened the flood gates.

VIDEO: Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker says the greatest threat to democracy today is the rise of authoritarianism. Secretary Baker spoke to VOA on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a moment in world history in which he played a pivotal role.