Newsletter Archive

‘I’m cheating no one out of college’ insists an undocumented Texas teenager who will attend Yale on a full scholarship after graduating at the top of her class. In her address to fellow students this month, Larissa Martinez revealed she is one of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States who live their lives in the shadows.

Security plans are being finalized to deal with any unrest or threats at the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions. Thousands of protestors are anticipated in Cleveland, where Donald Trump is expected to become the GOP nominee for president. Federal, state and local officials are taking an ‘all hazards’ approach in order to keep the peace.

Surprise snap Russian military inspections, personally ordered by President Vladimir Putin, just wrapped up. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s military entered a long period of inactivity and decay. As VOA reports from Russia, the recent drills tested command and control structures, as well as military arsenals. But were they also a tit-for-tat response to recent NATO military exercises in the Baltic?

Whose side are you on? Shortly after Russian-backed Syrian forces re-took the ancient city of Palmyra last spring, a renowned Russian orchestra came to town, performing in the same Roman theater the Islamic State had made a killing ground. The spectacle highlights the complicated US-Russia view of the Syrian war. Both are fighting IS, but they’re backing different sides.

QUICK TAKE VIDEO: The sight of children begging is now a familiar one on the streets of Istanbul. War has forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes, and hundreds of thousands of them have taken refuge in Turkey, including the very young, who are desperate for money to help feed their families.

The Big Chill appears to be over between Israel and Turkey. The two countries —once strong allies — have been at odds for six years, since Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists who were seeking to break Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza. The deal allows Turkey to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza as well as build a hospital there. Even though the two countries have made up, that doesn’t mean they aren’t still suspicious of each other.

The Killing House was built for a wealthy Beirut family almost a century ago. VOA tours the iconic yellow structure that was admired for its neo-Ottoman style and cutting-edge innovation, until snipers took it over during Lebanon’s civil war and launched a murderous spree.

The toughest job at the South Pole is a messy business. VOA special contributor Refael Klein is spending one year living and working at the bottom of the world, where even the most mundane tasks need to get done.