Newsletter Archive

The battle between the Muslim-American parents of a fallen U.S. soldier and the Republicans’ presidential nominee escalates, with Khizr and Ghazala Khan calling for an end to divisiveness and Donald J. Trump contending he was maligned by the couple when they addressed the Democratic National Convention last week. Today at VOA headquarters, the mother of Army Captain Huayun S.M. Khan, killed in a 2004 car bombing in Iraq, says her son “always brought people together. … He told me, ‘Mom, give love and you receive love.’”

On his lapel, Khirz Khan wears a Gold Star pin, the insignia of those who’ve lost a close relative serving in the U.S. armed forces. Membership in the Gold Star families club requires a sacrifice few would want to make.

The GOP’s standard-bearer rules his business empire from Trump Tower, a multi-use Manhattan skyscraper. Outside near the entrance, visitors cluster to snap selfies with the building’s gold lettering. Inside, they can shop for T-shirts and other Trump memorabilia, or, at the Trump Grill, order a taco bowl salad or a $20 shot of Trump scotch. It’s a taste of the magnate’s empire.

Days after a priest was killed at a French church, the Islamic State terrorist group has increased exhortations for its followers to strike at symbols of Christianity and other faiths. Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as other religious leaders have been singled out as targets in the latest issue of the online IS magazine, Dabiq.

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, faces strong challenges during Wednesday’s municipal elections. In power since 1994, it has seen its strength erode through corruption scandals and anger over widespread inequities. It’s losing key constituents, the poor and the disadvantaged. They and other voters must decide: To ANC or not to ANC?

More than 100 Kenyan schools have been set ablaze since early June, with dozens of students and teachers arraigned in connection with the fires. Fortunately, no fatalities have resulted to date. A host of factors – from a shortened August holiday schedule to a government crackdown last year on cheating on national exams – are believed to have inflamed tensions.