Newsletter Archive

The ancient Silk Road that linked Asia to the rest of the world for centuries, is being recreated along the world’s highest paved border crossing. China is pouring millions into developing Pakistan’s Khunjerab Pass. VOA visited Sost, Pakistan’s northernmost outpost, where residents are eager for their remote town to become known as China’s new gateway to the Arabian Sea.

Asian-Americans are the fastest growing population in the United States and California is the center of the Asian-American community. But this is not a monolithic group; it includes people of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Korean ancestry. Although there are both Republicans and Democrats among them, this is what can drive them to cross party lines.

Are politics at play in the State Department’s annual report on human trafficking? The U.S.  grades foreign governments on their efforts to fight modern-day slavery. Eight countries were added to the list of worst traffickers. From Johannesburg, VOA reports that Africa continues to be a major source and destination for human trafficking of all kinds — from forced labor to sexual slavery. In Thailand, which got an upgrade in today’s released list, VOA checks in with activists who suspect certain countries got a blacklist pass for diplomatic reasons.

Meet an artist who burns his creations. West Virginian Pete Kephart’s unexpected artistic technique results in works that are quite unlike anything else, which can sell from anywhere from $1,000 to $7,500, proving that playing with fire can pay off.

With the leading contender, tousle-haired former London Mayor Boris Johnson, out of the running, who will replace David Cameron as Conservative Party leader and Britain’s prime minister? It might just be the strong-willed interior minister who reminds many in the Tory party of the late Margaret Thatcher.

QUICK TAKE VIDEO: VOA is in Cairo where Egyptians are feeling the Ramadan crunch. Prices tend to go up during the holy month. Merchants say business has never been worse while aggravated shoppers complain that holiday prices have doubled and sometimes even tripled.

In Turkey, Muslims who choose not to fast during Ramadan sometimes face verbal and even physical attacks. Turkey is a secular country, but 99 percent of the population is Muslim. The attack on beer-drinking patrons in a record shop earlier this month triggered days of protests from people who worry Ramadan-related violence against people who don’t observe the fast is on the upswing.

Can only white actors play the good guys? When Hollywood needs terrorist bad guys, producers seem to have no problem finding Middle Eastern and South Asian actors to cast in the villainous roles. But what happens when Tinsel Town wants to portray a Muslim hero? Social media is buzzing over the rumored plan to cast a white actor as Rumi, the revered Persian poet and mystic.